Look previous the Spanish fort, ornate Moorish buildings and foremost plaza to find Black historical past in St. Augustine, Florida. Greater than 450 years in the past, the primary Africans in North America helped construct the ‘Historic Metropolis,’ a Spanish colony that predates the founding of america. Along with spectacular structure, the tales of braveness, resilience and perseverance are steppingstones on a St. Augustine Black Historical past Tour.
We discover the area’s wealthy historical past chronologically moderately than geographically. When you’ve discovered about every web site, you’ll be able to map out the stroll from the compact historic space.
Florida Traces Its Black Historical past To Ponce De León
Our Black Historical past Tour, like Florida’s earliest European settlement, dates again to 1513. That’s when the Spanish Crown assigned Ponce de León, Christopher Columbus’ former navigator, to increase routes for his or her treasure ships within the Americas.
Then the governor of Puerto Rico, Ponce de León and his skilled crew found what they thought was an island. They named it la Florida after the season, Pascua Florida, the Easter vacation.
León additionally found the Gulf Stream present which reduce journey time by sea to Spain by a number of weeks.
1. St. Augustine’s Black Historical past Begins At The Fountain Of Youth
Nevertheless, he didn’t discover gold or the alleged fountain of youth that Caribbean islanders spoke about. Ponce de León returned to la Florida in 1521 with, historians consider, 13 African sailors to say the primary Spanish colony.
Let’s name the present-day Fountain of Youth Archeological Park St. Augustine’s earliest African historical past web site. The 15-acre backyard subsequent to the Intracoastal Waterway your grandparents might recall is a well-liked vacationer spot. It provides some historical past displays, the primary Christian burial websites of Native People courting to 1565, the stays of the Spanish Fort St. Johns of the Pines, and flocks of roaming peacocks.
Seize a paper cup so you’ll be able to drink from their underground spring and depart extra refreshed than if you arrived.
2. Mission Nombre De Dios Is Half Of St. Augustine’s Black Historical past
In 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés led 700 Spanish troopers and settlers, together with 50 free and enslaved Africans, to Florida. The Catholic clergymen who sailed with them named this protected little bit of shoreline after St. Augustine, the saint honored on the day they sighted land. Their Thanksgiving Mass was held at what turned America’s oldest Marian shrine, later often called Mission Nombre de Dios.
One other cease on the St. Augustine Black Historical past path, it’s a preferred vacationer attraction recognized for the sweetness and tranquility of the grounds.
3. Menéndez Crew Consists of First St. Augustine African Residents
Historians observe that the Sixteenth-century Spanish conquistadors, devoutly Catholic, gave their enslaved staff alternatives to turn into equal within the eyes of God. In Spain, the enslaved had been sometimes prisoners of conflict of any race or ethnicity who had been paid a wage and allowed private freedoms reminiscent of marriage.
Menéndez used his multi-ethnic crew to increase the colony. They cleared the land to plant crops, constructed fortifications and a church. The rising St. Augustine was quickly a melting pot of Europeans, Africans and Timicua Indians who’d transformed to Catholicism. There is a superb show about this era of Florida historical past on the Fort Mose Guests Heart (cease #9).
4. Spain Points Name Of Freedom To The Enslaved
In 1619, the British introduced the primary slave ships from Africa to Jamestown, Virginia. Slavery turned the spine of their colonies’ financial system. The Spanish and the Catholic Church didn’t approve.
The Nationwide Park Service claims October, 1687 because the date the primary escaped slaves from the British colony of Carolina arrived in St. Augustine.
They had been put to work constructing the colony’s ninth fortification, the Castillo de San Marcos. It was the colony’s first all-stone fort, product of the native shellrock known as coquina and coated in plaster. When a British official demanded the slaves’ return the next yr, the Spanish Governor Diego de Quiroga refused.
Fearing the British would increase into Florida, in 1693, the Spanish king granted asylum to freedom seekers who would convert to Catholicism, be part of the Spanish militia and pledge their allegiance to Spain.
