St. Augustine, Florida's Colonial Capital

The narrative traces the settlement's founding by Spanish forces on the Atlantic coast, its early struggles with French Protestant colonists and repeated English attacks, and the construction of a durable masonry fortress to defend the harbor. It recounts missionary work among indigenous peoples, the settlement's transfer between Spanish, British, and American authorities, and local episodes during Indian wars and the Civil War. Later chapters follow revival as a tourist destination after improved transportation and development, describe surviving fortifications and changing urban life, and show how the colonial past shaped the modern town.