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Near the end of the Revolution, a physician-turned-printer began a newspaper in St. Augustine. Dr. William Charles Wells brought a printing press with him when he fled the Revolution in Charleston.
The Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board built a replica printing press in 1966, which still stands today in the Colonial Quarter.
His paper, the East-Florida Gazette, was in production from 1783 to 1784, although only three issues have survived to the present. The Gazette covered war news, including the British seizure of the Bahamas in 1783, and tells us something about entertainments in war-time St. Augustine. For example, The Beaux Stratagem, a comedy about two men trying to make their fortunes by marrying for money, opened at the State House in March 1783.
More Related Resources:
"Hot Off the Presses: Printing History at San San Agustín Antíguo", from the UFHSA Governor's House Library Blog
Wells Print Shop Items, from UF Digital Collections
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