CYCLOPEDIA
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1 Hospital Streetwas known as the City Hotel and housed a grocery store in 1852, both owned by Seth Wakeman, a merchant from Connecticut. Union soldiers occupied the property as the Provost Marshal's Office, but it served a retail capacity again through 1888. Lynn's Hotel (1893) and the Chautauqua Hotel (1910) followed. In 1964, the Saint Augustine Historical Restoration and Preservation Commission purchased the building and reconstructed the Wakeman House as an exhibit hall. The Florida Heritage House displayed exhibits on Native American cultures and Spanish colonial life during the quadracentennial celebration.
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3 Hospital Streetwas used as a pharmacy and infirmary by the Spanish government who bought the property from Scotsman William Watson in 1791, early in the second Spanish Period. Though Watson had to convert rough stables into a home for his family, there is evidence that previous Spanish homes were built on the site many decades prior. A larger hospital on this street burned in 1818, and this address became the military's primary medical center. The Spanish building was demolished before 1880, and a diverse collection of businesses used this location, including law offices, a laundry, and a cocktail lounge. The Saint Augustine Preservation Board reconstructed the Spanish Military Hospital as a museum in 1967.
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12 Grenada Streetwas created as a haven for aged and destitute African Americans after the death of Buckingham Smith, and Saint Augustine lawyer and historian. The Buckingham Smith Benevolent Association was formed by prominent white citizens in 1871, after the discovery of Smith wil in a safe at Burroughs Carr's store. The builsing later served as the Buckingham Hotel.
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1 King Streetis commonly known as the Plaza Building, and the Plaza Hotel occupied the site starting in 1936. It was built, however, as a retail space replacing a previous retail building where Charles Hamblen opened his first store, which relocated around the corner. The Surprise Store opened in 1888 and was once the largest department store on Florida's east coast. This address is remembered by many as the home of the original Potter's Wax Museum, which exhibited on the first floor and basement from 1949-1986.
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31 King Streetwas the west corner address of the Ponce de Leon Shopping Center, designed by Morris Lapidus (1902-2001) in 1955. It was the downtown area's first shopping center, anchored by a Woolworth's store with a lunch counter. In February of 1960, Black college students staged a sit-in to protest racial discrimination at a Woolworth's counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Their example inspired students from Florida Memorial College in Saint Augustine to protest at Woolworth's on King Street. Four of the local students arrested in the summer of 1963 became known as the Saint Augustine Four and their sentencing received national publicity as an example of injustice. Audrey Nell Edwards, JoeAnn Anderson, Samuel White, and Willie Carl Singleton were hailed by both Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Jackie Robinson as heroes of the American Civil Rights movement.
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84 Bridge Streetwas an orange grove owned by Philip Edinboro, a free Black man, who lived under both Spanish Colonial and American Territorial rule. Before the Civil War, Methodists had integrated congregations on Charlotte Street and on Saint George Street. When white parishioners withdrew, an agreement was made to sell the latter building and split the proceeds. Whites founded the segregated First Methodist at 118 King Street, and blacks formed Trinity United Methodist on Bridge. The land for Trinity was acquired from Ward Foster, founder of the Ask Mr Foster travel agency. The congregation initially met in the Foster home, before breaking ground for the current church in 1912. During the Civil Rights movement, Trinity was one of the primary churches where rallies were held in preparation for protest marches to Plaza de la Constitucion.
other notes: Olivet Methodist Episcopal Church 1st permanent place of worship for Methodist congregation of Saint Augustine |
222 Riberia Streetwas acquired for the new Bethel Baptist Church in 1939 by Reverend William Banks, former pastor of the overflowing Saint Marys Missionary Baptist Church on Washington Street. In 1963, Bethel Baptist provided meeting space for the NAACP Youth Council, advised by Dr Robert Hayling and Reverend Goldie Eubanks. When the Southern Christian Leadership Conference came to Saint Augustine in 1964, organizing meetings took place at this church. A Freedom School held here under the direction of Reverend Andrew Young taught Black history and the history of civil rights protest.
