Page 26 - Guest Advantage Magazine - September 2015

1845: Florida becomes the 27th State
of the Union. Tallahassee was selected
as the state capital. This decision was a compromise between St. Augustine and Pensacola, both of which were difficult to reach from most parts of the state.
1862: Civil War Union forces take control of the First Coast area.
St. Augustine is held until the end of the war. Jacksonville is burned and destroyed after just one year of occupation.
1864: The Battle of Olustee occurs, the only major battle of the Civil War to be be fought in Florida.
1865: The end of the Civil War brought the beginning of tourism to the First Coast. Northern soldiers took home reports of Jacksonville’s mild clear winters, thus creating the first Florida tourism market. Prior to St. Augustine having any notable hotels, Jacksonville was a cosmopolitan tourist city.
1883: The Flagler Era Begins. During the 1883-84 winter, Henry M.Flagler, one
of the founders of Standard Oil, visited St. Augustine. From this visit came
the construction of the Ponce de Leon Hotel and the Alcazar Hotel. Currently Flagler College and the Lightner Museum respectively. These posh resorts lead
St. Augustine to be known as the Riviera of the South.
1887-1914: FIRES! During this relatively short time period both
St. Augustine and Jacksonville experienced disastrous city fires. In 1887, flames swept the St. Augustine Cathedral and destroyed much of the block north of the plaza. Jacksonville
was totally rebuilt after the great fire of 1901.It returned as a modern city of brick and stone becoming Florida’s largest metropolis. The rebuilding continued
in St. Augustine after a disastrous fire in 1914 wiped out many of the buildings in the older section of the city between the city gates and the plaza.
After the Fire: The fires that devastated Jacksonville and St. Augustine created a clean slate upon which each community
arose to be what is today a thriving business, cultural and historic region currently known as Florida’s First Coast.
1908: The first motion picture studios open in Jacksonville, helping it become the “world’s winter film capital”.
1920: Beginning of the Florida land boom
1920: Pablo Beach changes its name to Jacksonville Beach and incorporates and establishes a city commission form of government. The Mayor is W. E. Montgomery.
1927: Bridge of Lions, North River Bridge and Matanzas Inlet Bridge open.
1927: Charles Lindbergh completes solo Atlantic crossing & vists Jacksonville
1938: Marineland opens as Marine Studios; over 30,000 guests show up on the first day.– The original vision for Marineland was an effort to duplicate
the variety of marine life as it exists in nature for the purpose of filming scenes for motion pictures and newsreels. Marine Studios was the ideal location to meet Hollywood’s growing demand for underwater footage. Over the years, many film and television producers utilized the studio for filming. Popularly known as the “World’s First Oceanarium.”
1941: The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and on December 8 the United States entered the Second World War; Florida mobilizes. Florida is an important location for the training of American soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
1942: April 10, the tanker Gulfamerica on maiden voyage is torpedoed by a German submarine in the waters across from Jacksonville Beach during the Policeman’s Ball.
1942: Four German agents land on Ponte Vedra Beach, south of Jacksonville. Fishermen discover the agents, who were then captured by the FBI.
1949: WTVJ-TV (NBC), Florida’s first
television station, begins broadcasting. WJXT-TV (CBS) in Jacksonville was the second station, also began in this year.
1963: Cape Canaveral is renamed Cape Kennedy by President Lyndon Johnson, who also established the Kennedy Space Center at the site, located in Brevard County. The name was changed back in 1973.
1965: 400th anniversary of St. Augustine celebrated.
1968: Flagler College opens in the former Ponce de Leon Hotel.
1971: Walt Disney World opens in Orlando & transforms Florida’s economy and surrounding Central Florida.
1995: Jacksonville Jaguars officially become an NFL franchise
2001: King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain visit St. Augustine.
2005: New England defeats Philadelphia in SuperBowl XXXIX played in Jacksonville FL.
2005-2011: Bridge of Lions in
St. Augustine, originally constructed in 1927, is restored.
2013: The Beaches Museum & History Park celebrated the 500th Anniversary of the “Spanish in Florida” with an exhibit honoring the 1513 visit by Juan Ponce de León. His April 2nd, latitude reading of 30 degrees 8 minutes places his arrival in Florida on our island, commonly known as San Pablo Island. The location is in Ponte Vedra Beach, at approximately 1202 Highway A1A. Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTMNERR) erected a 15 foot statue to commemorate the approximate location of the arrival of Juan Ponce de León.
2015: St. Augustine celebrates it’s 450 anniversary
26 GUEST ADVANTAGE • 2015 / 2016