ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Black History Month is a time to honor and celebrate the rich history of the African American community.
- Lincolnville is filled with civil rights history
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a famous visitor
- MORE BLACK HISTORY COVERAGE:
Right here in Florida, one of the communities with the storied culture in St Augustine.
“Lincolnville started to settle as a community right after the Civil War, where you had U.S. colored troops coming back from the war, where they leased out plantations," said Regina Phillips, Director of the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center.
Lincolnville is now a registered historic neighborhood with hundreds of buildings dating back to the late 1800s. But it’s the civil rights leaders that have walked these streets that really bring the history to life.
One of the communities’ most famous visitors is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“He stayed in a lot of the homes here. The museum is on what is MLK Avenue, so we like to say we are one of the MLK avenues in the nation that Dr. King actually spent a lot of time on," Phillips said.
You can experience all this history inside St Augustine’s first black high school, which now stands as a museum dedicated to preserving the culture of this historic neighborhood.
“We have people come in daily and say, ‘I had no idea this was part of the history of St Augustine.’ So I think the fact that this is now on the national civil rights trail, it’s going to bring attention to the fact that this neighborhood played a major role in the civil rights movement," Phillips said.
Lincolnville is a step back in time, allowing you to learn the history and stories of one of St. Augustine’s founding neighborhoods.
The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural center is open to the public five days a week, and they offer guided walking tours on certain days of the Lincolnville community.