by: Robert Makin
Even Ponce De Leon takes a vacation, now and then. He was gone for about two weeks in September. He didn’t say where he went or when he was coming home. Independence always hallmarked his character. When he came back, his refreshment was obvious. Now he shines in the sunlight – and the moonlight.
Born in the City of Leon in Spain in 1460, Juan Ponce made St. Augustine Florida his city of choice. He has been guarding the west end of the Bridge of Lions since 1927, when Dr. Andrew Anderson donated that statue, three years after his own death in 1924. Like Ponce De Leon, Anderson must have been quite a guy.
Ponce De Leon discovered the Gulf Stream, enabling Spain to get its Mexican gold home to Spain faster. Anderson discovered Bessie Smethurst who inspired him to finish the family mansion, Markland. The characters of these two figures in St. Augustine’s history are defined by their obvious romanticism. Maybe that’s what drew them to St. Augustine Florida. It certainly drew me here. This place is for the romantic.
Henry Flagler’s “gilded age” ended with the Great Depression but the combination of wondrous elegance of that time; the colorful Minorcans with their amazing recipes, the Spanish flavor of the old city, all remain. Fort Mose, the first free Black settlement in the United States, acted as the first front defending St. Augustine from invasions by pirates and the English. Its achievements are honored by the park north of town.
The seventeenth century Castillo de San Marcos still guards the St. Augustine Inlet to the sea. Ghosts of its long dead commanders still pace the gun deck among the eighteen pound cannons, while the ghosts of the poorly housed soldiers drill in the parade yard below. The cannons still watch eastward for invading pirate vessels. This old fortress lies practically in the shadow of the Ponce De Leon Hotel, completed by Henry Flagler in 1887. Those cannons may never be fired on hostile ships again, but they serve as a monument to the fierce bravery of their builders and to the hardships endured and overcome to establish Europe’s first permanent settlement on this continent.
St. Augustine Florida will surprise you, but not as much as 5’5” Pedro Menendez was surprised when he met Chief Oriba, standing over seven feet in height. The towering Timucua made a stark contrast to the petite Iberians. Ponce De Leon, according to history, at 4’11” was the tallest man on his ship. The Spanish in those days measured a man from the soles of his feet to the top of his HAT. When Juan took off his hat, he was only four feet eight inches tall. Imagine his surprise when he had to look so far UP at the Timucua Indians. Imagine the bravery it took for him to announce to those big Indians, “I’m claiming all your land in the name of the King of Spain.” They probably thought he was an Elf.
The Spanish families that came to St. Augustine with Pedro Menendez still live here. Making St. Augustine their home since 1565, the Solana family is the oldest registered family in the United States. They continue to make their mark on the community. Of the great men who walked our streets and land, Henry Flagler, Franklin Smith and the two Andrew Andersons left the largest tracks.
Flagler’s Ponce De Leon Hotel is the most grand of his buildings in St. Augustine, but The Alcazar Hotel, now functioning as the City Hall and the Lightner Museum, runs a close second. Its indoor swimming pool, casino, gymnasium and ballroom require more than one visit to grasp. Every time I go in there, I find some elaborate complexity I missed in past visits. Each time I learn something new and amazing.
Franklin Smith’s influence on Flagler to build in concrete came in the form of Smith’s Villa Zorayda. Open now as a museum, the Zorayda draws many visitors every day. It is among the nation’s first poured concrete buildings, a 1/10th scale model of one of the wings of the Alhambra Castle in Granada Spain. The Villa Zorayda boasts railroad rails for rebar, displays the unique architecture of Smith and the exotic collections of Abraham Mussallem.
Near the City Gates, erected in 1808, stands Mile Marker Number Zero for the Old Spanish Trail, marking the path of the missionaries across North America. Like an over-sized bowling ball, this huge coquina sphere, next to the visitors’ center easily catches the eye of the curious. The last mile marker of the trail lies in San Diego California.
The Minorcan people have a legend that if a visitor gets St. Augustine beach sand in his shoes, that sand will bring that person to St. Augustine. Henry Flagler certainly got sand in his shoes when he visited in 1881 with his ailing first wife Mary. He brought his second wife Alice here on their honeymoon in 1883. After that he was hooked.
Ponce De Leon certainly got sand in his shoes too. He’s still here.
Come to St. Augustine and immerse yourself in the richness of its history, the incredible fishing and the most beautiful beaches and golf courses in the world. If you feel you don’t have the time, send for some beach sand, pour it in your shoes, and you’ll be here before you know it.
