St. Augustine, Florida - Part 3, Monday, November 2, 2020

Continued from Part 2...

It's time to finish up our 10k St. Augustine Volksmarch. From the three historic buildings on Granada Street, we continued on Granada Street past the old Markland Mansion. It was built by the Anderson family in 1843 and is now part of Flagler College.

Markland Mansion.

The historical marker of the Anderson family who built Markland Mansion is very sad. We've seen this story played out time and time again in our travels. The couple buys a property, starts building a house, and then either the husband or wife dies due to various circumstances. In this case, after Dr. Andrew Anderson laid the foundations of the coquina shellstone house in 1839, he died in a yellow fever epidemic. The building was completed by his widow, Clarissa Anderson. Their son, Dr. Andrew Anderson II, developed the Markland orange grove after the Civil War, one of the most famous orange groves in Florida.

Dr. Anderson II was a friend of Henry Flagler's and, in the 1880s, Flagler purchased the eastern portion of the orange grove to build Hotel Ponce de Leon. After the death of the younger Dr. Anderson in 1924, the house was sold to St. Augustine mayor Herbert Wolfe who sold it to Flagler College in 1968.

We were intrigued by the Spanish moss and ferns growing on the branches of live oak trees and at the base of some palm trees. So I looked them up. Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is not a moss at all, but a bromeliad--a perennial herb in the pineapple family. Most bromeliads are epiphytes (air plants). They take nutrients from the air, debris, fog, and rain that land on the plants. They do not rely on the plants for nutrients.

Spanish "moss" and resurrection ferns
growing on the branches of live oak trees.

Then curiosity got the better of me and I had to look up the ferns living on the trees. They are known as resurrection ferns (Pleopeltis polypodioides) and are also epiphytes (air plants). They grow on live oaks, pecan trees, cypresses, sabal palms, surfaces of rocks, and dead logs, but do not hurt the host trees. We have seen these plants all over the southeastern United States where they are native.

The next significant building on our walk was the Memorial Presbyterian Church built in 1890 by, you guessed it, Henry Flagler. He built it in memory of his daughter Jennie. It is a beautiful monument to her memory.

Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Memorial Presbyterian Church.

Memorial Presbyterian Church (front).

Memorial Presbyterian Church,
close-up of the dome.

In the attached mausoleum, Henry Flagler, his wife, daughter, and granddaughter are all buried.

We then entered the Model Land Company National Register Historic District. This is land planning on steroids (maybe like Disney with its Celebration community today). [NOTE: The information below is from "A Florida Heritage Site" historic marker (2018).] 

Before Henry Flagler started his development of the area, Spanish colonists settled this area in the 1700s and used it for small-scale farming. By 1720, to improve St. Augustine's defenses, settlers built the Rosario and Cubo defense lines through here. By 1737, a Franciscan mission had been established to minister to the indigenous Guale, who had settled nearby in the village of Tolomato. 

In 1885, Henry M. Flagler started development here envisioning this tract of land as the "Winter Newport," with his Hotel Ponce de Leon surrounded by grand "cottages" of wealthy seasonal residents. After purchasing the 40-acre tract, he named the streets to recognize the city's Spanish heritage (Valencia, Sevilla, and Saragossa). Carriages transported passengers to Flagler's hotel from the Union Train Station at the San Sebastian River

Winter residents enjoyed the Railroad Park gardens and the Ponce de Leon baseball field where the Cuban Giants of the segregated Negro League played. The first homes were built for hotel and railroad executives and as winter rentals for Flagler's guests. In 1896, he incorporated the Model Land Company to manage his extensive land holdings in Florida.

In the 1920s, the train station was replaced by the Florida East Coast Railway General Office Buildings, which became the Model Land Company headquarters. Flagler failed to realize his dream of an upper-class community, and in 1903, the Model Land Company started to sell smaller lots, and more modest homes predominate.

Following World War II, the neighborhood entered its final development phase as Flagler's mansion, Kirkside, along with other structures of the early years, including the YMCA, the hotel's laundry and dormitory, and the baseball field were demolished. New construction began to include Ranch- and Art Moderne-style homes.

Ancient City Baptist Church.

We continued walking through the neighborhood. A redoubt stood on one corner of Orange and Cordova St. and the "Oldest Drug Store" built over a century ago stood on the other side of the street. The drug store is unique because the original cypress siding has never been painted.

San Domingo Redoubt of
the Cubo defense line.

Oldest Drug Store.

COVID-19: A Sign of the Times.

History of the elaborate defense system
and fortifications in St. Augustine. 

We turned onto Cordova Street which is home to many old Bed & Breakfast Inns built around 1900.

Southern Wind Inn Bed & Breakfast.

Carriage Way Bed & Breakfast.

A restaurant in St. Augustine.

Cathedral Basilica (part of "Rockin'
Around the Clock" Special Program).

At this point, we turned onto St. George Street, a pedestrian walkway with shops and restaurants. We could have spent all day just shopping here, but that's not our thing. 

St. George Street.

St. George Street shops and restaurants.

St. George Street.

St. George Street.

Farther down St. George Street, we came to the Spanish Quarter Village (admission fee). The description says, "Step back in time 250 years, as craftspeople and guides dressed in period costumes of the 1740s recreate the lifestyles of Spanish colonists."

As we walked along, we also saw the "Oldest Wooden School House." The walk was almost complete. As we left St. George Street, we passed through the old City Gate constructed of coquina blocks in 1808 to replace the wooden gate constructed a century earlier. 

Oldest Wooden School. 

The old City Gate.

The Old City Gate plaque.

Castillo de San Marcos
National Monument.

We passed the old Huguenot Cemetery dating from 1821. Just past the cemetery, we saw the beginning of the Old Spanish Trail. It is indicated by the Zero Milestone Marker. You can see it on the Visitor Center grounds (front left).

Looking back at the old City Gate.

The Old Spanish Trail
Zero Milestone marker.

The Zero Milestone Marker
of the Old Spanish Trail
in St. Augustine, Florida.

Description of the fountain below.

A new "fountain face."

The St. Augustine Visitor Center.

From the Visitor Center, we walked back to our start point. We had a wonderful, informative 10k walk in gale-force winds. We made sure to hold onto our hats!

After the 4-1/2-hour walk, we went to one of our favorite places to eat a late lunch: Chicken Salad Chick. If you are ever near this restaurant, do yourself a favor and stop in for a meal (unless you don't like chicken salad)! The chicken salad comes in all kinds of flavors: original, Old South (with hard-boiled eggs and pickles), curry, Barbie-Q, chicken wings, and many more. We usually get the Combo Meal which comes with a scoop of chicken salad on a lettuce leaf or a scoop of chicken salad as a sandwich (your choice), one side (I love their grape salad, but I've heard the mac 'n' cheese is great, too), and a cookie. Mmm!

Thank you, Happy Wanderers Walking Club for this fantastic walk! We keep talking about how good it is.