St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish in 1565.
The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León set out to find gold. He found Puerto Rico in 1508 and later became the first governor of the island.
He was not finished exploring. He heard tales from the Indians of a magical spring that made old men and women young again and cured illnesses.
He failed to find the Fountain of Youth, but he discovered La Florida (Spanish Florida) in 1513.
Fountain of Youth – St. Augustine Historical Attraction
The Spanish king commissioned him to conquer and colonize Florida. He returned to Florida in 1521 and died by poisoned arrows that native Indians shot. Soon after he died, French exploration began.
The French colony was established near Fort Caroline. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed in Florida and became the first governor of La Florida in 1565.
English pirates began to attack the town. The Spanish built the Castillo de San Marcos between 1672 and 1695.
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
La Florida was once ended by the Anglo-Spanish War in 1763. St. Augustine became a British colony.
The American Revolutionary War began in 1775 and ended in 1783. Florida was divided into East and West by the Treaty of Paris and returned to the Spanish again.
Finally, Florida was ceded to the United States by the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1821.
Photos by LILI
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