St. Augustine was more than three centuries old when tourism awakened the sleepy Spanish village.
Soon after Standard Oil's Henry Flagler brought the railroad to town in the 1880s, well-heeled visitors began flocking to Flagler's luxury hotels as St. Augustine became known as the American Riviera. Tourists walked the quaint, narrow streets and visited the historical attractions such as the old city gate, the long-abandoned Spanish fort, the alligator farm, the Fountain of Youth, and the four houses that all claim to be the oldest in the country. Postcard History Series: St. Augustine in the Gilded Age depicts the oldest city in the United States from the golden age of postcards. The volume presents more than 200 images from the archives of the St. Augustine Historical Society and the author's personal collection.