History’s Highlight
About the Castillo baseball diamond
A photo contributed by Fred Whitley in the Saturday
February 20 Report shows a baseball diamond north of
the Castillo in a vintage photo. We wondered was this
the north green of today’s Castillo or is this the area
across today's Castillo Drive where the Huguenot
Cemetery and visitor center sit?
Historical Society Senior Researcher Charles Tingley
writes, “This photo was taken from an upper window of
the San Marco Hotel (built 18885). It was taken prior to
the extensive landscaping of the Fort Green circa 1890.
“I know of three other photos of baseball on the Fort
Green and numerous newspaper accounts. See Mr.
Flagler's St. Augustine by Tom Graham page 178. The
earliest account I could find was 1867 and the last in the
second decade of the 20th century.
“Steve Roberts who is chief of interpretation at the fort is working on a small exhibit on the subject.”
Tingley shared a Library of Congress
photo. “If you blow it up it shows a game
underway.
“In the photo the San Marco Hotel takes
center stage. On the right is the winter
residence of W. J. Warden (aka Castle
Warden) and the three-story building on the
left was Mason's Bakery on the NW corner
of Tolomato Lane and St. George Street.”
Tom Rahner noted, “The Huguenot (Protestant) cemetery was established because of the yellow fever
epidemic beginning in 1821 and therefore pre-dates the photograph by more than four decades.
It does look too deep (compared to today’s fort green), but The National Park Service offices now
occupy a considerable swath of the green on the east side of San Marco Ave., which also was not a multi-
laned thoroughfare at the time of the photograph.
The Ponce de Leon Celebrations in the first quarter of the 20th century had the really big events on the
green with hundreds of “Indians,” “Spaniards,” horses and mock villages as well as sizable grandstands,
Etc., with plenty of room to spare.
Cathedral Festival
COVID won’t stop the 36th
Annual Cathedral Festival on the
Mission Nombre de Dios grounds
Friday February 26 to Sunday 28,
but safety protocols will be in
place, including temperature
checks, spacing, sanitizing and
Plexiglass shields on all booths.
Food, music, midway rides and
the famous Sunday shrimp dinner
and super raffle with $10,000
grand prize.
Tickets $5, under 10 free. Hours
Friday 5-10:30 pm, Saturday
Noon-10:30 pm (Fireworks at 9
pm), Sunday Noon-9 pm.
Spring event permits OKd
Organizers must follow an 8-page CDC event checklist
The City Commission Monday approved lifting a year-old moratorium on special spring events at
Francis Field, but with the requirement that event organizers submit a compliant plan with the 8-page
document prepared by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The list of traditional events has shrunk. Move Rhythm and Ribs to third weekend in October. The Celtic
Festival and St Patrick's Parade in March and Easter Parade in April will not be part of the 2021 spring
events list.
Also, Drake's Raid and the Lion’s Seafood Festival will be cancelled.
Following a report from City Manager John Regan that the COVID positivity rate is dropping and
“Solomon Center is vaccinating in one day what other counties are doing in a week,” commissioners voted
the approval.
Commissioner Roxanne Horvath with the majority but had noted, “I feel that the spring is too soon. I
know the artists are suffering but we’re a unique tourist destination. We have people coming in from all
over the place. If we could get herd immunity by July it’s worth it me to not do the spring events.”
Commission okays Lightner
Museum garden redesign
This renovation will honor the legacies of Henry Flagler
and Otto Lightner
Museum Director David Bagnall
City commissioners Monday approved amending the city’s
agreement with the Lightner Museum Trustees to give up
one parking space in the renovation of the garden area
behind the museum, but not before some discussion on that
parking space loss.
The space loss was reduced from two to one parking space
after calculating restriping of the parking lot.
Commissioner Nancy Sykes-Kline noted a 2012 study that
showed one on-street parking space valued at $20,000 a
year in revenue to businesses.
“One parking space can be very important to economic
revitalization,” she said, “and there’s also spillover parking
into neighborhoods.”
Mayor Tracy Upchurch responded, “I’ve never made a
decision about whether I go to a community about a parking
space. I expect the community to provide that space and
direct me to it.”
Museum Director David Bagnall and associate Elijah
George of design consultants Marquis Latimer + Halback
presented the garden design with assurances the space
would be open to the public during normal museum hours.
