St. Augustine Alligator Farm

The St. Augustine Alligator Farm was one of the oldest continuously operated attractions created specifically to entertain visitors to Florida. Its origins date to the early 1890s, during the first decade of St. Augustine's emergence as a popular tourist destination, when alligators were used to attract visitors to a small museum and souvenir shop on St. Augustine Beach at the terminus of a tram railway across Anastasia Island. In 1909, the owners incorporated the South Beach Alligator Farm and Museum of Marine Curiosities, and in 1920 they moved it to its present location. W.I. Drysdale and F. Charles Usina purchased it in 1936 and, after a disastrous fire, immediately rebuilt the facilities, expanded the collection, and created national publicity for the attraction. Thousands of servicemen who visited during World War II helped spread its popularity. Its collection of alligators and other animals in a controlled environment also provided scientists a unique opportunity to conduct research in cooperation with the institution. Its role in the development of tourism in Florida was recognized in 1992 with its listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

St. Augustine, Florida · United States