A Guide-Book of Florida and the South for Tourists, Invalids and Emigrants

Estaran vos prenada
Ya omitiada
Tu o vais aqui surventa
Fia del Dieu contenta
Para fe lo que el vol
Disciarem lu dol
Cantarem aub ’alagria
Y n’arem a da
Las pascuas a Maria,
O Maria.”

I have no doubt but that this is somewhat incorrect, as I am informed that the ordinary language of the old natives is comparatively pure Spanish.

St. Augustine is built on a small Peninsula, between the St. Sebastian River, itself an arm of the sea, and the Bay. Its plan is that of an oblong parallelogram, traversed longitudinally by two principal streets, which are intersected at right angles by cross streets. The Isthmus connecting the Peninsula to the main is on the north, and is strengthened by a stone causeway. The ruins of a suburb, called the North City, are visible near it. Most of the streets are narrow, without sidewalks, and shaded by projecting balconies.

On the east is the harbor, a sheet of water about eight fathoms in depth, known as the Matanzas river. It is separated from the ocean by Anastasia, or Fish Island, a narrow tract of land about fourteen miles long. The inlet is variable in depth, but rarely averages over five feet.

The principal buildings are of Coquina rock. This is a concretion of fragments of shells, of recent formation. It extends along the east coast for about a hundred and fifty miles, in some places rising above the surface level, at others covered with several feet of sand. In one spot, near St. Augustine, it rests upon a peat bog. The quarries are on Anastasia Island, and are worth visiting.

Near the center of the town is the *Plaza, or square. In its midst is an unpretending monument, square at the base, and eighteen feet high, on which is inscribed:

Plaza de la Constitucion.

This was erected in 1812, to commemorate the short-lived constitutional form of government then instituted in Spain.

The building on the west side of the square was the residence of the Spanish Governors. It has been rebuilt and much altered since the purchase of the territory, and is now used for the United States Court. On the opposite side, between the Square and the water, is the Market House.

The building on the north side is the Roman Catholic Church. Its quaint belfry has four bells which ring forth the Angelus thrice daily. One of these has the following inscription:

Sancte Joseph,

Ora pro Nobis

A. D., 1682

This church was commenced in 1793, and doubtless this bell was brought from the previous church, which was on St. George street. In the interior, the ceiling is painted, the floor of concrete, and there are a few pictures, none of note. Many of its attendants are descendants of Spanish and Minorcan families.

Opposite the Roman Catholic, is the Episcopal church, consecrated in 1833.

The oldest building in the city is supposed to be that at the corner of Green Lane and Bay street. A century ago it was the residence of the English attorney general, and was probably built about 1750. It will be observed that the coquina rock does not wear very well.

At the north end of the town, where the causeway (of modern construction) connects with the main land, is the *City Gate, flanked by two square pillars, with Moorish tops. On either side a dry ditch, and the remains of a wall, mark the fortified limits of the city.

At the southern extremity of the peninsula are the Barracks, built on the foundations of the ancient Franciscan convent. From their top a fine view of the town can be obtained. In the rear of the main building is a Cemetery where the victims of “Dade’s Massacre,” during the 1st Seminole war, were buried, and other members of the U. S. forces.

Still further south are the United States Arsenal and the remains of an ancient breastwork.

The whole east front of the town for more than a mile is occupied by the *sea wall. It was built by the United States (1837-1843) to prevent the encroachment of the waves. The material is coquina stone topped by granite. It is wide enough for two persons to walk abreast upon it, and it is a favorite evening promenade. It encloses two handsome basins, with steps leading to the water.

