In 1994, I was ten years old and had lived my entire life in this sleepy little fishing village on the Northeast Florida coast called St Augustine. In my very narrow worldview, I was under the impression that every town contained bits of historic lore [Read more…]

A few years ago, back when I still worked at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, I was training my summer intern on giving tours when I spotted a familiar face in the courtyard. I couldn’t quite remember where I knew this woman from, [Read more…]

Lewis Ogden O’Brien had just turned 12 in the spring of 1885, when he scribbled out a short note, jammed it inside a bottle, and hid it inside an air vent at his family’s new winter estate in Florida. The oldest of three, Lewis would [Read more…]

History is written in the architecture all over St. Augustine. From coquina walkways to gilded arches, each structure carries with it not only a unique design, but a unique story. High on the dunes of Crescent Beach, just a few hundred yards north of State [Read more…]