# @stauglighthouse on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DJv-cBwOO1z
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/30587104-stauglighthouse-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/c88405b4d5.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-05-17T09:27:08.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** St. Augustine Lighthouse & MM (@stauglighthouse) — https://gondola.cc/stauglighthouse

## Caption

In 1589 Italian cartographer (mapmaker), Giovanni Battista Boazio published his map of the raid of Sir Francis Drake on St. Augustine three years earlier. The map is the first documented archival reference of a wooden watchtower at the end of Anastasia Island. The watchtowers were erected by the Spanish crown during the building of the Castillo De San Marcos to keep enemy ships from taking Anastasia Island. The watchtower at the north end of the island eventually became the St. Augustine Lighthouse, and the one at the sound end became Fort Matanzas National Monument.

1731-1762

By 1737, the Spanish replaced earlier construction with a new 30-foot watchtower made of coquina (shell rock) and wood. A canoe was kept at the centinella for helping those stationed there warn the town of approaching vessels. A spar with halyards was raised to signal the direction from which ships traveled. Ships coming from the north might signal an enemy arrival.

1782-1821

On the night of New Year’s Eve, 1782, some 16 ships wrecked during a nor’ easter while attempting to enter the harbor. The ships were a few of the hundreds used by the British to evacuate Charles Town, (Charleston) SC, on December 14, 1781, following American victory in the Revolutionary War. Museum archaeologists have excavated one of these ships under permit from the State of Florida. Visitors can explore our findings in the exhibition, Wrecked!

Following the evacuation of its colonies to the north, the population of British St. Augustine swelled to about 30,000 people, about the same size as Philadelphia during the day. Thousands of Native Americas also came and camped outside the City Gates seeking British protection. 

Governor Patrick Tonyn struggled to feed and protect everyone, and he eventually closed out all British interests south of New York. Florida was ceded back to the Spanish in the 1783 Treaty of Paris. 

👉🏽Read more St. Augustine Lighthouse history here: https://www.staugustinelighthouse.org/get-involved/about-mission-uvp/history/

📸 Photo by jwilson_aerial_photography 

#staugustinelighthouse #staugustine #lighthouse #lighthousehistory #saintaugustine #florida #floridahistory #ushistory

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## Tags

saintaugustine, staugustinelighthouse, lighthouse, floridahistory, lighthousehistory, florida, ushistory, staugustine

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