St. Augustine, Florida

St. Augustine (/ˈɔːɡəstiːn/ AW-gə-steen; Spanish: San Agustín [san aɣusˈtin]) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish settlers, it is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in what is now the contiguous United States.

St. Augustine was founded on September 8, 1565, by Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Florida's first governor. He named the settlement San Agustín, because his ships bearing settlers, troops, and supplies from Spain had first sighted land in Florida eleven days earlier on August 28, the feast day of St. Augustine. The city served as the capital of Spanish Florida for over 200 years. It became the capital of British East Florida in 1763 and continued as the capital after the 1783 Treaty of Versailles in the Second Spanish Period.

Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1819, and St. Augustine was designated one of the two alternating capitals of the Florida Territory, the other being Pensacola, upon ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821. The Florida National Guard made the city its headquarters that same year. The territorial government moved and made Tallahassee the permanent capital of Florida in 1824.

St. Augustine is part of Florida's First Coast region and the Jacksonville metropolitan area. It had a population of 14,329 at the 2020 census, up from 12,975 at the 2010 census. Since the late 19th century, St. Augustine's distinctive historical character has made the city a tourist attraction. Castillo de San Marcos, the city's 17th-century Spanish fort, continues to attract tourists. St. George Street is a major pedestrian street that runs through the downtown area and includes over 30 historic houses and tourist attractions.