1955 Roylprint Placemat Pictorial Map of St. Augustine, Florida

This is an attractive c. 1955 placemat pictorial map of St. Augustine, Florida, celebrated here as 'America's Oldest City.' The place-'map' highlights the sightseeing 'trains' of America's oldest city.

A Closer Look

The left third of the sheet consists of an illustration of a tourist 'train' (trolley) driving through the city's famous gates. A pictorial map of St. Augustine occupies the right two-thirds of the sheet and illustrates major attractions such as the Castillo de San Marcos, the Old Jail, the 'Fountain of Youth,' and more. The 'Ripley's' referred to is the 'Odditorium,' established when the estate of Robert Ripley (1890 - 1949) purchased the winter home mansion in Moorish Revival style of William G. Warden (1831 - 1895), a business partner of John D. Rockefeller and Henry Flagler who helped develop the city as a tourist destination. (Ripley had tried for years, unsuccessfully, to purchase the mansion.)

St. Augustine Sightseeing Trains

Though not trains in the sense of a railway, sightseeing trains have been a fixture of St. Augustine's tourism industry for decades. Almost certainly derived from the city's importance for the Florida East Coast Railway at the turn of the 20th century, multiple companies have operated trolleys or train cars pulled by tractors, usually done up to look like a steam locomotive. Although not explicitly named, the company whose services are advertised here is most likely St. Augustine Trains, Inc., which began operations c. 1953 and continued for decades before being acquired in 2004 by Ripley's, which still operates 'red train tours' of the city.

Publication History and Census

This sheet was prepared by Roylprint, a division of the paper product company Royal Lace Paper Works, c. 1955. We do not find a placemat matching its description in any institutional holdings.