Wicked St. Augustine
Published on 17. February 2020
121 pages
978-1-4396-6901-3 (ISBN)
Description
When Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine in 1565, his New World survival kit included gambling, liquor and ladies for hire. For the next four hundred years, these three industries were vital in keeping the city financially afloat. With the cooperation of law enforcement and politicians, St. Augustine's madams, bootleggers and high-rollers created a veritable Riviera where tourists, especially the wealthy, could indulge in almost every vice and still bring the family along for a wholesome vacation picking oranges and gawking at alligators. Join historian Ann Colby's tour of spots not on the standard tourist map to discover hidden-in-plain-sight bordellos, speakeasies, casinos and the occasional opium den.
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Person
Ann Colby has been a Florida resident since 1960. She grew up in Orlando, attended the University of Florida, received her bachelor's degree in religion in 1973 and graduated from the University of Florida Law School in 1976. After serving as a local government counsel for forty-two years in the Central Florida area, she retired in 2016 with her husband, Bill MacLeod, to St. Augustine, a city she visited many times over the course of her life in Florida. She now spends her time doing historical research on arcane topics, working for Central Florida Pug Rescue, acting as a tour guide for the many northern friends and relatives who visit her and otherwise doing exactly as she pleases.
Content
- Intro
- Half Page
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on Henry Flagler
- 1. How It All Began
- 2. To Make Rome Howl: Why the Oldest Profession Flourished in the Oldest City
- 3. The Notorious and Successful Landladies
- 4. A Very Thirsty Town
- 5. Money to Burn
- 6. Good Times Indeed-St. Augustine's Entertainment Sectors: The City
- 7. Good Times Indeed-St. Augustine's Entertainment Sectors: New Augustine
- 8. Landladies, Gambling, Alcohol and the Legal System
- 9. The End of City Traditions
- Bibliography
- About the Author
