Books by Karen Harvey represent thirty-four years of writing about St. Augustine, Florida, the Nation’s Oldest City.  St. Augustine and St. Johns County: A Pictorial History, published in 1980 covers more than 450 years of history.  The coffee-table size book contains photos, maps and illustrations beginning with the discovery of La Florida by Juan Ponce de León in 1513 and the founding of St. Augustine in 1565 by Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés.

Chapters cover the first Spanish period (1565-1763), the British period (1763-1784), the second Spanish period (1784-1821), territorial period (1821-1845) , statehood (1845 to the present) and the Victorian era of Henry Morrison Flagler (ca. 1883-1920s).  Minorcan families brought over as indentured servants during the British period are highlighted.

Thirty years after writing the first pictorial, Harvey researched and wrote a companion volume about the extraordinary changes occurring in St. Augustine and St. Johns County.  St. Augustine Enters the Twenty-First Century contains more than forty color photos and describes the transformation occurring over the thirty years from 1980 to 2000.

The two pictorials serve as symbolic bookends to seven other books of historic content. The neighborhoods of America’s oldest city, women’s history covering tales of women often overlooked in history books, Legends and Tales, and  true ghostly encounters are all presented for interested readers.  Five women from “Daring Daughters” were beautifully painted by a local artist and are displayed in the historic Casa Monica Hotel.

All these books reflect the history of America’s First City, a settlement preceding Jamestown,Virginia, by 42 years and Plymouth colony by 55 years.

Karen Harvey is currently working on Florida’s First Cattle:  A Unique Look at Florida Cracker and Pineywoods Cattle. DNA evidence taken from a cow’s teeth uncovered in a 16^th century archaeological dig  provided evidence that the endangered Florida Cracker Cattle are direct descendants of the cattle introduced to the North American continent by Spanish colonists in the 1500s.  Preservation of the pure strain of the heritage cattle is important in maintaining the historic significance of the Oldest City.