African American Tour of St. Augustine: The Nation's Oldest City
Tour Places: 14Distance: 2.68 miTour Time: 2h:03m
Free Tour
Tour #633
About this English self-guided 2h:03m walking tour in St. Augustine
Hi My name is Robin Harris. I will be your tour guide. This tour will inform you of the contributions and struggles of African people. I will enhance the narrative concerning the African and Indigenous residents of Colonial St. Augustine and we will also examine the Civil Rights Era and actions that took place in the Nation’s Oldest City—St. Augustine. (Parking can be found at 79 Bridge Street or 79-99 Granada)
Quaint. Charming. Eclectic. The Spanish Culture grabs you as you explore the streets of the Oldest City. St. Augustine holds many stories, secrets, tears, records and bloodshed. Let’s get started
St. Augustine was where slavery started. It began right here. The first slaves came with Pedro Menendez in 1565. The announcement of slavery ending was also proclaimed here. But what most don’t know is that it was NOT because of Abraham Lincoln that slavery ended. 100 years of “Gullah Wars” that forced the country to deal with slavery on a political level. Blacks joined forces with Indigenous Tribes to fight White supremacy and Colonialism. The Gullah Wars pressured the North to end slavery. After the Civil War, many blacks settled here in St. Augustine in what is now known as Lincolnville. Before it was Lincolnville (named after Abraham Lincoln) it was called “little Africa.” Now let’s move to St. Augustine 1960’s. It was a horrific time for black people! Because of the tragedies, lack of equal rights, etc The Civil Rights Movement was birthed here. The building you see @ 79 Bridge street is known as the Civil Rights Museum. The Father of the CR Movement was Dr. Robert Hayling, who was an activist and dentist. This building also served as his dental office. Conditions were so poor for black residents Dr. Hayling called on Dr. King to devise a plan for Civil Rights. On this very street Dr. King spent many nights and days. He also had to be moved from house to house to hide out
because the Klan and some white residents did not want him here.
This unique edifice was redesigned by Robert Mills in 1821. Built with Coquina. During the Civil War it was used as a hospital. It also served as the US Courthouse and Post office. Also, Governor Gonzalo Mendez de Canzo was the first governor to have residence on this present site in 1598. Because of St. Augustine’s ties to Spain it has been visited on various occasions by Royalty. In 2001, Spanish King Juan Carlos & Queen Sofia spoke from the balcony while hundreds of people packed the plaza de la Constitucion (across the street). Many Royal and notable people came to St. Augustine for pleasure, travel, and healing. One of those person was Ralph Waldo Emerson. He cam here in the winter of 1827. He wasn’t famous just yet due to his health issues. He stated that St. Augustine was like nowhere he’d ever been. He was among blacks, Indians, frontier Americans and exotic culture. Emerson preached in St. Augustine. But what did Emerson see that would change his life? For the first time he saw the system of slavery in action. He noted that they were treated as lesser humans. Emerson said that he heard his first slave auction in St. Augustine He was here in the Government house at a Bible meeting. Out in the yard a slave auction was taking place.. In one ear he heard singing of hymns.
The other ear: Going once. Going twice!!! Emerson was so burdened by what he saw he became an Abolitionist. It’s also said that he wrote many Anti-slavery poems. (let’s cross the street and meet at the open air building)
Take a look around. You are standing on the grounds of the “Old Slave Market.” This very place is where most enslaved Africans were bought and sold. It’s often overlooked maybe because the history was hidden. This waterfront structure is often used for festivals, protests, or just hanging out. But it remains known as the slave market. There are documented city records and news reports of slave sales that took place here. In the 1960’s Martin Luther King and Andrew Young led marches around the market to honor those who had been tortured and sold. The slave market became the focal point for the 1964 St. Augustine Movement!.
St. Augustine Foot Soldiers Monument: In May 2011, the St. Augustine Foot Soldiers Monument was unveiled in the downtown plaza where demonstrators had been attacked while trying to peacefully protest for their rights. (I’ll give you time to take pictures and look)
The bronze sculpture is facing away from the slave market where black people were bought and sold as property, and toward the building where the first attempts to gain the right to sit at the counter in the drug store.
The monument designed by Brian R. Owens includes four bronze busts in front of a relief sculpture. Each of the people depicted represents many others who fought for equality in St. Augustine. They include a white male college student, a black male in his 30s, a black woman in her 60s, and a black teenage girl. Black people helped build St. Augustine in 1565, but were left out of the narrative and accomplishments. This statue not only represents that but also the united effort to gain equality. ( Let’s walk across the street)
This is a display of what the original set up was like. But it was here in 1963 students were arrested and spent 6 months in jail and reform school because they refused to end their feat for civil rights. Listen to Dr. King and reports of what actually occurred in St. Augustine during this time. Now as you leave the counter turn right and make a right on the oldest street (under the stone archway) in the USA & home to history museums, galleries, and restaurants).
This street was once called
Hospital Street. You will notice the Military hospital as you enter...you can wave at them. Enjoy the restaurants, shops and even a museum.
These are the Sons of St. Augustine@ Edmund Kirby Smith and the family slave Alexander H Darnes. There’s more to this statue that’s being told. Notice the Statue of the gentleman carrying the medical bag. He started out as Aleck the slave boy, son of a woman named Violet who was also a slave—house slave. He was taken as a teenager to serve in the Civil War a valet to Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith. The so called family slave was possible the son of Joseph Smith. Alexander Darnes was a symbol of strength. He gained freedom through emancipation. Sued for his right to vote. Gained his medical degree at Howard University in 1880. He was the first black physician in Jacksonville, Florida and the second in the state. In 1888, Darnes served the community during the yellow fever epidemic. He had a thriving practice in the area. He is best known and praised for his steadfast work during the epidemic of 1887-88. When many folks fled, he stayed to help those who remained. He was well like in the community. Darnes was a member of Mt. Zion AME Church the first independent black denomination in the U.S. Dr. Darnes died in February 1894. According to the obituary, 3000 people attended his funeral. This statue was the first public one erected in the nations oldest city to honor a black man.
View of the Bay and many vintage Bed and Breakfast establishments
Place #12
Distance: 0.10mi
, Attraction : Statue
Civil Rights Memorial, 22 US-1 BUS, St. Augustine, FL 32084, USA
Ponce De Leon Statue
Colonizer tied to Confederacy
Place #13
Distance: 0.04mi
, Attraction : Street
110 Treasury St, St. Augustine, FL 32084, USA
Treasury Street
The narrowest street in the Nation! Local legend says that Treasury Street was purposely designed to be wide enough for two men to carry a chest of gold to and from the Royal Spanish Treasury and the water, but not wide enough for a horse and carriage to drive through and steal any of the loot. This myth hearkens back to the very real threat of piracy and smuggling during St. Augustine’s early days.
Please go inside and ask available staff to direct you to the original steps of the historic building. Blacks were not allowed The manager of the hotel,James Brock , responded by pouring acid into the water to drive the "wade in" protestors out. Photographs of this action, and of a police officer jumping into the pool to arrest the young activists, were broadcast around the world and became some of the most famous images of the movement. On June 30, Florida Governor Farris Bryant announced the formation of a biracial committee to restore interracial communication in Saint Augustine.