A Look At Lincolnville
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| photo of a flyer for The Lincolville Museum and Cultural Center |
The museum is small but mighty! It starts with the history of Lincolnville which began as colonial plantations and orange groves (and Indian villages before that!) In 1866 a settlement was established for recently emancipated slaves. Former citrus groves were divided into lots and leased for as little as $1.00 / year. Initially called "Little Africa", it later took on the name Lincolnville in honor of President Abraham Lincoln after his assassination.
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| Lincolnville residents commemorating Emancipation Day with an annual parade (1920's). Photo taken by Lincolnville photographer Richard A. Twine (State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory) |
The "crusaders room" highlights the lives of some of St. Augustine's earliest black settlers including black explorers and conquistadors. The timeline then takes you through emancipation, reconstruction and Jim Crow eras. Several portraits taken by Richard Aloysius Twine (1898-1974) are on display. Through Twine's portraits, local residence from the 1920's jump off the wall and are brought to life.
The Civil Rights Room displays the original Woolworth lunch counter where four African American teenagers were arrested in the summer of 1963 for ordering cokes and hamburgers. This was part of the sit-in campaigns being lead by students throughout the southeast leading to the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Refusing to give up their rights to protest. the youths at this counter were jailed for six months. To learn more about those who came to be known as the "St. Augustine Four" click here.
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| The St. Augustine Four sitting at the Woolworth lunch counter in 1963 (photo from blackthen.com) |
But I know what you're thinking. What about archaeology? Don't worry - The Lincolnville Museum has that too! In 2002, City Archaeologist Carl Halbirt excavated the site of a demolished house uncovering how a turn of the century Lincolnville family might have lived. Excavated from a trash pit and privy in the yard, the discovered artifacts reveal details about diet, furnishings, clothing and personal belongings. Many of these artifacts can now be seen on display in the museum.
(For more details on the archaeology of Lincolnville and the creation of this exhibit, visit our FPAN blog post from 2009)
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| Excelsior High School Building now home of The Lincolville Museum and Cultural Center |
Text and Photos (except where noted) by FPAN Staff; Robbie Boggs