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HistoryImage:Mapstaug.jpg Map of St. Augustine depicting Sir Francis Drake's attack on the city by Baptista Boazio, 1589 St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish. The first Christian worship service held in a permanent settlement in the current 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 Pensacola colony in West Florida (founded 1559), with the area abandoned in 1561 due to hurricanes, famine and warring tribes, and Fort Caroline in what is today Jacksonville, Florida in 1564. The city was founded by the Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés on August 28, 1565, the feast day of Augustine of Hippo, and consequently named by him San Agustín. Martin de Arguelles was born here one year later in 1566, the first child of European ancestry to be born in what is now the mainland United States. This came 21 years before the English settlement at Roanoke Island, in Virginia Colony, and 42 years before the successful settlements of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Jamestown, Virginia.
Image:Staugustine1760.JPG St. Augustine in 1760, while under Spanish control In 1763, the Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War and gave Florida and St. Augustine to the British, an acquisition the British had been unable to take by force and keep due to the strong fort there. St. Augustine came under British rule and served as a Loyalist (pro-British) colony during the American Revolutionary War. A Treaty of Paris in 1783 gave the American colonies north of Florida their independence, and ceded Florida to Spain in recognition of Spanish success during the war. Florida was under Spanish control again from 1784 to 1821. During this time, Spain was being invaded by Napoleon and was struggling to retain its colonies. Florida no longer held its past importance to Spain. The expanding United States, however, regarded Florida as vital to its interests. In 1821, the Adams-Onís Treaty peaceably turned the Spanish colonies in Florida and, with them, St. Augustine, over to the United States. Image:St augustine fla.jpg Public Square, St. Augustine, ca. 1858 Florida was a United States territory until 1845 when it became a U.S. state. In 1861, the American Civil War began and Florida seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Days before Florida seceded, state troops took the fort at St. Augustine from a small Union garrison (January 7, 1861). However, federal troops loyal to the United States Government quickly reoccupied the city (March 11, 1862) and remained in control throughout the four-year-long war. In 1865, Florida rejoined the United States.
In the late 19th century the railroad came to town, and led by northeastern industrialist Henry Flagler, St. Augustine became a winter resort for the very wealthy. A number of mansions and palatial grand hotels of this era still exist, some converted to other use, such as housing parts of Flagler College and museums. Flagler went on to develop much more of Florida's east coast, including his Florida East Coast Railway which eventually reached Key West in 1912. The city is a popular tourist attraction, for the rich Spanish Colonial Revival Style architectural heritage as well as elite 19th century architecture. In 1938 the theme park Marineland opened just south of St. Augustine, becoming one of Florida's first themed parks and setting the stage for the development of this industry in the following decades. Image:FLMap-doton-StAugustine.PNG Location of St. Augustine, Florida GeographySt. Augustine is located at (29.894264, -81.313208)GR1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.8 km² (10.7 mi²). 21.7 km² (8.4 mi²) of it is land and 6.1 km² (2.4 mi²) of it (21.99%) is water. Access to the Atlantic Ocean is via the St. Augustine Inlet of the Matanzas River. DemographicsImage:Cathedral Square in St. Augustine.JPG View from Cathedral Square As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 11,592 people, 4,963 households, and 2,600 families residing in the city. The population density was 534.7/km² (1,384.6/mi²). There were 5,642 housing units at an average density of 260.3/km² (673.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 81.21% White, 15.07% African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.88% from other races, and 1.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.11% of the population. There were 4,963 households out of which 18.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.4% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.6% were non-families. 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.76. In the city the population was spread out with 16.1% under the age of 18, 15.3% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 84.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $32,358, and the median income for a family was $41,892. Males had a median income of $27,099 versus $25,121 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,225. About 9.8% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.8% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over. Points of interestImage:Flagler College 2005-Sept fl 104.JPEG Flagler College Image:StAugCityHall LichtnerMuseum.jpg Lightner Museum and City Hall
Sister citiesEducationSt. Johns County School District operates local public schools. Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, a public residential school operated by the state of Florida, is located in St. Augustine [2]. Notable residents
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