Karen Harvey’s books represent a wide variety of history and culture in the Nation’s Oldest City.  St. Augustine and St. Johns County: A Pictorial History provides images covering more than four centuries from Ponce de Leon and Pedro Menendez to King Carlos, the current ruler of Spain.  The periods of the first Spanish colonization, British occupation, the return of the Spanish and ownership by the United States are depicted in the coffee-table sized book. 

     The British period includes the plight of the Minorcan’s, indentured servants brought to Florida to work on an indigo plantation.  The group marched 72 miles from New Smyrna to beg sanctuary in St. Augustine.  Ultimately they became the core group of the little town staying in the little settlement as the town changed political hands. 

   The Golden Era of Henry Flagler is featured in the pictorial and the women in his life form the centerpiece of Daring Daughters.  Flagler’s association with John D. Rockefeller is noted in articles published in Henry M. Flagler: Florida’s Foremost Developer. The articles were published by the St. Augustine Historical Society in the 2003  issue of El Escribano.   Harvey’s article describes “Flagler the Presbyterian.”  Other articles focus on legal issues, his business system and his top executive in Florida, James E. Ingraham.  Ingraham is also noted for his devotion to an understanding of the Everglades.

   Historic neighborhoods and preservation of aging sites and houses are the topic in America’s First City.  The book is based on a state-sponsored survey accomplished in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

    In Oldest Ghosts paranormal events are described from the point of view of the person experiencing unusual activity.  Many of the events noted occurred during the popular ghost tours.

   Memorial Presbyterian Church, the Venetian Renaissance Church built by Henry Flagler for his daughter Jennie Louise, is covered in Florida’s First Presbyterians.  Trinity Parish Episcopal Church, the first Protestant Church in Florida also receives attention as does the Cathedral-Basilica, the home of the oldest Catholic parish in the United States.

  The Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest stone fort in the continental United States is discussed along with the indigenous shell stone coquina used in construction of the stronghold and later for homes.

   Photos and text describe the famous St. Augustine Lighthouse and Keepers House, now a museum and tourist attraction. 

   Readers can find numerous topics of interest in these books spanning 30 years of research and writing.

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