Carlos II proclaimed: I’m “giving liberty to all… the lads in addition to the ladies… in order that by their instance and by my liberality others will do the identical.” King Carlos II’s proclamation was doubtless learn all through the colony.
5. Castillo de San Marcos, One Of The High Black Historical past Websites In St. Augustine
By 1695, Castillo de San Marcos, our subsequent cease on the St. Augustine Black Historical past tour, was full. Permit a half day to tour this Nationwide Park Service web site, the place rangers lead guided excursions. Descend from the entryway to see the outdated Guard Rooms and museum displays that chronicle St. Augustine’s combined Spanish, Native American and African heritage.
Go to the ramparts to look at the cannons firing and perceive how this fort protected the fleet of Spanish treasure ships and shoreline.
The thick partitions of Castillo de San Marcos inform the story of the Africans who helped construct them in addition to the bravery of escaped slaves who fought to guard them. Phrase a couple of new and higher life in St. Augustine unfold north.
6. Second Spanish Proclamation Attracts Extra Africans To Rising St. Augustine
A comply with up royal decree in 1733 assured freedom to runaway slaves after 4 years of service to the Spanish crown. “Freedom” was a tempting proposition for hundreds of enslaved plantation staff.
To guard the colony’s north border and supply protected housing, Governor Manuel de Montiano granted land to the brand new arrivals. They constructed Gracia Actual de Santa Teresa de Mose, on a small island within the marsh. It was often called Fort Mose (pronounced mo-ZAY). Established in 1738, it’s the first legally sanctioned settlement of freedom seekers and different Africans within the Americas.
Fort Mose, a don’t miss cease in your St. Augustine Black Historical past Tour can also be thought of the earliest cease on the Underground Railroad.
7. Expertise Black Heritage at Fort Mose, St. Augustine
Within the 1700s, the damaging journey south to St. Augustine took a number of months. Historians have discovered proof that Native American tribes who encountered freedom seekers assisted them throughout rivers and thru dense jungles. An estimated 100 runaway slaves survived and moved into what’s now Fort Mose Historic Park. They fashioned 38 households of combined African, Spanish, Timicua and British backgrounds. Francisco Menéndez, a former slave turned extremely regarded fighter, led the Fort Mose militia to a number of victories towards the British.
When la Florida was ceded to Britain in 1763, after the Seven Years’ Warfare, Menéndez and plenty of of St. Augustine’s African group relocated to the brand new Spanish colony of Cuba.
8. Encounter Black Historical past On Fort Mose’s Pathway To Freedom Trails
The 40-acre Fort Mose Park is open each day. Permit a couple of hours to soak up the story of the Fort Mose settlement and really feel its energy. Take the free Pathway to Freedom boardwalk for views of the marsh and the unique web site of the picket Fort. It’s now removed from land within the marshes the place bird-watching is a favourite exercise.
One other wooded path lined with historic markers explains the historical past of the Fort. Cease at every to scan the barcode and watch video reenactments of what occurred on the web site.
9. Really feel Black Historical past Come Alive In St. Augustine At Fort Mose Museum
The Fort Mose Guests Heart expenses a $2 admission (free for ages 6 and below) – properly price it for the informative displays concerning the heroic African, Francisco Menéndez, and the fort. Stand on the ground pads in entrance of a number of shows to listen to voices of reenactors sharing their tales. The Guests Heart has accessibility instruments, a wheelchair and may prepare an indication language interpreter on request.
10. Expertise The Energy Of Cannons And Militia At Fort Mose
The primary Saturday of each month, the Militia Muster fires their muskets in demonstration. From 9am-11:30am, they practice younger guests easy methods to use toy picket muskets. Fort Mose’s busy calendar of reenactments consists of occasions reminiscent of Flight to Freedom (February), Founders Day (March), Battle of Bloody Mose (June) and the First Harvest (November.)
