Make the most of your visit to St. Augustine’s Nights of Lights! Download the St. Augustine Nights of Lights App for maps, tips, and event details right at your fingertips. Avoid downtown congestion by using the Free Park & Ride Shuttle—it’s the easiest way to reach the festivities stress-free. Plan ahead, arrive early, and enjoy the holiday charm safely and smoothly!
Experience the spirit of America’s 250th where centuries of culture, architecture, and tradition come to life along Florida’s Historic Coast.
Founded in 1565, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established city in the continental U.S. Its rich history spans Spanish, British, and American rule—each leaving a lasting impact. As the capital of British East Florida (1763–1784) and later part of the U.S. after Florida’s statehood in 1845, St. Augustine evolved while preserving its layered past. Visitors can explore historic landmarks like Castillo de San Marcos, British-era structures, and 19th-century sites. Whether walking its brick-lined streets or touring museums and reenactments, this city offers a rare chance to engage with the origins of America across centuries and cultures.
The Original Underground Railroad that ran south
The original Underground Railroad that ran south, Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, or Fort Mose, is the site of the first legally sanctioned community of freed slaves in what is now the United States. From 1740–1763, most of Fort Mose’s community consisted of escaped, captured, or runaway slaves from the British colonies of South Carolina and Georgia. They ran from captivity in hope of a better life in St. Augustine.
one of St. Augustine’s oldest colonial buildings
As one of St. Augustine’s oldest colonial buildings, The Peña-Peck House tells the city’s history from its royal Spanish origins, built around 1750 by royal decree of King Ferdinand VI for Spanish Royal Treasurer Juan Estevan de Peña, and later Patrick Tonyn, Florida’s last British governor who played a pivotal role in the tumultuous period of the American Revolution. As a staunch Loyalist, he transformed St. Augustine into a critical refuge for British Loyalists fleeing the rebellious colonies.
step back in time to explore 500 years of European History
Visitors step back in time to explore 500 years of European History in St. Augustine!
The St. Augustine Colonial Experience allows visitors to understand the influences by each cultural success, Spanish, to British, to American pioneer, of the oldest permanent European Settlement in North America.
located on the oldest street in the United States
Located on Aviles St., The Oldest Street in the United States, within the Ximenez-Fatio House’s coquina walls visitors can experience a vivid recreation of how people lived in the years after Florida became a new territory of the United States, and then a state. Their guides are experts on that colorful period in St. Augustine’s past. Travel back in time with them as you tour the rooms and learn about the intrepid, sophisticated women who owned the property and operated it as an exclusive inn, as well as the visitors who wintered with them from the 1830s through the 1850s.
Settled by newly-freed slaves after the Civil War
Settled by newly-freed slaves after the Civil War, and named for President Lincoln, the Lincolnville Historic District neighborhood has a rich cultural heritage. The neighborhood played a pivotal role in the nation’s Civil Rights movement. At the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center (on the National Register of Historic Places) visitors can learn about the more than 450 years of Black history stretching from the empires of West Africa, to early colonial Florida and up to the 20th century. The Museum’s mission is to preserve and promote African American history through art, educational programs, lectures, live performances, oral histories, and immersive exhibits.