Fort Marion, or, as it was formerly called, the castle of San Marco, occupies a commanding position on the north of the city. It is considered a fine specimen of military architecture, having been constructed on the principles laid down by the famous engineer Vauban. No fees are required for visitors. The walls are 21 feet high, with bastions at each corner, the whole structure being in the form of a trapezium, and enclosing an area about sixty yds. square. The main entrance is by a drawbridge. Over this is sculptured on a block of stone the Spanish coat of arms, surmounted by the globe and cross, with a Maltese cross and lamb beneath. Immediately under the arms is this inscription:

Reynando en Espana el Senr Don Fernando Sexto y siendo Govor. y Capn. de esa. Cd. San. Augn. de La Florida y sus Prova. el Mariscal de campos Don Alonzo Ferndo. Hereda Asi concluio este Castillo el an OD. 1756. Dirigiendo las obras el Cap Ingnro. Dn. Pedro de Brozas y Garay

“Don Ferdinand VI. being king of Spain, the field marshal, Don Alonzo Fernando Hereda, governor and captain of this city of San Augustin de la Florida and its provinces, finished this castle in the year 1756, the captain of engineers Don Pedro de Brozas y Garay superintending the work.”

From the space in the interior, doors lead to the casemates. Opposite the entrance, in the northern casemate, is the apartment which was formerly used as a chapel. The altar stone is still preserved. In another apartment, the small window is pointed out through which Coacoochee, a distinguished Seminole chieftain, made his escape in the first Seminole war. Under the north east bastion there are subterranean cells, probably used for confining prisoners, in one of which a human skeleton is said to have been found. The curtain on the east side of the fort, still shows the marks of Oglethorpe’s cannon balls.

The vicinity of St. Augustine is uninteresting. A pleasant drive can be taken through the town and along the east bank of the Sebastian river. A sail along Matanzas river has some attractions. Several good sail boats can be hired, some accommodating twenty or twenty-five persons, price $5.00 a day. A few miles south of the city an elevated spot marks the remains of General Moultrie’s (of revolutionary fame) residence. At the southern extremity of Anastasia island the ruins of a Spanish look-out are visible. Rock island, on the north shore of the inlet near this point, has a remarkable Indian mound.

Curlews and snipes afford some good sport along the strand, and in the winter, a brace or two of ducks can always be bagged on Anastasia island, but their flavor is not attractive.

The nearest orange grove is that of Dr. Anderson, on the west side of the town. In going thither, the path should be chosen leading through the pleasant orange walk on the grounds of Mr. Buckingham Smith.

The chief local industry at St. Augustine is the *palmetto work. Hats, baskets, and boxes are very tastefully plaited from the sun-dried leaves of the low variety of that plant. Specimens of this handwork make pleasant mementoes of a visit to this ancient city.

I now return to Picolata on the St. John. About a mile north of the landing, on the bank of the river, lived Col. John Lee Williams, the author of “The Natural and Civil History of Florida,” and “View of West Florida,” and in many ways conspicuous in the early history of the State. He died in 1857, and was buried in his own garden. I had the melancholy satisfaction of visiting his grave the day after his burial, having reached Picolata without learning his death. I was told that the river here had materially altered its course within the memory of those now living. I am certainly unable to account in any other way for the total disappearance of the Spanish fort which, a century ago, existed here. The traveller Bartram describes it as built of coquina stone brought from Anastasia island. The main work, a square tower, thirty feet high, with battlements allowing two guns on each side, was surrounded by a high wall, pierced with loop-holes and a deep exterior ditch. Even at that time he speaks of it as “very ancient.”

On the opposite bank of the river was the fort of St. Francis de Poppa. Its earthworks are still visible, about one mile north of the landing. From St. Francis de Poppa the old Spanish road led across the province to St. Marks on the Gulf. Two small Sulphur Springs are found a short distance from the Picolata landing.

Fifteen miles above Picolata the steamer stops on the right (west) bank at

PALATKA

Hotels.– Putnam House, St. John’s House, charges, $3.50 per day. The Palatka hotels are tolerable, but not so good as those of Jacksonville. Several boarding houses. A large hotel is projected.

This was originally a military post in the Indian war of 1836-’40. The town is built on a sand bluff ten to fifteen feet above the river, a few inches of shells forming the surface soil. There are 800 or 1,000 inhabitants, principally engaged in orange culture and lumbering. Several beautiful orange groves are in the vicinity, and constitute the only attraction of the place. The streets are sandy, and walking is difficult. Steamboats run from here direct to Charleston and Savannah, and also to the lakes of Marion and Alachua counties and up the Oklawaha river to Lake Griffin. A mail stage runs to Tampa.

