The St Augustine Town Plan Historic District is a U.S. National Historic Landmark District encompassing the colonial heart of the city. It substantially encompasses the street plan of the city as contained within the bounds of walls (no longer standing) built between the 16th and early 19th centuries. The district is bounded by Cordova, Orange, and St. Francis Streets, and Matanzas Bay. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970, although its boundaries were not formally defined until 1986.

Description and history

St. Augustine, founded by Spain in 1565, is the oldest permanent European settlement on the mainland of North America, north of Mexico. Its long colonial history extends to 1822, when Spanish East Florida was annexed to the United States as part of the Florida Territory. The city core's street plan, with narrow streets, dates to the first period of Spanish control, which ended in 1763 with the cession of Florida to Great Britain. Britain returned Florida to Spain in 1784. Roughly half of the area's buildings were built before 1925, with a substantially large number in either Spanish Colonial or Moorish Revival styles.

Landmarks

Some of the most distinctive of the city's landmarks are located in the district, and have their origins in the Spanish settlement. Construction of the

Castillo de San Marcos The Castillo de San Marcos (Spanish for "St. Mark's Castle") is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States; it is located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in the city of St. Augustine, Florida. It was designed by the Spanish ...

, located at the northeastern end of the district, began with the community's founding, and the central plaza was also an early defining feature. The plaza is now faced by the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, built during the second Spanish period in 1793–94, and by a 1930s post office that was designed to strongly resemble the original Spanish governor's palace, which it replaced. Further south in the district stand a cluster of some of the city's oldest surviving residences, including the González–Alvarez House ( the Oldest House, the oldest surviving house in the city) and the

Llambias House The Llambias House (also known as the Fernandez-Llambias House) is a historic house located at 31 Saint Francis Street in St. Augustine, Florida. Built sometime before 1763, it is one of the few houses in Florida to survive from the first period ...

Other contributing properties

* Benet Store * Blacksmith Shop * Florida Heritage House (Wakeman House) * Gallegos House * Gómez House * Gonzáles and De Hita Houses * Luciano de Herrera House * Oliveros House *

Pellicer-De Burgo House The Pellicer-De Burgo House is located at 53 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstruction of two connected houses built during the British Period (1763-1783) of East Florida. History According to a Spanish map of 1763, t ...

* Ponce de Leon Hotel * Ribera House * Rodríguez House * Salcedo House & Kitchen * Santoyo House * Sims Silversmith Shop * Spanish Military Hospital Museum *

Triay House The Triay House is a historic property located at 31 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstruction of the First Spanish Period structure that stood on the site. History Early Spanish records of St. Augustine show that Ped ...

Wells Print Shop The Wells Print Shop was located at 27 Cuna Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It operated as part of the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board's 18th century museum village, San Agustín Antiguo, demonstrating the colonial printmaking process ...

* William Watson House

Gallery

File:Atlantic Bank Building.jpg, alt=, Atlantic Bank Building - May 2019 File:Pena-Peck House.jpg, alt=, Pena-Peck House - May 2019 File:Tovar House.jpg, alt=, Tovar House - May 2019 File:St. Augustine Cathedral 1.jpg, alt=, St. Augustine Cathedral - May 2019 File:Government House - St. Augustine.jpg, alt=, Government House - May 2019

References

External links