Coquina – The stone that saved the city of San Agustín

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Leaving the lodge on Bridge Street, for my morning walk and daily helping of people watching, I stopped along the bay to enjoy the water. While browsing the menu at OC Whites, a great place to eat overlooking the bay in St. Augustine, I overheard a couple from Boston. They were immersed in a lively conversation about the history of the city. “If St. Augustine is the oldest city in the nation,” she said challenging her partner, “why do we have so many buildings in the Boston area that are so much older?”

When seeing that his companion did not know very well how to answer him, I interrupted their conversation. Interrupting strangers in the middle of a conversation is a habit of mine. It is not a habit that my husband particularly appreciates and has been expressed as rude by others, however, it is something I do to meet new and interesting people. I interrupted: “The British burned the city and they were not the first to do so. The city has been raided by Indians, pirates and others.” I continued: “The British were the last to set the city on fire in 1702 after a fifty-day siege of the Fort, El Castillo de San Marcos. I guess they were crazy because they couldn’t bring down the walls of the Fort after fifty days. Days of fire cannon. That’s why there are no older buildings than those in Boston. “

I could see his companion’s eyes light up. “That’s it,” he exclaimed. “When we visited the Fort, I remember hearing that the structure was made of Coquina; an amazing stone that was quarried on that island across the road. But I thought it was twenty days, not fifty.”

I smiled widely; I am always amused by the amount of history people learn when they visit San Agustin. “It is also true,” I said, “but it was twenty-seven days of bombardment by General James Oglethorpe in 1740. He surrendered and left the city; he did not burn it. The reason for the Coquina at Fort St. Augustine It was so effective against the Cannon fire is not its hardness but its softness. The cannonballs would sink into it instead of breaking or piercing the walls of the Fort. The Coquina itself proved to be a tremendous deterrent from hostile forces. “

“That is a stone.” she said. “Where can we see more?”

“There are many places to see it if you look,” I replied. “You’ll see it on the city gates, on many of the stone buildings and fences around the city. Only a finite amount was mined, as the builders found it easier to reuse stone from damaged buildings than to mine more. Then newer techniques came into use. In fact, the first poured concrete structure in the United States is Zorayda Castle on King Street. The Coquina used for military structures at the southern end of the city was reused to build the Franciscan convent and then on the foundation of the barracks, built on the same site “.

I have always found the use of Coquina in St. Augustine a fascinating story. What I have learned over the years is that Coquina is a mixture of mineral calcite and phosphate usually in the form of seashells or coral; in simple terms, compressed seashells. This compression occurred naturally on Anastasia Island in St. Augustine, where early settlers built a quarry to retrieve the stone. It is also exposed in many areas along the east coast of Florida from St. Johns to Palm Beach counties. It can be found inland up to 20 miles off the east coast of Florida.

When the Coquina is extracted it is very soft. Its smoothness makes it easy to harvest from a quarry and give it various shapes, including block. However, before it can be used as a building material, it must be allowed to dry for a few years; it is still soft, but hard enough to use in construction.

Coquina is a unique material with an interesting history; just one of the many interesting and unique features to be found in St. Augustine. I have been coming to St. Augustine for the past six years and have learned a lot of interesting facts that are specific only to this area, and I love finding unwitting strangers to share my knowledge with during my morning walks.

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