450 YEARS OF HISTORY
Principal Characters Remembered
Ponce de León: In
1513, discovered and named Florida. Only
surviving navigational fix for his voyage is
30 degrees 8 minutes north latitude which
placed him near Ponte Vedra the day before
coming ashore for the first time. At the
North Beach access on A1A south of Ponte
Vedra Beach, a statue and ocean overlook
marks 30’8”.
Pedro Menéndez One of Spain’s
most famous admirals, he founded
St. Augustine in 1565. The place where he
first came ashore is marked by the Great
Cross at the Mission Nombre de Dios. The
adjacent Fountain of Youth Archaeological
Park is the location of the original Spanish
community of St. Augustine.
Francisco Menéndez Escaped
South Carolina slave who found freedom
in St. Augustine and commanded the black
militia at Fort Mose where he won a major
victory over the British in 1740.
Mary Evans The inspiration for Eugenia
Price’s best-selling novel “Maria,” Mary Evans
was born in 1730. She lived in the GonzalezAlvarez House (The Oldest House) located
at 14 St. Francis Street where she and her
second husband ran a pub and inn that
catered to British soldiers. One of the most
influential women in St. Augustine, she
acquired land in exchange for her services
as a midwife.
of Spanish military forces. Varela became a
patriot in the struggle for Cuban independence and one of the leaders of the Catholic
Church in both the U.S. and Cuba.
Henry Flagler The Father of Florida
Seminoles, the U.S. Army was frustrated by
their failure to kill or capture him. So, in
1837, they invited him to a peace conference where he was arrested and imprisoned
in the Castillo de San Marcos.
Tourism and the man who “created” much
of St. Augustine’s current appeal when he
built the Hotel Ponce de Leon (now Flagler
College). The Flagler Mausoleum at Memorial Presbyterian Church holds the remains of
Henry, his first wife Mary, his daughter Jenny,
and granddaughter Marjorie.
Maria de los Dolores Mestre
Andreau In 1859, Maria’s husband Jo-
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Andrew Young On June 11, 1964,
Osceola The most famous leader of the
seph was the keeper of the original
St. Augustine Lighthouse. Unfortunately, he
fell to his death while painting the tower.
On January 7, 1860, Maria was named head
keeper of the lighthouse – the first American woman to be placed in charge of a U.S.
Lighthouse Service facility in Florida and the
first Hispanic woman to command a federal
shore installation.
Father Felix Varela
Born in 1788,
Varela spent his childhood in St. Augustine
where his grandfather was the commander
the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and
other prominent civil rights leaders were
arrested in St. Augustine. Their presence and
participation in non-violent demonstrations
received international media coverage that
helped ensure passage of the Civil Rights Act
of 1965. On June 9, 1964, Andrew Young, future U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,
was badly beaten by a white mob while
marching with Civil Rights demonstrators
across St. Augustine’s Plaza de la Constitucion. Today, Young’s Crossing, complete with
footprints to follow, memorializes that event.
PHOTOS: FLORIDASHISTORICCOAST.COM
Ponce de León
6
SJVCB_141200_450.indd 6
12/19/14 10:36:05 AM