Florida's Historic Coast: The Tales These Coquina Walls Tell

The Cross of Burgundy, a historic Spanish military flag, flew over the thick walls of Castillo de San Marcos. As we entered this 325 year old fortress, we were amazed at how well it had held up over the years. Just the impact of a few strong hurricanes would surely do a fair amount of damage. Yet this structure withstood those storms as well as the fierce impact of cannonball warfare over the years. And even today, its coquina walls still stand tall ... seemingly ready to tell us the tales of a long, colorful, and sometimes dark history of St Augustine, Florida.

St Augustine, as we all learned in grade school, is purported to be our nation's oldest city. Settled in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it was the center of a number of battles through the centuries. While structures constructed of wood have long since burned or rotted in this humid climate, buildings such as Castillo de San Marcos and several other area homes, churches, and businesses still stand tall. The secret? They were constructed using coquina rock, a very durable natural substance formed from seashells that is found nearby in the shallow coastal waters off the Atlantic coast. 

After losing nine wooden forts in the first 107 years of the city's existence, the Spanish discovered this amazingly durable rock that was able to absorb the stress of cannon fire. Made of compressed shells of dead marine organisms, coquina looked like sandstone but acted like foam as the cannon balls just bounced off the twelve foot thick walls. The impermeable fort, completed in 1695, allowed the Spanish to remain in control of eastern Florida despite frequent British attacks. Many historians believe that if the British would have captured the fort in the early 1700s like they attempted to do a number of times, it would have changed the course of the Revolutionary War and ultimately, the history of the United States.

Since we were staying nearby at Anastasia State Park, we were able to cross the Bridge of Lions to make a day trip into St Augustine. While there are plenty of shops, restaurants, and other tourist attractions to vie for our interest, I was happy to explore the historic national monument and discover some of the tales of ''Old Florida'' that these coquina walls still tell.

Tales of military drills in the center courtyard.

Tales of fierce battles between Spain and Britain as they struggled over control of land and sea trade routes.

Tales of a soldier's every day life ... with even less room to store ''stuff'' than we have.

Tales of defending the community of St Augustine and allowing it to become the longest continually inhabited European-founded city in the United States. 

And after Doug had taken in all the tales that he could handle ... a chance to enjoy an IPA at the local pub while looking across at the oldest wooden schoolhouse in the US.

After our stay in the St Augustine area, we moved an hour south to Tomoka State Park near Flagler Beach, Florida. It was on one of our drives down the moss-ladened back roads to our daytime beach hangout that I came upon our second opportunity for ''coquina wall'' tales. 

A stop at Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park brought tales of a darker part of US history. In 1821, Florida became a territory of the United States. As settlers moved into the new region, much of the land was taken away from the Seminole Indians who called this area ''home''. That year, Charles Bulow purchased 4,600 acres along a tidal creek near to present day Flagler Beach. The land was cleared, a grand mansion was built, and crops were planted and harvested all with the work of slaves.

Using the labor of almost 200 slaves, he established his plantation with a stately home on the banks of what would come to be known as Bulow Creek. After his death two years later, his 17 year old son, John Bulow, took over his holdings and built one of the largest sugar mills in the area using coquina rock to fortify the walls. John ran a successful business for thirteen years until the beginning of the Second Seminole Indian War. Although he was sympathetic to the Native American cause, he was forced by the US government to abandon his property. In the battle that ensued between the Indians and the military, his plantation was burned to the ground in January 1836 ... leaving only the coquina walls of the sugar mill to tell the tales. John Bulow died under mysterious circumstances three months later, and the land lay abandoned until the state took it over in 1945. 

As we walked around the historic state park grounds, we saw that there were very few remains of the main house or the slave quarters that encircled it. The ''typical'' slave cabin was staked out for us in order to try to imagine how a 12 by 16 foot wooden structure could house up to eight people. Stones from the base of a small fireplace is all that is left to tell the tale of this sad part of plantation history.

We walked down the nature trail to see the eerie remains of the massive sugar mill. Plaques around the mill told the story of the intense labor that was needed in order to turn raw sugarcane into sugar.

But more importantly, the massive coquina columns told the tale of a turbulent time in Florida's past when settlers rushed in to claim land and become wealthy at the expense of other human beings. These coquina columns stand as a reminder of the need for us all to work towards a more just society.

The coquina walls of Florida's Historic Coast tell important tales ... tales of both successes and failures in our past. And we need to listen so that we can work to improve our society for future generations.

Print this post