Black History in St . Augustine
Footprints of Courage
“ Happy as the day is long - Castillo de San Marcos ,” William Henry Jackson 1892
Black History in St . Augustine
African Americans have played a significant role in the multi-cultural heritage of Florida ’ s Historic Coast for centuries . Founding settlers in the 1565 Spanish colony of Pedro Menéndez Avilés included free and enslaved Africans . 200 years later , Black citizens and soldiers helped defend the Spanish colony from English invaders . After the Civil War , descendants of these proud community members joined with newly freed African Americans and settled the Lincolnville area , a thriving community that was later to become the epicenter for the Civil Rights Movement .
Today you can immerse yourself in our rich African American heritage by downloading the St . Augustine Black History App available from Apple and Google . The app puts history at your fingertips as you explore the very streets Martin Luther King Jr . walked . A “ What ’ s nearby ” feature displays nearby historical sites , enriching your experience in the nation ’ s oldest city .
Lincolnville , originally known as “ little Africa ,” became a thriving Black residential , commercial and cultural center since being settled in 1866 . In the heart of this community , you ’ ll find the Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Center where 450 years of Black history comes alive through exhibits , artifacts and oral histories . The nearby ACCORD Civil Rights Museum houses a collection of letters , photos and videos documenting the contributions of locals who risked everything in the name of equality during the Civil Rights movement in St . Augustine . The ACCORD Freedom Trail will guide your journey to the past with 31 markers through historic sites of interest .
Along the Plaza de la Constitución , you can see physical reminders of the 1960s Civil Rights era as you step onto the bronze footsteps of Andrew Young Crossing . Continue toward the Bridge of Lions to see the Foot Soldiers Monument , dedicated to the local citizens who stood up and marched for equality peacefully during turbulent times .
Go further back in time to 1738 , when the Underground Railroad actually went south instead of north as African Americans fleeing slavery from the English colonies in the Carolinas settled in what was then a Spanish settlement . Today you can visit what is left of Fort Mose , a 40-acre waterfront historic site , the first legally sanctioned free African settlement in what is now part of the United States . Fort Mose hosts annual historical reenactments : Battle of Bloody Mose in June and Flight to Freedom in February .
On Anastasia Island , be sure to visit the Waves of Change exhibit at St . Johns County Ocean Pier Park , now listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The site of what was once the St . Augustine Beach Hotel was witness to the infamous wade-ins and demonstrations during the Civil Rights Movement . Farther down A1A , Butler Beach became the only stretch of beach between Daytona and Jacksonville where African Americans were allowed to enjoy the sand and sea , thanks to the efforts of Frank B . Butler in 1927 .
If you ’ re visiting Florida ’ s Historic Coast in December , the Annual Gullah Geechee Heritage Festival celebrates the culture and history of the Gullah Geechee people , descendants of those brought to America from West and Central Africa to work on the plantations in the isolated Sea Islands of coastal Georgia and the Carolinas . The Gullah Geechee were able to preserve their culture through spiritual practices , crafts , music and cuisine . Listen closely and you ’ ll hear the Creole dialect known as “ Gullah ,” a language not spoken anywhere else in the world .
With so much culturally rich African American history spanning 450 years , it ’ s no wonder that St . Augustine has been selected as the site for the highly anticipated Florida Museum of Black History to break ground in the near future .
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