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Saint Augustine Historical Society - Oldest House Museum Complex

Name: Saint Augustine Historical Society - Oldest House Museum Complex
Address: 14 St Francis Street, Saint Augustine, FL, 32084, US
Telephone: +19048242872
Rating: 4.5

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Saint Augustine Historical Society - Oldest House Museum Complex

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Founded in 1883, the St. Augustine Historical Society is the oldest continuously operating museum an The mission of the St.
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Augustine Historical Society is to acquire, preserve, and interpret the historical resources of St. Augustine and its sphere of influence for the benefit of the public through its stewardship of historic buildings and collections, research, publications and educational programming. The Oldest House Museum Complex offers guided tours of Florida’s Oldest House, two museums, a changing exhibition gallery, ornamental gardens and a museum store on the grounds. The Oldest House Garden is available for wedding ceremonies as well. Admission:

Adult $8.00
Senior (55+) & Military ID $7.00
Student (6-18 & College) $4.00
Children < 6 Free
Family $18.00
Discount rates available for groups of 15 or more

10/16/2026

MUSEUM + HISTORIC HOUSES open 7 days a week! Owned and operated by the St. Augustine Historical Society, the Oldest House Museum Complex includes multiple historic properties, a guided tour of Florida’s oldest house (the Gonzalez-Alvarez House), a detailed history museum, ornamental gardens and colonial kitchen, rotating exhibits, and the museum store.

Hours are 10 am to 5 pm seven days a week. Call 904-824-2872 or visit staughs.com

📸 Drone photo by Mark Krancer Kram Kran Photo

10/15/2026

152 YEARS! Celebrating historic preservation at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum! 💡On October 15, 1874, lighthouse keeper William R. Russell lit the oil lamp inside the new, first-order Fresnel lens for the first time. He most likely walked to the tower from his residence at the old St. Augustine Light Station, upon which the sea was rapidly encroaching. The lens is 9-feet tall, and Russell would have had to climb inside it to light the lamps.

The jewel-like lens was hand-made just for St. Augustine in Paris, France by the company of Sauter & Lemonier. It represented the height of Victorian engineering and technology and cast its beam much farther out to sea than its predecessor. The new light now demonstrated three, fixed-flashes, from three, bulls-eye panels that could be seen from up to 19-24 nautical miles depending on atmospheric conditions. Fueled by oil and then kerosene before electricity came to the Light Station, the original lens would have given off a brightly hued, yellow light. Citizens living in town would have immediately noticed, and many have remained interested in it ever since.

florida lighthouse lens 150years staugustinebeach anastasiaisland staugustinefl
museum anniversary stauglocals

10/14/2026

⚰️FROM THE ARCHIVES of the St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library. 📸Picture of a coffin from 1848 representing 19th century funerary practices that made coffins appear to have drapery wrapped around it. This practice was adopted because (before this practice) the deceased were oftentimes wrapped in linen cloth, especially during the Civil War. To avoid the disturbing work of tearing a hole to identify the body, casket makers began making coffins made from zinc with a window over the face to identify the person without needing to open the coffin, while also maintaining a traditional drapery aesthetic.

📍6 Artillary Lane
St. Augustine, Florida
Research Library Appointments: 904-825-2333

10/12/2026

Indigenous Peoples Day — History of Native Americans in St. Augustine, Florida

🗓️ Timeline of the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park property in St. Augustine, Florida:

2,400 B.C.
Native Americans, known today as the Timucua, begin to occupy the region that spreads from present-day Central Florida to Southwest Georgia. The Timucua were a loosely-knit confederation of tribes that shared a common language, but were not bound politically as a common people with a common governing body or headman. They would trade with one another, but also go to war against each other.

1513
Ponce de Leon sights La Florida at 30º 8’ and comes ashore at a Timucua village tucked safely into a small harbor off the Atlantic Ocean. Believing the area to be an island, Ponce so named this beautiful “new land” La Florida because it was sighted during the Festival of Flowers at Easter time. The village of Seloy was centered here at the Fountain of Youth and extended about one mile to the north and one mile to the west, up to the San Sebastián River. He Sailed with three ships Santiago, Santa Maria & San Cristobal.

