Attractions in St. Augustine By: D. Chappell

Location  St. Augustine is 3 hours away from Florida’s state capital, Tallahassee  It is also about 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  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  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  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  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  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  time/from/Tallahassee,+FL/to/Saint+Augustine,+FL  youth-archaeological-park-st-augustine    facts     

References 2  ornot  not-museum/  