St. Augustine Historical Society

The St. Augustine Historical Society, established in 1883, preserves and interprets the city’s history through its stewardship of historic buildings and collections. Key sites include the González-Alvarez House, known as the Oldest House, and the Tovar House, which features the St. Augustine Surf Culture Museum. The Society also operates the Research Library, specializing in local history and genealogy, and offers educational programs and public lectures to engage the community in St. Augustine’s storied past.

Planning your visit

St Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental United States, founded by the Spanish in 1565 — over four decades before Jamestown — and the Historical Society, established in 1883, is the body that has preserved and interpreted that history longest.

Its principal site is the González-Alvarez House, known as the Oldest House: a coquina-stone dwelling on ground continuously occupied since the early 1600s, with the surviving structure dating from the early eighteenth century. It shows the layers of the city's rule — Spanish, then British after 1763, then Spanish again, then American — through the changes successive occupants made to a single building, which is a more instructive way to teach the period than a chronological gallery.

The Tovar House alongside holds a surf culture museum, an incongruous but genuine part of Florida's history. The research library serves genealogists and local historians.

Bookable options include museum experience tickets and trolley tour formats that combine the historic sites with a narrated circuit of the old town — practical given St Augustine's sights are spread along several streets in Florida heat. Current availability is shown below.