| Education
and colleges are a large part of the history of
our area. Visit Beautiful Flagler College, a four
year private college. St John's River Community
College, First Coast Technical Institute, University
of St Augustine For the Health Sciences and the
Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. |
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Bayfront
Marin House History
| The
first notice of a house on the property that is
now home to The Bayfront Marin House, is in the
Roque map of 1788, which shows a wooden building
in bad condition. Francisco Marin, one of the
members of the Minorcan colony who had taken refuge
in St Augustine, acquired the house and lot in
the 1780's. The conditions finally being met,
Governor White gave the title of the lot to Francisco
Marin, Jr. in 1806. |
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| The
colonial house at 47 Marine Street (the rear section
of the front lot at 142 Avenida Memendez) dates
from the Second Spanish Period. It clearly shows
the effects of the early regulations laid out
by a royal ordinance issued by the King of Spain
in 1573. It decreed that in hot climates, the
streets should be narrow, and that: "All
town houses are to be so planned that they can
serve as a defense or fortress against those who
might attempt to create disturbances or occupy
the town." |
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The
house at 47 Marine Street is built right to the
street line, with masonry walls extending north
and south from the facade, as if to enclose a
compound. Entry is not from the street, but rather
through a door on the south side (which is now
the entrance to The Francisco Marin Room). |
| Captain
Henry Belknap came to St Augustine as guests
of the Alcazar, but fell so in love with the town
that he bought the Victorian Cottage that stood
at 142 Bay Street (now Avenida Menendez). This
beautiful home was once named the Hopkins Cottage
for its prior owners. Captain Henry also purchased
a cottage owned by Andrew Burgess in 1893, that
was located just north of the Marin house, moved
it east on the lot, and attached it to the back
of his own home. |
| Quickly
thereafter, he bought the remodeled coquina Marin
house and began to make wooden additions to it.
Thus three houses, ranging in time from the colonial
period to the Flagler era, combine to make the
current rambling structure, long a St Augustine
landmark. |
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| After
the death of Captain Henry in 1909, the rambling
building was sold to John Cambell, who transformed
the once single-family residence into modern apartments
or flats. In 1932, the building was sold to Beulah
Robinson Lewis of Virginia, who kept it in her
family until it was purchased by the Graubard
and Stacklum families in 1988. |
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The
apartment building was remodeled and operated
as The Villas de Marin, a collection of short-term
rental units for 14 years. The house was most
recently converted into The Magnificent Bayfront
Marin House: Bed and Breakfast Inn, which was
fully restored and open for business in July of
2003. |
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original Marin House now consists of The Francisco
Marin Room, The Coquina Suite, The Governor White
and The Lyndsay Michelle. The Burgess Cottage,
The Forrester Suite, The Princess Margaret, and
The Marine Street rooms complete what once was
the original Burgess Cottage. The original Hopkins
Cottage is today made up of the King George, The
Marie Antoinette, The Hopkings Cottage, The Bridge
of Lions, The Robinson Lewis and the Captain Henry.
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Historical
St Augustine
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As
history recounts, the mainland of the North American
continent was first sighted by the Spanish explorer
Don Juan Ponce de Leon on Easter, March 27, 1513.
He claimed the land for Spain and named it La
Florida, meaning "Land of Flowers".
Between 1513 and 1563 the government of Spain
launched six expeditions to settle Florida, but
all failed. |
The
French succeeded in establishing a fort and colony
on the St Johns River in 1564 and, in doing so, threatened
Spain's treasure fleets whic h sailed along Florida's
shoreline returning to Spain. As a result of this
incursion into Florida, King Phillip II named Don
Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spain's most experienced
admiral, as governor of Florida, instructing him to
explore and to colonize the territory. Menendez was
also instructed to drive out any pirates or settlers
from other nations, should they be found there.
| When
Menendez arrived off the coast of Florida, it
was August 28, 1565, the Feast Day of St Augustine.
Eleven days later, he and his 600 soldiers and
settlers came ashore at the site of the Timucuan
Indian village of Seloy with banners flying and
trumpets sounding. He hastily fortified the fledgling
village and named it St Augustine. |
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Utilizing
brilliant military maneuvers, Menendez destroyed the
French garrison on the St Johns River and, with the
help of a hurricane, also defeated the French fleet.
With the coast of Florida firmly in Spanish hands,
he then set to work building the town, establishing
missions to the Indians for the Church, and exploring
the land.
Thus,
St Augustine was founded forty-two years before the
English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five
years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock
in Massachusetts - making it the oldest permanent
European settlement on the North American continent.
The Charm of Europe on the
Coast of Florida
Maintaining St Augustine became
a mighty task over the next two hundred years. In
1586, English corsair Sir Francis Drake attacked and
burned the town. Then in 1668, the pirate Captain
John Davis plundered the town, killing sixty inhabitants.
Without the courage, perseverance
and faith of its early settlers it is doubtful that
St Augustine would have survived.
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Finally,
after the British established colonies in Georgia
and the Carolinas, Spain authorized the building
of a stone fort to protect St Augustine as assaults
from the north became more frequent. The Castillo
de San Marcos took twenty-three years to build
but, once in place, stood as the town's stalwart
defender. Major attacks were made against her
in 1702 by Governor James Moore of South Carolina
and in 1740 by General James Oglethorpe of Georgia.
Neither siege was successful, however, and to
this day, the fort has never fallen to enemy attack.
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It
was not until 1763 that Spain ceded Florida to England
in order to regain the capital of Cuba, ushering in
twenty years of British rule in Florida. This period
in history coincided with the American Revolution,
during which Florida remained loyal to the Crown.
In 1783, under the Treaty of Paris, Florida was returned
to Spanish rule for a period of thirty-seven years.
The Spanish departed for the last time when Spain
sold Florida to the United States of America. At a
colorful military ceremony on July 10, 1821, US troops
took possession of the territory and Spain relinquished
control of Florida forever.
Soon
after the American occupation, St Augustine suffered
a series of setbacks. In 1821, a yellow fever epidemic
brought death to many newcomers. Also, uprisings by
the Seminole Indians culminated in the Seminole War
of 1836, which called a halt to development of St Augustine's economy.
In 1845, as history records,
Florida became the twenty-seventh state admitted to
the Union. The Castillo de San Marcos was renamed
Fort Marion in honor of a Revolutionary War hero,
and the capital of East Florida was moved from St
Augustine to become part of the state capital in the
new town of Tallahassee.
| The
town had finally begun to prosper when the American
Civil War broke out in 1861. Although Florida
had seceded with the rest of the Confederacy,
St Augustine was occupied by Union troops throughout
most of the conflict. When the war ended in 1865,
the town was three centuries old. The war's end
brought speculators and land developers to Florida
along with the beginnings of the visitor industry.
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In
the 1880's, the sleepy old Spanish town began to bustle
with the arrival of Henry M. Flagler, who developed
the town as a major resort for the leisure traveler.
It was during the Flagler era that the minds of St
Augustine residents turned to the leisure life. North
Beach and Anastasia Island were explored and quickly
became popular destinations. The St Augustine Golf
Club operated a golf course on the grounds of the
fort, and buses transported guests from the Hotel
Ponce de Leon to another golf course north of town.
Yacht racing became another popular winter pastime,
as overseen by the St Augustine Yacht Club. Flagler's
vision would forever change the face of St Augustine,
but natural disaster also altered the town's appearance.
In 1887 and 1914, fires wiped out many historic buildings
between the plaza and the north city gates.
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