St. Augustine: The Old Spanish Quarry, Chimney, and Well

For years I have traversed the Old Beach Road, on foot, by bicycle and automobile.
How many years?  Well lets say I am now 66 years young, was raised near the site of the Old Coquina Quarry when it was just an overgrown place along a small black-top empty road.

Top of the well

 At some point, my father purchased a lot in the area and so we passed the site going to and from his lot.  It took several years to clear that lot and eventually build a house.  Then he moved to the house and I passed that site on each trip to his house.

The well, cedars, and shelter

The entire area has gained the interest of archaeologists and some have determined that 

"These ruins are all that remain of what was probably a Spanish barracks which housed the quarry overseer, master masons, and stone cutters who were involved in the construction of the Castillo de San Marcos"  Today it is known as the Old Spanish Chimney and Well and at some point in the last few someone has spent an appreciable amount of time beautifying the area.

Well side with interesting holes
for fences or buckets?

But growing up we knew it as the Old Coquina Quarry.  Coquina is a natural seashell rock composed of tiny and small shells deposited in layers over fine sand.  After years of compression by the sea it becomes a type of rock.  Coquina is found on the Florida coast from north of St. Augustine to the Melbourne area. As it is the only 'rock' in the area the Spanish quarried coquina to build The Castillo de San Marcos, the fort, which is the most significant building using this stone.

The chimney with a huge area for wood

According to the research,
The quarry, located directly across the road from this site, contained rich veins of coquina which the Indian workers shaped into rough blocks. Under the supervision of the quarry overseer, Alonso Diaz Mejia, the blocks were transported by wagon and then by raft to the site of the Castillo. Completed in 1695, the great fortress was the keystone of the Spanish system of defense of Florida.

Looking into the well which is dry today

In 1763 King George III declared the quarry pits to be a royal reserve. And during the Victorian era in St. Augustine the rock was used in its gravel form and mixed concrete to build: the Ponce de Leon Hotel, Alcazar, Casa Monica, Villa Zorayda, Grace United Methodist Church, Memorial Presbyterian, and other buildings.
"The new concrete building material is a composition of sand, Portland cement and shells. ...and posses the very important qualities of durability and immunity from destruction by fire."  (From the 1892 Standard Guide St. Augustine.)

And there you have the story of Coquina and the importance of the rock in the development of St. Augustine, Florida.