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St.Augustine

Bridge de Lions

Founding of St. Augustine:

Amerigo Vespucci had discovered and claimed the South American continent for Spain and John Cabot the northern continent for England.

Don Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in America with Columbus on his second voyage, 1493. Made governor of Puerto Rico in 1510, Ponce de Leon, at his own expense, equipped an expedition to the North in 1513.

Ponce De Leon heard Indians tell of Bimini, a fabulous island in the North. And he was seeking to find the fountain of youth that should offer men a vision of eternal youth.

Ponce de Leon found the fountain of youth and marked the spot where the spring was found by leaving a stone cross in the ground.

After that Ponce sailed and chared the ocean's main artery, the Gulf Stream, shaping the destiny of oceanic transport for all time to come.

St.Augustine. April 2004