The St. Augustine Alligator Farm, founded in 1893,[103][104] is one of the oldest commercial tourist attractions in Florida, as is the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, which has been a tourist attraction since around 1902.[105] The city is the eastern terminus of the Old Spanish Trail, a promotional effort of the 1920s linking St. Augustine to San Diego, California, with 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of roadways.[106][107]
The Florida land boom of the 1920s left its mark on St. Augustine with the residential development (though not completion) of Davis Shores, a landfill project of the developer D.P. Davis on the marshy north end ofAnastasia Island.[108] It was promoted as "America's Foremost Watering Place", and could be reached from downtown St. Augustine by the Bridge of Lions, billed as "The Most Beautiful Bridge in Dixie".[109]
During World War II, St. Augustine hotels were used as sites for training Coast Guardsmen,[110] including the artist Jacob Lawrence[111] and actor Buddy Ebsen.[112] It was a popular place for R&R for soldiers from nearby Camp Blanding, including Andy Rooney[113] and Sloan Wilson. Wilson later wrote the novel The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, which became a classic of the 1950s.[114
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