Attractions in St. Augustine

B y : D . C h a p p e l l

Location St. Augustine is 3 hours away from

Florida’s state capital, Tallahassee It is also about 13- 20 hours

away from Corning, AR depending on which route you take

Bridge of the Lions The Bridge of Lions goes across the Intracoastal Waterway and it

connects downtown of St. Augustine to Anastasia Island, and they are copies of the famous Medici lions.

There has been two bridges made: the first one in 1927 and the one in 2010 after 80 years of service with the lions replaced.

The bridge was called “The Most Beautiful Bridge in Dixie” in its early days.

The bridge’s structure is unique because it was built as a double leaf, drawback bascule bridge.

Castillo de San Marcos (Fort) It is the oldest fort in the U.S.;

it is 341 years old.

The fort has had three names : Castillo de San Marcos, Fort St. Mark, and Fort Marion.

The fort also has had four flags flown over it: the Spanish flag, the British flag, the United States flag, and the Confederate flag.

The fort was also sieged by the British twice, 40 years apart, but every time the British were unsuccessful until Spain signed the Treaty of Paris which gave the fort to the British.

St. Augustine Lighthouse The lighthouse has had 15 lighthouse head

keepers from 1824 to today.

Before the Lighthouse was built, the Spanish built a temporary wooden lookout until a permanent lighthouse was built by using blocks of coquina. Then a tower was added in 1824.

The lighthouse in St. Augustine is the second lighthouse made, the other perished in a storm, but it is still the oldest brick building in the U.S.; made in 1874.

The lighthouse opened as a museum in 1988 for the Keepers House, but the museum did not get the deed to the tower until 2000 from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Ripley’s Believe it Or Not It is the first Ripley’s Believe

it or Not in the U.S, and it was established in a 1880’s concrete castle, Castle Warden Inn.

Ripley died one year before his building was open; he died in 1949.

This building holds most of Ripley’s personal collection that ranges from shrunken heads to the world’s smallest car.

Also this museum has the first Odditorium, which was built in the 1950.

Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park

It is where St. Augustine started in 1565, and also where Florida started by Ponce de Leon on his quest for the Fountain of Youth in 1513.

It is also where a Timucua Indian Village was established 4,000 years before the Spanish.

At the park, a person can drink a sample of the water from the Fountain of Youth.

St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park

It was established in 1893 by George Reddingtion and Felix Fire. It has a small zoo on Anastasia Island.

This became a main attraction due to advertising by the South Beach Railroad Company in 1910.

The Alligator Farm is the only exhibit in the world that has all of the 23 known species of crocodiles in one area.

There is a zip line that crosses the whole park which lets a person see everything at a bird’s eye view from crocodiles to lemurs.

Alligator

Crocodile

The Old Jail It was built in 1891, and has

kept prisoners locked up for 60 years.

The guided tours let people see the men/women cells, maximum security cells, weapons, where the sheriff lived, and the kitchen where the inmates made their meals.

It is one of the few old jails still standing in the U.S.

The original jail was built in 1891, but has been restored many times.

The jail has weapons from the 1800s, and a person can go into the cells.

Potter’s Wax Museum It was opened by George Potter in 1948, the first wax

museum in the U.S. It has over 100 wax figures ranging from the Founding

Fathers of the United States to Scooby Doo. A person can stand by the figures and take pictures. In its early days, the wax museum was plagued by

vandalism because some people liked to take wax fingers or pieces of costume as souvenirs.

References http://www.travelmath.com/driving-time/from/Tallahassee,

+FL/to/Saint+Augustine,+FL http://fountainofyouthflorida.reservestaugustine.com/da/

fountain-youth-archaeological-park-st-augustine http://www.trolleytours.com/st-augustine/fountain-of-youth.asp http://staugustine.com/history/castillo-de-san-marcos https://www.citywalkingguide.com/staugustine/catillo-de-san-

marcos-facts http://www.alligatorfarm.com/history.html http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=347 http://www.staugustinelighthouse.com/ourstories/

LighthouseStory http://www.trolleytours.com/st-augustine/old-jail.asp http://www.historictours.com/staugustine/

References 2 https://www.citywalkingguide.com/staugustine/

ripleysbelieveitornot http://www.ripleys.com/staugustine/your-visit/believe-it-

or-not-museum/ http://www.staugustineattractions.net/attractions.php?

id=10773836965004 http://www.staugustineinns.com/potters-wax-

museum.php