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89 Saint Francis StreetFirst Baptist Church. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to speak, many people wanted to hear him, but no single church was large enough. Rallies were held simultaneously at St. Paul and neighboring First Baptist. Dr. King was shuttled out the back door of one church and in the back door of the other, allowing more people the opportunity to hear him speak
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xx S Saint George Streetwas the oldest Presbyterian Church in Florida, founded by Reverend William McWhir in 1824. The first coquina structure was dedicated in 1830, and a chapel was added in 1870. It was later relocated to Cordova Street. Prsbyterian parsonage
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215 Saint George Streethas a cornerstone dating 1825 for Trinity Episcopal Church, but the building was extensively remodeled at the turn of the twentieth century to include the cruciform plan and 500-seat capacity it has today. The first Protestant services in Florida date from the beginning of the British Period in 1763 in the English Constitution House that occupied the same lot. Saint Peter's was dedicated in 1773 further south on Saint George Street but fell into disrepair when Catholics dominated the second Spanish era. Edmund Kirby-Smith was the first infant baptized at Trinity Episcopal, and early rolls included Reuben Loring, Abraham DuPont, and George Gibbs. The north transept and the baptistry are the only sections remaining from the 19th century.
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224 Saint George Streetappears on the Mariano de la Rocque Map of 1784 as a one-story masonry structure occupied by Juan Aguilar, whose grand daughter's family, named Segui, added a second floor in 1823. A wealthy Massachusetts merchant named Holmes Ammidown purchased considerable land along Saint George Street including this house in 1882. He bequeathed all of it to his son Henry, who added additional parcels between Saint George and Cordova Streets. Around 1910, six houses were built inwardly facing a common brick promenade lined with palm trees. Palm Row lots were later sold as individual properties by Charles Usina and William Drysdale beginning in 1941, but the community retained its cohesive character. Archaeological work in the late 20th century revealed a 16th century well on Palm Row, and evidence of Spanish homes dating from 1580 in a nine-block neighborhood between here and Marine Street.
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234 Saint George Streetwas purchased in 1941 by Sister Theresa Joseph Brown and became part of the Saint Joseph's Academy campus. Villa Flora was built for Reverend OA Weenolsen and his wife in 1898. The structure sat on a raised base of coquina and was topped in ornament inspired by the Moorish Revival buildings on King Street by Franklin Smith and Henry Flagler. The property runs the full east-west length from Saint George to Cordova Streets, and once contained the Flora Promenade bordered in roses and violets with pavement resembling blossoms. The house changed hands in 1906 and transformed from a private home to a hotel, and later to a restaurant. The convent uses Villa Flora as the house of formation (Novitiate).
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252 Saint George Streetserved as the Fine Arts Building for Saint Joseph's Academy from 1960-1985. It was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, an architect and writer, whose work included four state capitol buildings and several structures on the campus of University of North Carolina. The Bronson Cottage was built in 1876 as a winter home for Isabel and Robert Bronson, who were patrons of Davis and helped him publish an early manuscript. It's the architect's only design in Florida, a state he never visited. A three-tiered fountain that once sat on the property was moved in 1966 to the Alcazar.
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279 Saint George Streethas been continuously occupied since Gaspar Garcia built a coquina house on the property in 1791. Two sisters of the the Dummet family were the first to receive boarders at the Saint Francis Inn in 1845, after the death of the patriarch, Thomas Henry Dummet, a colonel in the British marines. From 1925-1948, the inn was called the Graham House, under the ownership and management of Thomas Graham.
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69 Washington StreetSaint Marys Missionary Baptist Church.
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85 Central Avenue *RENAMED IN HONOR OF DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR IN 1986Saint Paul AME Church. St. Paul A.M.E. Church played an important role in the civil rights movement. Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson spoke at a large rally here in June 1964. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to speak, many people wanted to hear him, but no single church was large enough. Rallies were held simultaneously at St. Paul and neighboring First Baptist. Dr. King was shuttled out the back door of one church and in the back door of the other, allowing more people the opportunity to hear him speak. org 1873 by Rev Richard James, led first services in tiny building near Maria Sanchez Creek. In 1904, Rev EF Williams org purchase of lot on Central Ave and built church
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86 Central Avenue *RENAMED IN HONOR OF DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR IN 1985Saint Benedict the Moor Catholic Church
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97 Central Avenue *RENAMED IN HONOR OF DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR IN 1986was built in the 1920s by Frederick Martin, a prominent Lincolnville businessman whose name is set in the tile inside the front door. It was a popular confectionery and sundries store under many owners, drawing some of its customers from three neighboring schools: Excelsior, Saint Benedict, and the Presbyterian Parochial and Industrial School. In the 1950s and 60s, the back half of the building along Dehaven Street, served as the Lincolnville Public Library, under the direction of Dorcas Sanders. It was here that Reverend Thomas Wright, pastor of Saint Marys Baptist Church and president of the Saint Augustine NAACP, trained students from Florida Memorial College in nonviolent techniques before they began sit-ins at segregated lunch counters.
