Spanish explorers discovered St Augustine on this day in 1565, all about oldest city in US

Spanish explorer Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles on this day, i.e. September 8, in 1565 discovered St. Augustine in Florida, US. Today, St. Augustine survives as the United States oldest continuously occupied city. Don Pedro landed ashore at an inlet called Mantanzas on the eastern coast of today’s Florida, planted the Spanish flag and declared the harbour and surrounding land in the name of the Spanish Empire. 

The history of Spanish explorers in Florida didn’t, however, start with Don Pedro. In 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon was the first recorded European to officially set eyes upon the peninsula. Despite Juan saying that he ‘discovered’ Florida while looking for the ‘Fountain of Youth’, historians later agreed that he travelled due to his own political aspirations. 

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St. Augustine, Florida was founded after Don Pedro was issued an ‘asiento’ by the Spanish Crown. The contract directed Don Pedro to explore the region’s Atlantic coast and report on its features, with the object of finding a suitable location to establish a permanent colony from which the Spanish treasure fleet could be defended and Spain’s claimed territories in North America protected against incursions by other European powers. The Spanish explorer was ordered by the crown to go to Florida and establish a centre of operations from which to attack the French. 

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Florida ceded to US in 1821

According to anecdotes, St. Augustine was intended to be a base for further colonial expansion across what is now the southwestern US. However, the efforts were hampered by apathy and hostility on the part of the Native Americans towards becoming Spanish subjects. In the following years, the settlement faced attacks from European forces. It started with a French soldier attacking Spanish holdings, followed by an English privateer attacking and plundering the settlement again. 

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In the late 1700s, the British forces even managed to raid the settlements, which later led to the Treaty of Paris that ended the seven years’ war. Spain then ceded Florida and St. Augustine to the British. Back in the 1800s, the settlement again saw the second period of Spanish rule, however, in 1819, Spain finally ceded Florida to the US and in 1821, Florida officially became a US possession as the Florida Territory in 1822. 

(Images: MartyMcFlyZone/Twitter) 

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