1565
Pedro Menendez de Aviles founds the city of St. Augustine at the Timucua village of Seloy, located at today’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. Menendez would remain at this site for nine months before growing hostilities between the Spaniards and the Timucua would lead him to move his fortifications across the river to what is now Anastasia Island.

1587
The first Catholic mission in the present-day United States was established on this site. The Catholic mission system would grow from its headquarters in St. Augustine, spreading from Tallahassee to the lower sea islands of South Carolina. Catastrophe would strike from 1702-1704, when English raids during Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713) wiped out the Spanish missions in this region – the last of the remaining Timucua would disappear with them.

1868
Henry H. Williams purchases a large piece of land just outside of St. Augustine from Paul Arnau for $2,500 (2017 value of $41,533). Williams was familiar with the history of Ponce de Leon and experienced his first visitors that same year.

10/09/2026

📷 Landscape shot of Tolomato Cemetery, undated. From the archives at the St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library.

Tolomato Cemetery has a 200+ year history in St Augustine. It was originally a Franciscan mission village for Guale Indians from Georgia, known as Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Tolomato. Later it was the first burial site of the Minorcans who arrived in Saint Augustine with their priest, Fr Pedro Camps, in 1777. Finally, it was the parish cemetery for the Cathedral from 1784 until 1884, when all cemeteries within the St Augustine city limits were closed because of fears of yellow fever.

UPCOMING EVENTS
🗓️October 17, 2026 10:30 AM
Tolomato Cemetery, 14 Cordova St, St Augustine
October Open Day and DAR
Patriot Remembrance Day

🗓️November 02, 2026 6:00 PM
Tolomato Cemetery, 14 Cordova St, St Augustine
All Souls' Day Mass

🗓️December 19, 2026 11:00 AM
Tolomato Cemetery, 14 Cordova St, St Augustine
December Open Day

🔗tolomatocemetery.com

10/07/2026

SPEAKER SERIES! We have a few more spots for the lecture on Thursday, October 8 at the Markland House, Flagler College.

⏰Cheese and w**e hour at 6:30 pm, Lectures begin at 7 pm

🗝️SPEAKER Killian Wolf: “Your Life as a Historical Artifact: Preserving Personal Stories in St. Augustine”

🗓️Thursday, October 8

About the Speaker:
Killian Wolf is the founder of Legacy Collection Press, a boutique ghostwriting and editing agency that helps individuals preserve their life stories for future generations. She is a multi-genre author and developmental editor with a background in archaeology and historic preservation. Through her work, she helps people identify the defining moments of their lives and turn them into written legacies that can be passed down for generations.

Talk Description: We preserve landmarks, documents, and artifacts, but often lose the lives behind them.

With a background in archaeology and historic preservation, Killian Wolf approaches personal history as something just as fragile and valuable as any physical artifact. In this talk, she explores how everyday lives shape the historical record, why so many personal stories disappear within a generation or two, and how oral histories can be responsibly documented and preserved.

🔗Register to attend this event in person: https://members.staughs.com/event-6717408?CalendarViewType=0&SelectedDate=6/2/2026

🛜To join via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89303266917

10/05/2026

THEN & NOW on Aviles Street in St. Augustine, Florida! As the St. Augustine Historical Society works to make some updates on Historical Markers located on the oldest platted street, the Research Library will be sharing some photos from the archives.

📷 The first photo from the 1940s depicts Aviles street looking south with some local businesses that were on this street at that time:

🍹Tradewinds Tropical Bar & Cocktail Lounge (now on Charlotte Street)
🎭Artillery Lane Playhouse
📚The St. Augustine Public Library (now the St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library)
🗝️Ximenez-Fatio House Museum (owned and made a museum in 1946 by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Florida.)

