Where is the fountain of youth in florida
Fountain of Youth - St. Augustine, FL - Travel Thru History
my name is John Stavely I am manager at
the founder youth archeological park at
st. Augustine Florida I think the myth
of the Fountain of Youth is thousands of
years old people have always been
looking for waters that create vitality
and use I think that's been
misinterpreted over the years I think
sometimes you can do healthy things like
drink a healthy water and not get sick
versus becoming younger Juan Ponce de
Leon set out from Puerto Rico on March
4th 1513 in search of undiscovered
islands that were rumored to be to the
north of Hispaniola pulsing Leon in 1513
was heading north to find gold and he
started here legends of healing waters
and so he believed that maybe there was
water that could be helpful to him the
rumor is that a lot of the Indian tribes
to the south were directing him further
to the north and so when he came up here
he found fresh water which was important
if you've been at sea for a long time
but also had a lot of minerals in it so
in a way it was a healing one throughout
the course of his writings while on
expedition Ponce de Leon never mentioned
the Fountain of Youth directly
nevertheless the spring that he
discovered proved to be essential to his
journey and to the future of Florida the
springhouse is a way to preserve the
fountain that was once here it used to
be a bubbling Club and the water would
have come up directly from the earth in
1875 they capped off that pond because
the water table was dropping they turned
it into a well and now the well brings
the water up to the surface so inside
the spring house you'll see the story of
pumping Leon you'll see the story of
Pedro menéndez and you'll be able to try
the water well it's funny when you first
taste water from the Fountain of Youth
they they have different reactions some
people say it's good because they may
have grown up on well one but we're
getting the water from 500 feet below us
say Mach 4 they would have drugged back
in the day it has a lot of minerals
sulfur iron and some people who started
used to it after testing the theory of
youthful water for yourself step outside
of the Spring House and explore all of
the other attractions that are available
at this historic archeological park well
we've got fifteen acres right on the
water our newest attraction is a 600
foot observation dock over the
and go out and see the wildlife and it
really takes you back we have the first
settlement site from 1565 you can see
where the buildings were in the northern
defensive wall we've got an Indian
program we can learn how to throw the
atlatl and see how the Indians lived
here for thousands of years you can see
Spanish weapons and learn about how the
Spanish lived we've got a planetarium we
just have so many things here to do that
really immerse you in history
my name's Bruce Harris known as Diego
and I'm a master gunner here at the
fountain of youth this is a 16th century
cannon it's a six pound breech charged
muzzle loader black cannon firing
demonstration is something people really
seem to enjoy it's a six pound cannon
that's a replica of one that would have
been here in 1565 and so we fire that
cannon there's lots of smoke there's a
big boom and everybody just really gets
a charge out it's the first stop in st.
Augustine for history as far as I'm
concerned it's the birthplace of st.
Augustine but also cloning European
America I mean the Spanish really should
be proud of the fact that this is where
what became America really started
