Eventually the Spanish, French and English would explore the area of course being so close to Saint Augustine many battles took place over who would control this old city. So the land surrounding it was a way to grab a strong hold for the city. In 1770 the British Government granted the land to John Moultrie who was a Lieutenant Governor of East Florida. Eventually he mined oyster shells to produce lime in his kiln and established an orange grove where Washington Oaks is today.

In 1793 a wildfire broke out and burnt the entire tract. Shortly after a Portuguese merchant constructed some buildings and planted crops to refurbish the land. Rice and Corn were grown on this land.  Years later a man by the name of Mariano Hernandez from St Augustine a Minorcan purchased the land and named it Bella Vista. He owned lands granted by Spain and was a professional planter.

Eventually when Florida became US territory in 1821 he changed his name to Joseph Marion Hernandez. He represented St. Augustine in the Territorial legislature and was the first representative from the territory of Florida to the US Congress. He was known as a Brigadier General as he organized his own militia before and during the Second Seminole War which took place from 1835 to 1842.

Hernandez raised cotton, sugar and many other crops which fed his workers, slaves and family. Bella Vista bordered his cotton plantation to the south. But Bella Vista was not a separate plantation just that the land was part of farm. During 1836 the Seminoles started to burn plantations along the Matanzas River and that included Hernandez lands. Bella Vista remained untouched simply cause it was not garrisoned. 

In 1845 after the Seminole War Hernandez daughter Luisa married a lawyer from North Carolina named George Lawrence Washington. He was an ancestor to America's first president George Washington. George and Luisa lived in St. Augustine until 1856 but did not live at Bella Vista. Many fond memories were created here as Luisa died.

In 1878 Washington began to visit St. Augustine and at that time Bella Vista was owned by another daughter of Hernandez. Nearby he built a small beach house and used the area for his sons to hunt, fish and raise citrus crops. In 1888 Washington bought the land and it was called "Washington Place".

Sadly in 1894 Washington died and the property went to his son which later sold the land in 1923 to some developers. Those developers were going to build homes that were going to be called Hernandez Estates. But it fell threw and I am so glad cause this place is absolutely gorgeous. 

In the 1930s a designer from NY bought the land by the name of Louise Powis Clark. She bought it for herself and third husband as it was to become her winter retirement home. Owen D. Young was an attorney and industrialist who was a chairman of the board for General Electric and RCA which was Louise's husband. 

The Young's called this place Washington Oaks and they designed the gardens. They also designed the house which was made of stones and wood. They eventually acquired the beach front property and used this place for their children/grandchildren to enjoy vacations here. They grew many exotic and native plants in their gardens including some from the orient.  The 1940s and 1950s were a place of memories and marriages for the Young family.

In 1962 Mr. Owen Young died and just a few years later so did Louise. Before her death she gave most of Washington Oaks to the state of Florida. All she asked is that the gardens be maintained in their present form and expanded. Of course the area is known for its large oak trees which drape the entire area. 

The state park sits quietly along the Matanzas River on one side with the ocean on the other. Today deer, raccoons, bobcat, foxes, opossums, gray squirrels, pileated woodpeckers and cardinals are seen along the trails here. One of the trails here is an old Indian trail used by the Timucuan tribe.

Their is alot of speculation that the area is haunted. I mean look at the facts a fort nearby was a place of a blood battle along the river. The land was once home to the Timucuan Indians which had a mound within the state park. The land itself was part of a plantation where slaves worked in the hot sun planting crops. Last of all a couple different families owned and some lived out their lives here as children grew up playing in the woods of what is a state park today. 

I thought it was an interesting area cause an ancestor of George Washington once hunted on these lands. But even the Young's lodge in the woods which today is a visitors center is actually quite a gloomy little place as it sits very deep in the woods. Even the gardens are a good hike back to get to. Their is not alot of strange happenings here it has always been a place of peace but its also a place with 100s of years of history as well.

© By

Rick-AngelOfThyNight

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