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102 Central Avenue *RENAMED IN HONOR OF DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR IN 1985has been associated with Black education in Saint Augustine for nearly a century. This lot was the site of the Presbyterian Parochial and Industrial School, headed by Reverend James Cooper, and later Excelsior School, the city's first public high school available to Black citizens. Originally named School #2 or Colored School, Excelsior was designed by Fred Henderich (1878-1941) and opened in 1925. One of the early teachers at Excelsior was Edward Davis (1904-1989), who became president of the Florida NAACP and worked to equalize the pay of Black and white teachers in the 1940s. Many other Excelsior alumni made important contributions to the Saint Augustine Civil Rights movement, including Freedom Rider Henry Thomas, members of the Eubanks family, as well as Katherine and Henry Twine. Excelsior closed as a school in 1968 and housed government offices. In 2005, the building re-opened as Excelsior Museum and Cultural Center, the city's first museum of African American history.
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160 Central Avenue *RENAMED IN HONOR OF DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR IN 1985has provided shelter for agents on two opposite ends of the conflict over racial segregation in Saint Augustine. In the early 20th century, LL Fabinski grew up in the elegant Victorian house at this address that had been built by William Warden (18xx-19xx) for the manager of his gas and electric company. In March 1956, Fabinski was appointed to chair a committee charged with preserving the racial segregation of Florida Schools defying the Brown v Board of Education directive. At the height of Saint Augustine's carefully watched struggle for racial justice, Judge Fabinski's former home was occupied by Dr Robert Hayling (1929-2015), a dentist and protest organizer, who many called "The Father of the Saint Augustine Civil Rights Movement." Segregationists exchanged gunfire with civil rights leaders in this neighborhood on multiple occasions. In February 1964, shots fired at this property nearly injured Athea Hayling, and killed the family dog.
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10 Hildreth Driveis the site of the only Saint Augustine design of architect Ten Eyck Brown (1878-1940), famed for his courthouses, banks, and city halls in New Orleans, Miami, and Atlanta. Fullerwood School was built in 1927 as a whites-only elementary school until 1963, when two Black families in the North City area tested the reach of the Brown v Board of Education ruling of the United States Supreme Court. The Brunson and Roberson families suffered violent reprisals from segregationists, including the destruction of the latter's family home to a firebomb in 1964. Fullerwood closed as a public school in the 1980s and later housed Saint Johns River Community College.
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35 Cathedral Placehouses some of the oldest historical documents in the United States, including Spanish records dating from 1594, and the Golden Book of the Menorcans, the ledger of Father Pedro Camps begun in New Smyrna in 1768. The lot was granted by the Spanish crown to Father Thomas Hassett in 1793 for a Catholic Cathedral. The original building was a rectangle one hundred twenty feet long and forty-two feet wide, which was dedicated in 1797. In the fire of 1887, all but the four stone walls of the Cathedral were destroyed. A new transept and chancel were part of the restoration, which included a xx-foot bell tower. The corner courtyard to the west of the Cathedral along Saint George Street was once occupied by three-story concrete Catholic rectory, which was completed in the early 1880s. During preparations for the quadricentennial, the Cathedral campus underwent several changes: the rectory was demolished, and the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament was added. In 1975, a statue of Father Camps was unveiled in the west courtyard to honor the Menorcan refugees. It is joined in the east courtyard by a statue of Father Félix Varela y Morales, an abolitionist and champion of Cuban independence.
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60 Cathedral Placewas the four-story Jefferson Theatre from 1907 until it was razed in 1955. Founded as an opera and vaudeville house, the Jefferson later showed silent films, and had a small two-manual Robert Morton theatre organ installed in 1927. The entrance of the theatre was below a series arched windows on the upper story adorned with a continuous brick lintel. During the silent era, there was a large roof sign with the building's name. The final operator was Paramount Pictures who owned the building in the 1940s, but gave way to the Saint Augustine National Bank. The new bank was designed by architect Fred Henderich, but was extensively remodeled in 1971 into Barnett Bank, and later became Bank of America.
