Ripley’s first, oldest, and largest permanent museum, St. Augustine, was opened on December 9, 1950. It is situated in a historic 1887 building, Castle Warden, that was a hotel once owned by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (author of The Yearling) and where Ripley himself stayed several times in the 1940s. Today, the 20,000-square-foot attraction boasts three floors of exhibits, including some of Robert Ripley’s original collection!