11. Fort Mose Concert events Emphasize St. Augustine’s Sturdy Black Roots
Each February, meals vehicles and garden chairs take over the clearing at Fort Mose for the Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Collection. The 2025 Fort Mose sequence included the legendary brass band Tower of Energy. Gladys Knight, Mavis Staples, Widespread and the Jazz at Lincoln Heart Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis have additionally carried out within the historic area.
Seize a vodka with lemonade to get pleasure from any one of many many dwell music occasions on St. Augustine’s busy competition calendar.
A newly reconstructed duplicate Fort Mose is anticipated to open in April 2025 after years of fund-raising. Thankfully for guests, it’s situated nearer to the park’s entryway than the unique.
Step inside and share the break up log partitions with different freedom seekers.
The bravery and resilience of St. Augustine’s unique Black group comes by way of loud and clear.
13. Tour Lincolnville: Black Historical past Landmarks In St. Augustine
Between 1800 and 1821, free Blacks in St. Augustine farmed citrus on Spanish land grants between Maria Sanchez Lake, the San Sebastian River and, to the southwest, the bustling downtown St. Augustine. In 1821, when the U.S. buy of Florida from the Spanish took impact, slavery was reintroduced. Plantation house owners moved south, and Florida turned the twenty seventh state in 1845.
Plots of citrus groves ultimately turned the 140-acre zone of Lincolnville, one other important cease on the Black Historical past Path. Following the Civil Warfare in 1866, “Little Africa” was given to the newly emancipated folks of coloration in St. Augustine.
14. Stand The place The Emancipation Proclamation Was Learn In 1865
One of many neighborhood’s most historic African American landmarks is on the grounds of the boutique lodge, The Collector, a Luxurious Inn and Gardens. In 1865, the Emancipation Proclamation was learn aloud on the square-block lot whose historic properties have been transformed into lodge rooms. Name forward to inquire concerning the lodge’s free excursions, sometimes given Tuesday and Thursday morning.
15. Discover Neighborhoods With App Of Black Historical past In St. Augustine
Stroll the neighborhood to grasp how Lincolnville survived a number of eras of Black American historical past. Through the interval of enforced segregation, African American residents constructed out their residence within the prevailing Victorian model to make it some of the enticing and profitable neighborhoods. Use the St. Augustine Black Historical past app maps to find related church buildings, colleges and companies lining the streets.
Across the Thirties, the neighborhood grew to embody adjoining streets of white residents and have become an essential a part of St. Augustine.
Because the pandemic, locals say the gentrification of Lincolnville has accelerated. Thankfully, a lot historical past stays within the historic buildings transformed to Airbnb’s, trip leases and cafes.
16. Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Heart Highlights St. Augustine Black Historical past
The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Heart illuminates the legacy of Africans who originated in West Africa, settled in Spain, or migrated to the realm as freedom seekers from the North.
Lincolnville remained a largely Black neighborhood after the Civil Warfare. The Museum charts its progress.
In 1914, native businessman Frank B. Butler opened the Palace Market on Washington Avenue. As his enterprise grew, he made many contacts and acquired concerned in actual property. He bought land in Lincolnville to different Black residents saying, “Personal Your Personal House: Pay Lease to Your self and Present for the Future.”
17. Should-See African American Artifacts at Lincolnville Museum
The Lincolnville Museum is housed within the ca. 1925 Excelsior Excessive College. Should you’re quick on time, examine the good-looking constructing itself. It was the primary faculty devoted to the free training of black teenagers within the area.
Head inside to admire the piano belonging to Ray Charles, who went to the Florida College for the deaf and blind in St. Augustine. LMCC’s unique Woolworth lunch counter, the place 4 teen ladies had been arrested for sitting in a segregated part, makes this one other must-see cease in your tour.