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xx Bay Streetwas the foot of Corbett's Dock and the exclusive Saint Augustine Yacht Club, organized in 1873. The club sponsored races, regattas, and dances for city residents and winter visitors. Prestigious Northern members included names like Colgate, Vanderbilt, and Stuyvesant. Henry Flagler's yacht Adelante was among vessels that filled with guests to watch competitive races in Matanzas Bay. George Corbett operated a fish market at the head of the same dock in 18xx.
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46 Bay Streetwas the residence of merchant and hotel owner Burroughs Carr. Destroyed by fire in 1887, the rebuilt house house was occupied by Bartolo Genovar from 1895-1912.
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10 San Marcowas a half-acre of land used as a burial place for paupers and strangers during the Spanish Period. Many of these burials are unmarked. Decades later in 1821, a yellow fever epidemic created a need for formally interning Protestant victims in the so-called Huguenot Cemetery, or Public Burying Ground. Though the Presbyterian Church has owned and maintained the cemetery since 1832, the roster of memorials include Spanish and Menorcan family names, who were likely descended from Catholics, if not practicing Catholics themselves. These include Pacetty, Triay, and Manucy. The last legal burial at Huguenot Cemetery occurred in 1884.
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82 Marine Streetwas a Franciscan monastery built about 1730, whose L-shaped portion to the south and west can still be seen in the extant Saint Francis Barracks. In the ensuing century, British and Spanish governors both enlarged the structure for military housing. The wood framed portion burned in 1792 and again in 1915, but was quickly rebuilt. The Saint Francis Barracks were donated by the US government to the State of Florida and has been the Headquarters of the National Guard since 1921.
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120 Bay Streetwas opened by Slade Pinkham as the Ocean View Hotel in 1884. Pinkham's Dock extended into Matanzas Bay across the street, and its owner was an avid yachtsman. Pinkham's Cheemaun was considered unbeatable and won a highly anticipated two-boat race against Andrew Carnegie's sloop Misuse in 1892. In 1909, the Ocean View was sold to HE Hernandez. It was razed in the 1960s and replaced with the Marion Motel, which like its neighbor, the Bayfront Motel, was designed with parking and easy access to cars as a priority.
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Genl Martin Hardin (1837-1923)
was one of the last surviving Civil War generals when he passed in 1923. He was buried with his wife at the National Cemetery on Marine Street. Hardin fought on the Union side of the War and had no experience with Saint Augustine until he retired from military duty and began to winter there in 1885. He lived in the historic Tovar House at 22 Saint Francis Street for nine years. During extensive renovations, he found cannonballs embedded in the walls and nicknamed the residence "Casa del Canonaza." Hardin spent his final years at the "Union General's House" at 20 Valencia Street—a house built by Henry Flagler for the hotel manager.
37 Lovett Streetwas the final destination of an Episcopal mission that existed in several temporary locations at the end of the 19th century. Local fundraising and the support of winter resident Emma White made it possible to erect Saint Cyprian's Episcopal Church in 1902.
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52 Cathedral Placewas given to PF Carcaba by the bishop of Saint Augustine, after the former's cigar factory burned in 1895. The three-story building was constructed in 1860 by the French Sisters of Mercy and housed Saint Mary's Convent and Academy, the first convent school in Florida. By 1907, Carcaba moved to a new factory at 88 Riberia Street, and the Cathedral Place factory was taken over by the Garcia and Vega Cigar Company, owned by Candido Meitin. In 1920, cigar manufacturing was the second largest employer in Saint Augustine next to the Florida East Coast Railway.
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161 Cordova Streetwas announced as a proposed $25,000 house of worship for the First Congregation Sons of Israel in 1889. Jewish families from Russia and Eastern Europe, who had settled in Saint Augustine were chartered with the State of Florida in 1908. Services were held in members' homes until the Synagogue was built under the leadership of Rabbi Jacob and Dora Tarlinsky, and the first service was held in 1924. Stained glass windows were obtained by daughters of the Tarlinskys in 1958. The building was closed for twenty-two months for repairs following Hurricanes Matthew and Irma.
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Manucy |
was the eldest daughter of Captain John Masters
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At
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Mier |
Amelia Monson |
Pacetty |
Dr Seth Peck (1790-1841) |
Pellicer |
Rudolph Pomar |
Benjamin Putnam |
Reyes |
Ione Rogero |
was Deputy Sheriff from 1901-22. His wife was Henrietta de Mier, Spanish
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Osborn Seavey (1848-1923) |
Franklin W Smith (1826-1911) |
Frank Thompson |
Triay |
Usina |
John Vedder (1819-99) |
Augustine Verot |