ST.AUGUSTINE, Florida – As the nation prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, St.
Augustine, Florida, is honoring its legacy as the oldest continuously inhabited European-founded city in the continental United States. Located on Florida's northeastern coast, St.Augustine was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez. Affectionately known as the "Ancient City," it turns 461 years old this September.While many people know the stories of Menendez, the Spanish conquistadors and the legend of the Fountain of Youth in St.
Augustine, the city's role in the birth of America is often overlooked.ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH REMNANTS OF BRITISH CONTROL OF ST.AUGUSTINE IN 1700SAn exhibit at the Peña-Peck House offers a look at St.
Augustine's revolutionary history.(Amy Galo)"You can walk up any street and see history and know that this was the foundation of America, and if the Spaniards actually held, it might have been a different place," said Maria Alvarez with The Historic Florida Milita. Great Britain took over Florida from Spain in 1763 after the French and Indian War, which was a conflict between Great Britain and France, along with their Native American allies."The Spanish were here, and then the British came and changed the dynamics," explained Margo Pope, history chair of The Woman's Exchange of St.
Augustine.The Women's Exchange is housed inside the historic Peña-Peck House, where British Gov.
Patrick Tonyn lived during the American Revolution.According to historians, what is known as Florida today was split in two: East Florida and West Florida, also known as the forgotten 14th and 15th colonies of colonial America.The Castillo de San Marcos National Monument preserves the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States.(FOX News)"The 14th colony is Saint Augustine," explained Alvarez.
"East Florida has all the loyalists loyal to King George.West Florida has patriots and loyalists because it's so close to Spanish territory."Florida would...