St. Augustine

The Fortification of St Augustine

The first permanent settlement of St Augustine wasn't built until Sept 8, 1565 by Pedro Menendez de Aviles. He named the city after the patron saint of his home town. The Spanish built nine wood forts. Each fort was burned to the ground during attacks. A famous attach lead by Sir Francis Drake in 1586 drove Spanish settlers into the wilderness while he burned yet another wood fort to the ground.

Castillo de san Marco

Cannon on the deck of Castillo de san Marco

Map depicting Sir Francis Drake's 1586 attack on St Augustine.

Without the resource required to hold the city the Spanish recaptured St. Augustine. After yet another attack by privateers, aka pirates the Spanish finally built a stone Fort, the Castillo de San Marcos. The Fort was constructed out of coquina, which is made out of small shells and sand. This fabulous material can deflect cannon balls and if it does not deflect it will absorb the cannon fire. The Castillo de San Marcos never fell in Battle and is still intact today. The Fort flew under 4 Flags. The Spanish, The English, The Spanish again then finally it flew under the US Flag.