St. Francis Barracks

St. Francis Barracks is a historic structure constructed of coquina stone located on Marine Street in St. Augustine, Florida, named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. The barracks were constructed between 1724 and 1755 by friars of the Order of St. Francis, to replace a series of wooden buildings which had been destroyed by the ravages of the tropical climate in La Florida and by fire, both accidental fires and occasional intentional ones, such as when the city was razed by the English in 1702.^[1]

The barracks were turned into a military structure by the British in 1763, after Florida became a British possession at the conclusion of the French and Indian War. At that time, the Franciscan friars vacated St. Augustine, along with a majority of the other Spanish residents.

The name St. Francis Barracks also came to be applied to the larger military reservation which developed around the barracks on the shore of the Matanzas River. There are several additional historic structures, to include senior military officer housing and The King's Bakery, the latter being the only extant structure in St. Augustine constructed entirely within the twenty-year period of the British occupation.

Today the St. Francis Barracks is a U.S. military installation that is also known as the Florida State Arsenal and serves as the headquarters for the Florida National Guard and its two subordinate organizations, the Florida Army National Guard and the Florida Air National Guard. A portion of the military reservation is also the site of the St. Augustine National Cemetery.