More than five decades later, Flagler continues to call St. Augustine home, carrying forward the vision that helped shape the College while evolving alongside a rapidly changing world. As Flagler celebrates Founders Day, it is an opportunity to look back at the world the College entered in 1968 and compare it with the world students experience today.
So, what did life look like when Flagler first opened its doors? And how does it compare to life at the College and across the country today? Take a look at 1968 and 2026 side by side.
💻 The Equipment
1968: Hewlett-Packard 9100A
Although most college students were still relying on typewriters and other analog devices, Hewlett-Packard (HP) released the 9100A, widely considered the world's first mass-marketed "personal computer."
In reality, it was a powerful, desktop-sized scientific calculator that gave users computing capabilities that were still largely confined to much larger machines.
Mainframes and minicomputers soon followed, but they were not typically used for classroom instruction. For most college students, the personal computer would not become a standard part of the college experience until the 1980s.
2026: MacBook Pro M5 Chip
Today, you would be hard-pressed to find a college campus where the Apple logo is not a familiar sight. The MacBook, and other personal laptops alike, has become a staple of student life, used for everything from writing papers and conducting research to attending classes and creating multimedia projects.
The Macintosh Portable, introduced in 1989, was an early precursor to the modern MacBook. Today's M5 MacBook Pro offers more than a million percent higher processing performance than the original portable.
And while the Macintosh Portable weighed around 15 pounds, today's MacBook Pro weighs just 2.7 pounds, making it significantly easier to carry from class to class.
📚 The Research
1968: Library Stacks and Card Catalogs
Early Saints researching a paper would have headed to the Louise Wise Lewis Library, which was located in the Grand Parlor of Ponce Hall, now known as the Flagler Room. There, they would have searched through a card catalog, found books and journals, and physically tracked down the information they needed.
Academic research could mean hours spent flipping through pages, taking handwritten notes, and photocopying or transcribing sources.
2026: Google, Databases and AI
Today, students can search thousands of academic sources from a laptop in seconds. Through the Proctor Library website, Saints have access to numerous academic databases, scholarly publications and research resources without having to physically track down each source.
Tools such as Google Scholar and AI platforms like ChatGPT have added even more ways for students to research, organize and engage with information, making the process nearly unrecognizable from the one students experienced in 1968.
🌴 St. Augustine and St. Johns County
1968
Census data shows the population of St. Johns County, Florida, at just over 30,000, with the national average home cost of around $26,600, or $254,272 when adjusted for inflation.
2026
Today, St. Johns County is home to more than 300,000 residents, making it roughly 10 times larger than it was when Flagler opened its doors. The cost of housing has also changed, with the median sale price of a home in St. Johns County now over $500,000.
🚗 Getting Around
1968
Cars were king. Students traveling around St. Augustine relied on their own vehicles, rides from friends, bicycles, walking, or public transportation.
There were no smartphones to summon a rideshare, no GPS to provide turn-by-turn directions, and certainly no Google or Apple Maps to find the fastest route.
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1968 Best Selling Vehicle in America: The Chevrolet Impala
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1968 Average Price Per Gallon of Gas in America: 32 to 34 cents
2026
Getting around is considerably easier. Students can use rideshare services, e-bikes, scooters, cars, and Flagler's shuttle services to get around campus and St. Augustine.
A smartphone can provide directions, traffic information, and transportation options in seconds.
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2026 Best selling vehicle in America: The Ford F-150
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2026 Average Price Per Gallon of Gas in America: ~$4.47
🎬 Pop Culture
1968: The Beatles and the Birth of Color Television
- Oscar's Best Actor: Rod Steiger for his performance in "In the Heat of the Night"
- Oscar's Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn for her performance in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
- Oscar's Best Picture: "In the Heat of the Night," directed by Norman Jewison
- Grammy's Album of the Year: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles
- Grammy's Record of the Year: "Up, Up and Away" by The 5th Dimension
2026: Today's Biggest Names
- Oscar's Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan for his performance in "Sinners"
- Oscar's Best Actress: Jessie Buckley for her performance in "Hamnet"
- Oscar's Best Picture: "One Battle After Another" directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
- Grammy's Album of the Year: "DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS" by Bad Bunny
- Grammy's Record of the Year: "Luther" by Kendrick Lamar & SZA
