From April 6 to April 8, 1927 St. Augustine held a three day Ponce de Leon celebration that included a variety of town events including baseball, fireworks, and reenactments. Featured events included th arrival of Juan Ponce de Leon in Florida, followed by Menéndez’s founding of St. Augustine (1565), Sir Francis Drake’s sacking of the town (1586), and the Oglethorpe siege (1740). There were more than 500 participants in costume and 200 horseman.
The first of these celebrations in St. Augustine dates to 1883, with others held in 1907, 1908, 1909 and 1913. Generally, the town tended to close shop for the celebration, though the events and time devoted toward the celebration varied.
Design and content by Melissa Klatzkow.
References: Bowen, Beth Rogero, and St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age. Postcard History Series.: Arcadia Publishing, 2008; Florida Homeseeker. "March, 1908." 10 (January 1908): 88; Graham, Thomas, Flagler's St. Augustine Hotels: The Ponce de Leon, the Alcazar, and the Casa Monica. Pineapple Press, Sarasota FL, 2003.
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