Lincolnville

St. Augustine, Florida

Excelsior High School, the site of the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center, St. Augustine, Florida. 

A Historic Black Neighborhood.

In St. Augustine is the historically Black neighborhood Lincolnville which was settled in 1866 by freedmen.  Named in honor of President Lincoln, it was created by subdividing former plantation land and leased or sold to veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops.  At the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center, visitors will learn about the pivotal role the city played in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Also in St. Augustine is Fort Mose Historic State Park.  In 1738, the Spanish governor of Florida chartered Fort Mose as a safe refuge for runaway slaves seeking freedom from the English colonies making it the first legally sanctioned free African settlement in what would become the United States.  Although there are no remains of the original settlement, an interactive museum is on site.  

Fort Mose, the first free black settlement, St. Augustine, Florida