Tag: Pinch of the Past

As we are recording today, KyLee isn’t feeling well, so I hope you won’t mind joining me as I try not to nerd out too much about one of the coolest places in the United States – the Castillo de San Marcos. 

History and Construction

• In 1513, Ponce de Leon claimed the land he named Florida for Spain. It became an important holding to protect the Spanish ships bearing gold and silver from Central and South America back to Spain. As the French started encroaching on Florida, King Phillip II sent Pedro Menéndez in 1565 who founded the town of St. Augustine.
• St. Augustine is the oldest continually occupied European settlement in North America. It was defended by nine wooden forts which either rotted away, or were burned down by attacking armies.

Finally, in 1672 – over 100 years after the founding of St. Augustine – construction began on a stone fort. It was built of locally quarried coquina stone and took 23 years to complete. Coquina is a sedimentary rock made of tiny shells that is actually soft and porous, but hardens when it’s exposed to air. So it’s easy to cut and shape.

Possibly the coolest thing about this stone is it maintains some of its flexibility after it hardens. When the British assaulted the fort with cannon fire, the stone didn’t crack and crumble. The cannonballs simply sank into the stone. During the night, Spanish soldiers would dig out the lodged cannonballs and patch the walls with fresh coquina. Next morning, the fort appeared to have suffered no damage at all.