My favorite hobby is visiting places of historical significance. There are many places around the world that have had important roles throughout history. It requires planning and research to determine which places to visit due to the vast number of places that pose historical value. One way to determine which places to visit is to rank the places based on personal interest of a topic. This could be the first occurance of an event, places that were the foundation of other historical events, etc. Locations that played a role in the foundation of the United States has been one way that I have ranked the priority of visiting a location. This is the reason that I visited St. Augustine, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
St. Augustine, Florida is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States. It was founded in September 1565 by Spanish settlers. There are many places to sightsee in St. Augustine. Two of these locations are Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and the Ponce de Leon & Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Castillo de San Marcos was built between 1672 and 1695 on the shores of Matanzas Bay to defend Florida and the Spanish trade routes across the Atlantic Ocean. It is the oldest masonry fort in the Continental United States. There was a time that 1,500 people resided at this fort when there was a British land attack. The fort was not always occupied by the Spanish though. The British occupied the fort from 1763 to 1784. In 1784 ownership was transferred back to the Spanish. In 1821 the Unites States bought the fort. It became part of the United States National Park System as a monument on October 15, 1924 by a declaration of President Calvin Coolidge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Juan Ponce de Leon, a captain in the Spanish Army, was commissioned to search for deposits of gold on the island of San Juan Bautista, which is now known as Puerto Rico. He and his soldiers created a settlement named Caparra, near what is now San Juan, from 1508-1509. He was eventually replaced as governor by a son of Cristopher Columbus. Afterwards he and his soldiers sailed to an are near what is now St. Augustine. The location that he settled is now the Ponce de Leon & Fountain of Youth Archaelogical Park. One of the more interesting features of this park is the alleged Fountain of Youth. While I was there I had the opportunity to drink from this fountain, but unsurprisingly I did not become youthful. Oh the shock! Historical records, though, have not shown that the Fountain of Youth was actually sought by Ponce de Leon. This may have been a rumor to discredit Ponce de Leon. Nevertheless, it was an interesting sight to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n