Above Palatka the river narrows, and the banks become as a rule lower and more swampy. At a point twelve miles above, on the left (east) bank, Buffalo bluff meets the river, a ridge of loose sandrock surmounted by a stratum of shells from six to ten feet in thickness. Five miles beyond, on the same side, is Horse Landing, where a shell and sand mound rises abruptly about eight feet from the water. This has been carefully examined by Prof. Jeffries Wyman, and pronounced to have been built by the ancient possessors of the land. About eighteen miles above Palatka, on the east bank, is the small town of

WELAKA

Large boarding houses were here before the war but were destroyed. A capacious hotel is in process of erection. Three large sulphur springs are in the immediate vicinity, which could doubtless be applied to sanitary purposes. The soil is good, and well adapted to oranges. Eight miles east of Welaka is *Dunn’s Lake, a beautiful sheet of water twelve miles long and three wide, abundantly stocked with fish. Its shores abound in game, and many rich plantations are on and near it. The soil is unsurpassed by any in Florida, and has always borne a high reputation.

Opposite Welaka, the Oklawaha empties into the St. John. The latter river at this point is about 500 yards wide. Half a mile above, it expands to a width of three miles. This is called Little Lake George. Fort Gates landing is at its southern extremity. Twelve miles above Welaka is Lake George proper, a sheet of water about eighteen miles in length, and ten in width. At its southern end a large and fertile island (about 1900 acres), shuts off the view. It is called Rembrandt’s, or Drayton’s Island. According to Bartram, there should be remarkable monuments of the aborigines, mounds, earthworks, and artificial lakes, on this island. The channel lies to its east, and is quite narrow. At the extremity of this entrance there is a landing on the eastern shore, known as Sam’s landing, or Lake George landing. A post office was located here.

Several remarkable mineral springs are around this lake, especially on the western shore. It is an unsafe sea for boats, being exposed to sudden and violent winds.

A mile or two from the western shore, the ground rises into high sand-hills, covered with a dense growth of spruce-pine and blackjack oak. This is the “Eteniah scrub,” which divides the St. John from the Oklawaha, and extends for many miles southwardly. It is a dry and hopeless barren. Sixty-five miles above Palatka, and four miles above the southern entrance of Lake George, on the left (east) bank of the river, is the old settlement of

VOLUSIA

Good boarding-house by Dr. Langren – price moderate. Little is now seen from the river but a few ruinous houses and the marks of a once extended cultivation in overgrown “old fields,” but the place has a history worth recording.

Soon after the cession of the county to the English crown in 1763, Mr. Denison Rolles, a gentleman of wealth, actuated, it would appear, by a spirit of philanthropy, proposed to transport large numbers of the unfortunate women of the London street to this new country, and there give them a chance to lead a better life. With this object he obtained a grant of 40,000 acres, and located it in this portion of Florida. The manor was called Charlottia, from the queen. Several hundred acres were cleared, a large mansion house erected, a handsome avenue laid out, which was to reach to St. Augustine, and colonists to the number of three hundred brought across. But, as so often happens, unexpected obstacles arose. Supplies failed to come in time, fevers carried off many, the proprietor was accused of parsimony, and finally the settlement broke up, and those who survived went to Carolina and Georgia.

At this point the river is quite narrow, and both banks are occupied by fresh-water shell-bluffs, of artificial origin. On that opposite Volusia stands Fort Butler, a place of some note in the Indian wars. Four miles above Volusia, is Dexter’s Lake, (ten miles long.) It is a famous resort for wild fowls in the fall and winter. It is surrounded by extensive marshes, cypress groves, and hammocks.

A few miles above Lake Dexter the steamer stops at the small place now called Hawkinsville, but which formerly bore the much more euphonious name of the brave Seminole warrior, Osceola, (corruption of asse heholar, sun rising). On the left bank, six miles above, is the remarkable

BLUE SPRING