February 24 2021
Commission will revisit
sailing club land donation
The City Commission will intervene in a youth sailing
club land donation that went awry.
Dr. Stanley Paris, who proposed to commissioners in 2019
donation of property to the city, rezoned to government use
and leased for a youth sailing club, says he wants to return
to that plan after a change of Yacht Club leadership pursued
a private club and zoning.
“They presented an application to the Planning and
Zoning Board for the management and use of that property
under an exception as a neighborhood recreational facility.”
City Attorney Isabelle Lopez explained to commissioners
Monday. “A majority of board members didn’t feel that the
facility being proposed was truly a neighborhood
recreational facility.”
The matter will return to the commission with the original
plan for a youth sailing club or passive park.
Shelter director says funding ‘will go a long way to help’
Judith Dembowski, Executive Director of the St. Francis House and Port in the
Storm, assured commissioners Monday potential grant dollars from a
$42 million
Small Cities Community Development Block Grant ‐ Coronavirus “will go a long
way toward helping” unsheltered homeless in the community.
Commissioners endorsed the first step in qualifying for funds “being made
available through a competitive application process to local governments to prevent,
prepare for, or respond to the coronavirus pandemic,” as described by Grant
Administration Coordinator Cory Sakryd.
“Eligible applicants may apply for a minimum of $200,000 and a maximum of $5,000,000 without a
match requirement,” he said.
Dembowski told commissioners, “We are working on a property we are trying to complete that will add
39 beds, and we have over 200 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in our community. Getting
these grant dollars can help these persons.”
Inland Harbor extension OKd to April 26 meeting
Designers for the Sebastian Inland Harbor Planned Unit Development will return to the City Commission
April 26 with revisions for a more exciting design.
Commissioners approved the extension despite Mayor Tracy Upchurch’s urging, “it’s cleanest to vote this
down at first hearing. When they come back it will be a whole new presentation.”
The developers’ request for approval of a planned unit development amendment has been stalled on the
first of two commission readings following a recommendation by the Planning and Zoning Board to deny.
Public session for Fish Island Preserve
The City will host a socially distanced public meeting to seek input for Fish Island Preserve on
Thursday, March 4, at 7 pm in the Alcazar Room at City Hall.
The session will include the natural and cultural resources of Fish Island Preserve and the draft
management plan and seek public comment. The management plan draft and meeting agenda are at
www.CityStAug.com/FishIsland.
Public comment will continue to be sought by email to FishIsland@citystaug.com through Friday
March 19. The public comments will be compiled and appropriate changes made to the management plan
to be sent to the state’s Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC) for their review and approval.
This meeting will be streamed live on www.CityStAugTV.com.
Questions? Contact Land Management Coordinator JB Miller wmiller@citystaug.com.
Virtual Back history exhibit produced
“The African American community has a rich and complex
history in St. Johns County that sometimes is overshadowed
by our Spanish roots,” says Clerk Historian Susan Parker.
“Leveraging the (County) Clerk’s vast archives can bring to
light some surprising and enlightening stories from our past.”
In commemoration of Black History Month, the St. Johns
County Clerk’s office with Parker has created a virtual
exhibit focusing on events involving local Black residents
through recorded documents in the county’s deed books.
“The history of our county is a tapestry of individuals and
families all seeking to build their lives,” says County Clerk
Brandon Patty. “Our office is charged with recording and
maintaining significant life events, like those found in the
exhibit, and we’re honored to be able to share these important documents with the public.”
The clerk’s office began recording documents when Florida became a United States territory in 1821.
Residents would bring their original documents to the clerk’s office to be recorded, the clerk would enter
the information verbatim and return the original document to its owner.
Dr. Parker located records showing that free Blacks purchased, sold, and mortgaged property and
enslaved Blacks who were bought, sold, and mortgaged.
Fort Mose launching Flight initiative
Interactive, educational signage will bring trail to life
In celebration of Black History Month, Fort Mose Historic State Park has partnered with Florida Power
& Light Company (FPL) and The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida to launch a self-guided
educational tour experience along the Flight to Freedom Trail, bringing to life the rich history of the park
year-round.
Inauguration ceremonies are Thursday, Feb. 25 at 10 am at Fort Mose.
New, interactive educational signage along the ¾ mile trail will allow the annual reenactment to be
experienced year-round.
