An audio guide to North America's oldest city
St. Augustine’s 400-year history is related as stories told by people from the town’s past. These diverse storytellers add their personal perspectives to this oral history of St. Augustine, Florida.

Purchase Stories CD Set | Sample tracks | Description of Stories

Secrets Home  |  About Secrets  |  Order Secrets  |  Secrets Map  |  Secrets List  |  Contact
Story List and Synopsis
CD-1, 1565-1740
1. Pedro Menendez, The Founding
The Spanish conquistador tells about founding St. Augustine in 1565, including his orders to eradicate European rivals, the Catholic basis of his actions, and the difficulties of the early years.
2. Chief Saturiba, Timucuan Native View
This native Timucuan chief tells how Menendez used force and religion to manipulate Florida’s Indians, and how Menendez murdered more than 300 French prisoners.
3. Bartolome Martinez, A Soldier’s Duty
This soldier tells of Menendez’s marriage to an Indian chief’s sister to forge an alliance, the mutiny of soldiers in St. Augustine, and how Menendez fared before dying in 1574.
4. Francesca de Vera, Frontier Living
The matron of a boarding house tells of the harsh daily life of the first residents, the lack of security, and the 1588 destruction of the town by Sir Frances Drake.
5. Father Pareja, Struggle for Indian Souls
The Franciscan priest tells how the colony depended on Indian conversions to Catholicism in a network of missions, and discusses the Indian’s culture and challenges to Spanish authority.
6. Juan Rodriguez, Troubles and Treasure
This sailor of the early 1600s tells of rescuing crews of Spanish galleons that sank along the Florida coast, and describes the race against pirates to salvage the gold and silver from those frequent shipwrecks.
7. Lorenza de Soto, 100 Years of Instability
This mistress of the royal Governor tells about the rising influence of Florida-born colonists, efforts to promote trade and agriculture, and the pirate attack of Robert Searles in 1668.
8. Andrew Ransom, Building the Castillo
The captured Englishman tells of the construction of the Castillo de San Marcos from 1671-1695, how it helped repel two pirate attacks, and how the Spanish encouraged English slaves to seek freedom in St. Augustine.
9. Governor Zuniga, The Siege of 1702
This Governor tells of the English siege of 1702, the subsequent destruction of St. Augustine, and how the English mismanaged the siege and failed to take the Castillo.
10. Juan de Leon Fandino, Seizing Ships to Survive
This privateer tells of St. Augustine’s struggle for food, the practice of capturing merchant vessels and supplies, and how he cut off a ship captain’s ear, which led to the 1738 War of Jenkins’ Ear, also known as Queen Anne’s War.
11. Francisco Menendez, Slave Haven
This escaped slave tells how Spanish Florida and the British colonies clashed over slavery, how he became the leader of the first free black town in North America, and how the British siege of St. Augustine in 1740 also failed.

CD-2, 1741- Present
1. Luciano de Herrera, Britain Gains Florida
This St. Augustinian tells about Spain giving up Florida to Great Britain in 1763, how he became a spy, and how the town changed under British rule.
2. Thomas Brown, American Revolution
This Englishman tells how he led the East Florida Rangers against the American rebels during the Revolutionary War, and how 600 Minorcans fled from a brutal plantation to St. Augustine in 1777.
3. Mary Evans, British Interlude Ends
This tavern and inn operator tells how the British plantation economy altered race relations in St. Augustine, and how the town changed again when it returned to Spanish control in 1784.
4. Geronimo Alvarez, Second Spanish Period
This St. Augustine mayor describes the growing conflict with the Seminole Indians, and the effects on St. Augustine when Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821.
5. Manuela Mickler, Becoming American
This Minorcan grandmother tells of the incoming Americans who became known as Crackers, how the U.S. army used treachery to capture Seminole leaders, and why Florida became a Confederate state.
6. Domingo Usina, Civil War Divisions
The Confederate soldier tells how the town surrendered to the Union, how Florida fared during the Civil War, and how the Union Army turned former slaves into soldiers.
7. Aunt Nancy, Aftermath of Slavery
This freed slave tells about Reconstruction, how St. Augustine developed as a destination for ill Northerners, and how local whites fought to reverse blacks’ gains.
8. Andrew Anderson, Tycoon Hits Town
The mayor tells about Henry Flagler’s efforts to modernize St. Augustine in the 1880s, and how the town split into pro-Flagler and anti-Flagler factions.
9. Teresa McGuire, Henry Flagler’s Enterprises
This maid in Flagler’s Ponce de Leon hotel tells about hotel operations, how Flagler’s wife went insane, and how Flagler gained millions of acres developing his railroad.
10. Henry Flagler, Making the American Riviera
This founder of Standard Oil tells about his reputation as a ruthless businessman, how his wealthy hotel guests were entertained, and how locals resisted his efforts to make St. Augustine the American Riviera.
11. Errol Jones, Civil Rights and Modern Times
This current City Commissioner tells how St. Augustine adapted to tourism in the early 20th century, and relates his experience protesting with Martin Luther King Jr. during the town’s infamous Civil Rights marches of the 1960s.