SUSAN PARKER | Plaza still being used after more than 400 years
St. Augustine has just one plaza — the public green space east of the Governor's House. There is no "west plaza." The park-like space west of the Governor's House is sometimes mistakenly called by that name.
The Plaza is overseen by the City of St. Augustine. The park area west of the Governor's House is state property and in the care of the University of Florida.
The space behind the Governor's House was the backyard of the governor's residence with Maria Sanchez Creek along the west. There was no real street along the west (now Cordova Street) side of the governor's place and no street along the north. During Spanish times a defensive wall, the Rosario Line, ran along creek.
The block where the Governor's House stood stretched northward along St. George Street to Treasury Street. Cathedral Street ended at St. George Street, butting into the property line of the Governor's House lot.
Cathedral Street would not reach farther west until the late 1880s.
Spanish Florida's governor Gonzalo Méndez Canzo claimed in a 1598 report that during his gubernatorial term he had brought the street layout and other physical aspect of the city into compliance with the Spain's ordinances for new towns. One requirement of the ordinances was that the governmental buildings be adjacent to the city's main Plaza. St. Augustine had only one plaza, which by default was its main plaza.
More than 420 years later we still use and enjoy St. Augustine's plaza, the oldest public space in the United States.
When Méndez Canzo arrived, the governor's residence was not located on the plaza. One way Méndez Canzo could assure the prestigious and required location was simply to buy a place on the plaza. And that is what Méndez Canzo did with his own money.
Méndez Canzo purchased the property for the governor's house from María de Pomar (a relative of Pedro Menéndez) for 600 ducats. The property included a house, kitchen and a field, all fenced with cedar palings. Also included were sites that would be sold for soldier's houses and others that were rented out.
When Méndez Canzo departed Florida, he offered the house to the crown for 1,500 ducats, a bankruptcy price in the governor's opinion. The Crown negotiated the price down to 1,000 ducats. The Florida colony now had an official, crown-owned capitol and executive mansion.
The building was called casa de gobernador (governor's house) and casa de gobierno (government house). I have also seen the term, casa de gobernadora (house of the governor's wife), used a few times. The building housed the governor's residence and office. It was also the location where residents carried out their own legal business, such as signing deeds and wills. News and decrees were announced from the front (east side) of the building to St. Augustinians gathered in the Plaza.
"Out back" was the governor's garden. A 1763 inventory of the garden counted 150 citrus trees, also pomegranate and fig trees, a quince tree, a cherry tree and a grapevine. This grove was surrounded by a wooden fence.
When Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821, the colonial governor's house continued its governmental role, becoming a courthouse and federal building.
The Florida Territorial Legislative Council met there in 1823.
As for the old governor's garden area, between 1899 and 1904 sidewalks were laid out and the space was labeled "park" on contemporary maps. Later the space became known as Post Office Park, as the old house of the governor had become the St. Augustine post office. Filling of the creek behind the Governor's House created Cordova Street. Cathedral Street was extended westward to intersect with Cordova. Two-way vehicular traffic could now pass by on the three streets that bordered the park.
Today the Plaza continues in its original role as a space for public gatherings although now it is tourists who use the plaza on most days. The once-private garden to the west of the Governor's House is today a place for walking, sitting on a bench or enjoying the fountain.
Susan R. Parker holds a doctorate in colonial history.