📷 The second photo from 2026 is a picture of the street in relatively the same spot as the 1940s photograph:

🏥 Spanish Military Hospital Museum
🍹Forgotten Tonic
🖼️ Plum Gallery
📝St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library
🗝️Ximenez-Fatio House Museum

10/02/2026

🍁2026 Fall Speaker Series 🍁
📍All lectures will take place at the Markland House, Flagler College

⏰Cheese and w**e hour at 6:30 pm, Lectures begin at 7 pm

🗝️SPEAKER Killian Wolf: “Your Life as a Historical Artifact: Preserving Personal Stories in St. Augustine”

🗓️Thursday, October 8

About the Speaker:
Killian Wolf is the founder of Legacy Collection Press, a boutique ghostwriting and editing agency that helps individuals preserve their life stories for future generations. She is a multi-genre author and developmental editor with a background in archaeology and historic preservation. Through her work, she helps people identify the defining moments of their lives and turn them into written legacies that can be passed down for generations.

Talk Description: We preserve landmarks, documents, and artifacts, but often lose the lives behind them.

With a background in archaeology and historic preservation, Killian Wolf approaches personal history as something just as fragile and valuable as any physical artifact. In this talk, she explores how everyday lives shape the historical record, why so many personal stories disappear within a generation or two, and how oral histories can be responsibly documented and preserved.

🔗Register to attend this event in person: https://members.staughs.com/event-6717408?CalendarViewType=0&SelectedDate=6/2/2026

🛜To join via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89303266917

🗝️SPEAKER Magen Altice:
“Creating Community - The St. Augustine Surf Culture Museum”

🗓️Wednesday, November 11

About the Speaker: Magen B. Altice is a public historian and Executive Director of the St. Augustine Historical Society, a role she has held since 2016. In this capacity, she leads one of Florida’s oldest historical organizations, overseeing museum operations, historic preservation, collections, publications, and community engagement.

Talk Description: The St. Augustine Surf Culture Museum explores more than a century of surfing history in St. Augustine, highlighting the people, places, and stories that shaped one of the region’s most vibrant coastal subcultures. Located within the historic Oldest House Museum Complex, the museum brings together oral histories, photographs, artifacts, and personal narratives to document how surfing evolved in St. Augustine, from its early beginnings to its role in the community today.

🔗REGISTER: https://members.staughs.com/event-6717420?CalendarViewType=0&SelectedDate=6/2/2026

🛜To join via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81754828213

09/30/2026

Lightner Museum, former Alcazar Hotel, photographed from the West Tower of the Ponce de Leon Hotel (Flagler College) in the 1950s.

Hotel Alcazar opened on December 25, 1888, as a luxury Gilded Age resort built by railroad magnate Henry Flagler.

📸Photo from the Library of Congress

09/28/2026

The historic Tovar House is part of the Oldest House Museum Complex, built in the 1700s. This historic building houses exhibits throughout the year. The first floor features the St. Augustine Surf Culture Museum. The second floor features special rotating exhibits throughout the year. Hours are 10 AM-5 PM seven days a week. Learn more at staughs.com

🗝️Tovar House Marker
St Augustine, FL

The text on the marker reads:
“The infantryman Jose Tovar lived on this corner in 1763. The original site and size of his house remained unchanged during the British period, when John Johnson, a Scottish merchant lived here. After the Spanish returned in 1784, Jose Coruna, a Canary Islander with his family, and Tomas Caraballo, an assistant surgeon, occupied the house. Geronimo Alvarez, who lived next door in the Gonzalez-Alvarez House, purchased the property in 1791. It remained in his family until 1871. A later occupant was Civil War General Martin D. Hardin, USA. The Tovar House has been owned by the St. Augustine Historical Society since 1918.”

📸 First photo by Jeff Talbert

Address

14 St Francis Street
Saint Augustine, FL
32084

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 5pm
Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm
Sunday	10am - 5pm

Telephone

+19048242872

Website

https://staughs.com/

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