Lincolnville Historic District

The Lincolnville Historic District, established by freedmen following the American Civil War and located on the southwest peninsula of the "nation's oldest city," St. Augustine, Florida, is a U.S. Historic District (designated as such on November 29, 1991). The district is bounded by Cedar, Riberia, Cerro and Washington streets and DeSoto Place.At the time of its National Register listing, it contained 548 historic buildings, but the city of St. Augustine engaged in extensive demolitions in Lincolnville in the 1990s. The number of surviving historic buildings was markedly reduced. Since the turn of the 21st century, the city has sought more demolitions to enable redevelopment of the area.HistoryThe community was established after the American Civil War in 1866 by freedmen when Peter Sanks, Matilda Papy, Harriet Weedman, Miles Hancock, Israel McKenzie, Aaron DuPont and Tom Solana leased land for $1.00 a year on what was then the west bank of Maria Sanchez Creek, across from the developed part of St. Augustine. The rest of the peninsula consisted of orange grove plantations: the Dumas plantation "Yalaha" (Seminole word for orange) at the northern end and "Buena Esperanza" (Spanish for "Good Hope") plantation at the south.The freedmen originally called their settlement Africa, or Little Africa. After streets were laid out in 1878, it came to be known as Lincolnville (in the 1860s the northwest corner of modern Lincolnville was a 5acre orange grove owned by Abraham Lincoln's private secretary, John Hay. He later served as Secretary of State under Theodore Roosevelt). Over the decades the settlement was expanded from this northeast area, around present-day Washington, Oneida, Dumas, St. Francis, St. Benedict and DeHaven streets, and developed the entire peninsula. It was characterized by narrow streets, small lots, and houses built close to the street line, similar to the colonial St. Augustine style and land-use pattern.