St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish under Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Aviléss in 1565. The first Christian worship service held in a permanent settlement in the continental United States was a Catholic Mass celebrated in St. Augustine. A few settlements were founded prior to St. Augustine but all failed, including the original Pensacolaa colony in West Florida, founded by Tristán de Luna y Arellano in 1559, with the area abandoned in 1561 due to hurricanes, famine and warring tribes. Fort Caroline, founded by the French (and including a number of free Africans) in 1564 in what is today Jacksonville, Florida only lasted a year before being obliterated by the Spanish in 1565.

Geography and climate

St. Augustine is located at 29°53'39��N 81°18'48��W? / ?29.89417°N 81.31333°W? / 29.89417; -81.313333 (29.89785, -81.31151). According to the United States Census Bureauu, the city has a total area of 10.7 square miless (27.8 km²), of which, 8.4 square miles (21.7 km²) of it is land and 2.4 square miles (6.1 km²) of it (21.99%) is water. Access to the Atlantic Oceann is via the St. Augustine Inlet of the Matanzas River.




Transportation

Highways

Interstate 955 is the only major highway through St. Augustine, however it doesn't pass close to the historic district. Instead, visitors must exit at SR 166 and travel about 5 miles east on that road to reach the historic district. Alternatively, visitors may take SR 207 until it intersects U.S. 1, following U.S. 1 to the historic district. U.S. Route 11 and SR A1A are the main roads into the historic district. U.S. Route 1, commonly called Ponce De Leon Blvd or simply U.S. 1, snugs the east side of town while a local road branches off of it and runs directly into the heart of the historic district and the Bridge of Lionss. A1A intersects the local road a mile south from the north end of it. From there, the road is double signed as A1A/Business U.S. 1 and named San Marco Blvd until the Bridge of Lions where A1A crosses over to Anastasia Islandd. What Business U.S. 1 becomes after that is vague. Signs take it through the streets of the historic district where it is assumed to end back at U.S. 1, however signs don't show it going that far. SR 3122 mainly serves the business district on the southern end of town, and is also an other connection to Anastasia Island. SR 207 lies just south of the historic district. SR 207 connects St. Augustine with the farming communities of Hastings and Palatka.

Buses

Bus service is operated by the Sunshine Bus Company. Buses operate mainly between shopping centers across town, but a few go to Hastings and Jacksonville, where one can connect to JTA for additional service across Jacksonville.

Airport

St. Augustine has one public airport 5 miles north of town. It has 5 runways (2 of them water for sea planes), and was once served by Skybus, however Skybus ceased operations as of April 4, 2008. Only private flights and tour helicopters use it today.

Points of interest