18. Seashore Hop Over To Butler Seashore On Anastasia Island
By 1927, Butler was uninterested in the segregation that prevented his household from utilizing St. Augustine’s lovely seashores. He purchased some coastal shoreline on Anastasia Island between busy St. Augustine Seashore and the quieter Crescent Seashore. Butler expanded his stake to the Matanzas River and established the blacks-only Butler Seashore. It’s now a landmark on native street A1A.
Whereas there, drop into the “Waves of Change” exhibit on the St. Johns County Ocean Pier Park. It marks the place Black St. Augustine activists staged “wade-ins” within the surf off white seashores. It’s additionally the spot for an ideal household day at a Florida seaside.
19. ACCORD Civil Rights Museum And Black Historical past Path In St. Augustine
Tensions continued with native whites who didn’t need Black seashores and companies to unfold. Butler, nonetheless, constructed a motel, the Seabreeze Kaseno and personal properties at his Butler Seashore improvement. Regardless of racial incidents and the expansion of the native Ku Klux Klan, Lincolnville was thriving.
The ACCORD Civil Rights Museum in Lincolnville displays paperwork and movies about native Floridians who fought within the civil rights battle. Then there was James Brock, proprietor of the Monson Motor Lodge, who poured acid into his swimming pool to pressure Black and white activists out of the water. Many say the extensively seen images of his violent act contributed to the passage of the Civil Proper Act.
Look out for the 31 ACCORD Historic Markers that define these occasions in Lincolnville and different elements of city.
20. Black Legacy Attracts Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To St. Augustine
In 1964, St. Augustine was making ready for its four-hundredth anniversary. This gave Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a possibility to shine a light-weight on racial discrimination within the nation’s oldest metropolis. Native African People rented him a cottage at Butler’s Motel on Butler Seashore, which was shot up after his arrival.
The evening of June 9, 1964, Dr. King was arrested throughout a human rights protest.
21. Plaza de la Constitución And Its Monumental Obelisk
In 1813, the 30-foot-tall Monumento a la Constitución was erected on the Plaza to commemorate 4 foundational values: Freedom, Democracy, Human Rights and Compassion. To rejoice the town’s 450th anniversary, outstanding artists and native schoolchildren had been invited to the Obelisk Artwork 450 Undertaking. They had been requested to embellish replicas – starting from 4 toes to simply 8.5 toes tall – to honor those self same ideas. Lease bikes to go to the one on the Robert B. Hayling Freedom Park, named for an area activist. See what number of you’ll find within the metropolis.
22. Rev. Andrew Younger Crossing Honors Civil Rights Historical past
Rev. Andrew Younger, marching with different civil rights activists, was overwhelmed close to the central Plaza de la Constitución. Right this moment’s households can stroll in his courageous brass footsteps on the sq., on the Black Historical past Path cease known as Andrew Younger Crossing.
23. St. Augustine’s Well-known Previous Slave Market
Permit time to discover the massive Plaza de la Constitución, a sq. framed by the historic Governors Home and Cathedral. Search for the Previous Slave Market, the identify given to the open air pavilion the place items, produce and sure, folks, had been purchased and bought. It was a focus for protests by King and Younger.
In 2011, the town of St. Augustine constructed the bronze Foot Troopers Memorial on the southeast facet of Plaza de la Constitución. As an alternative of the ache the Previous Slave Market pavilion represents, it honors the a whole lot of activists who continued the Civil Rights battle.
And it honors these native and visiting foot troopers who proceed it nonetheless.
Plan Your Black Heritage Tour Of St. Augustine With Care
America’s oldest metropolis is a well-liked vacationer vacation spot for People of any race and plenty of foreigners. It’s additionally a kind of locations most households select to cease on a basic East Coast Street journey.
There’s quite a lot of historical past to soak up – an excessive amount of most youngsters would say. Actually, there’s greater than we will describe in a St. Augustine Black Historical past Tour. We advise you take into account everybody’s pursuits so you’ll be able to choose which of the 24 stops you wish to make.
