1704 coquina pillars marking St. Augustine's northern defensive line — a free outdoor landmark on St. George Street
Orange St at St. George St, St. Augustine, FL 32084
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free outdoor landmark on public street.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved pedestrian street; gates are a ground-level outdoor structure
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1704 · National Register of Historic Places — St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District · Spanish colonial northern defensive terminus · Queen Anne's War site
The defensive earthwork known as the Cubo Line ran east-to-west along St. Augustine's northern perimeter, connecting the marshes to the coast and sealing the land approach to the city. Governor Joseph de Zuñiga y Cerda formalized the gate structure at the line's central crossing point in 1704, during the early phase of Queen Anne's War. The previous year, in 1702, British forces under Governor James Moore had besieged the city but failed to breach it.
During Queen Anne's War, Spanish troops defending the gate and Cubo Line repelled additional British incursions. The defenders held the earthwork line through a conflict that ended with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, leaving St. Augustine under Spanish control. The Cubo Line and its gate remained the city's primary land defense through the First British Period (1763–1783) and the Second Spanish Period (1783–1821).
The twin coquina pillars visible today date from construction or reconstruction during the late Spanish or early American territorial period; the precise date of the current structure is documented as early 19th century. The gate sits at the northern end of St. George Street, the Historic District's main pedestrian corridor, adjacent to the Huguenot Cemetery. It is maintained by the city of St. Augustine as an outdoor landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District.
Sources
The Old City Gates sit between two of St. Augustine's most death-dense colonial landmarks: the Huguenot Cemetery immediately to the north, where yellow fever victims accumulated over several 18th and 19th-century epidemic seasons, and the Historic District to the south with its concentration of colonial-era buildings. Ghost tour operators working the area have developed a dense repertoire for the immediate gate vicinity.
The Elizabeth narrative — a teenage girl who died of yellow fever, whose family could not afford burial in the city and interred her across the inlet on Anastasia Island — is among the most consistent figures in local oral tradition at this location. She is reported appearing near the pillars after 3 a.m., described as warning visitors away from the city in reference to the epidemic. The story is local lore with no documentary source; the name and specific circumstances are not verified in the historical record.
Phantom Spanish soldiers — described in period uniform, occasionally heard as synchronized marching and commands — represent a second category of reports at the gate. The documented deaths of defenders during Queen Anne's War and later military actions provide a historical anchor for this lore. The gate's function as a checkpoint and the last structure defenders would have held before a city breach gives it a specific martial character distinct from the cemetery and residential haunted venues nearby.
The twin coquina pillars marking St. Augustine's northern colonial gate sit at the junction of Orange Street and St. George Street, free to view at any hour. Multiple ghost tour operators include the gates as a stop; the surrounding area encompasses the Huguenot Cemetery immediately north and several colonial-era buildings along St. George Street.
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