St. Augustine, Florida, was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. It is is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the contiguous United States. Over its four-plus centuries, the city has endured bloody military sieges, pirate raids, yellow fever epidemics, executions, and tragic shipwrecks—a history that has cemented its reputation as one of the most haunted cities in America.