Spend a minimal of three days for a St. Augustine Black Historical past Tour and some extra to understand the town’s different websites, lounge on the seaside, and luxuriate in a ship experience. The climate is temperate by Florida requirements, so go any time you’ll be able to.
Greatest Methods To Get Round St. Augustine, Florida
No have to lease a automobile in St. Augustine. Should you keep near the historic district, you’ll have the ability to stroll nearly in all places on our St. Augustine Black Historical past tour.
Trolley: Alternatively, get oriented on a metropolis tour with the Previous City Trolley. The 90-minute guided tour makes 22 stops. There are departures each quarter-hour so begin early to hop on and off at any cease to see extra. Or, keep on like we did to orient ourselves, then take a number of days to discover.
Boat: Many households benefit from the boat excursions that run alongside the Intracoastal Waterway to spotlight coastal sights. And let’s not ignore the offshore kayak and canoe excursions you’ll be able to e book.
Uber: To succeed in Fort Mose, take a reasonable Uber or native taxi. Fast observe: Whereas Ubers are plentiful, it will possibly take 20 minutes for one to reach, due to the vacationer site visitors on the town.
Historical past Making Locations To Keep In St. Augustine’s Historic District
Relating to historic accommodations, you’ll hear point out of Henry Flagler, the railroad magnate who constructed grand accommodations alongside the tracks for his passengers. Solely certainly one of his three very luxurious accommodations nonetheless accepts company. That’s the previous Cordova Resort, now Casa Monica, a Marriott Autograph Assortment lodge. Drop into the ornate foyer or cease by the bar for a have a look at a couple of of the unique design particulars.
Flagler’s actual masterpiece was the Resort Ponce de León in-built 1888. Right this moment, it’s the foremost constructing of Flagler Faculty, and you may take one of many each day excursions for a glance inside. The showy Spanish Renaissance Revival model, myriad artworks and Tiffany stained-glass home windows had been a part of the design by Carrère & Hastings.
The identical architects designed his subsequent undertaking, the Alcazar Resort and, later, the New York Public Library. Right this moment, the entrance a part of the ornate Alcazar is St. Augustine Metropolis Corridor and the again half is the Lightner Museum of Artwork. You’ll be able to see many unique architectural parts within the museum — and dine within the corridor that after held the principle swimming pool.
We loved The Collector, a Luxurious Inn and Gardens in Lincolnville. (See our video right here.) A few of its historic properties have a number of double rooms, some are made into suites with kitchenettes. All have entry to a sizzling breakfast, hearth pit, out of doors pool, exercise room and widespread bar. Solely company ages 18 and older are welcome.
The New St. Augustine Fits Households
To accommodate the crowds, there are a whole lot of different St. Augustine accommodations, motels and locations to remain in all value factors. And, for a city this dimension, there’s a stunning variety of excellent eating places.
Households benefit from the Hilton St. Augustine Historic Bayfront, a two-story lodge designed within the Spanish Colonial model. Take a look at the brightly tiled reception space and hearth. This Hilton overlooks Matanzas Bay, is handy to the historic downtown and has a big out of doors pool and sizzling tub.
The crimson tile roof and towers of the Greatest Western Historic Inn additionally evoke the bygone St. Augustine. Plus, it’s a great price range possibility just one.5 miles from the Castillo. Facilities embrace free continental breakfast, an out of doors pool and sizzling tub, giant household rooms with sofabeds, a fridge and coffeemaker in every room and a welcome signal for pets.
Go Now As a result of St. Augustine By no means Grows Previous
In 2024, plans to construct Florida’s Museum of Black Historical past in St. Augustine had been introduced. Whereas that dream remains to be within the early planning phases, the opening of the duplicate Fort Mose is about for April 2025. Now could be the right time to take a Black Historical past Tour of St. Augustine.
Whereas the African legacy might appear to be a slender view of America’s oldest metropolis, it’s another technique to study our previous and inform our future.
In spite of everything, in all places you flip in St. Augustine, there’s a narrative of what was there earlier than.
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