The St. Augustine Beach Hotel was instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement. | St. Johns Cultural Council
Published on April 30, 2024 at 5:05 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
The St. Augustine Beach Hotel is among 39 projects that will receive funding to protect landmarks of the Civil Rights Movement, the National Parks Service announced Tuesday
The hotel, the site of wade-in protests against segregated beaches in the 1960s, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2022. Nowadays it functions as a cultural center, and the St. Johns Cultural Council says the $750,000 award from the African American Civil Rights grant program will help efforts to restore the beachfront building.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
The nonprofit’s plans for the building include adding additional classroom space and artist studios on the second floor.
In issuing the award to the St. Augustine Beach Hotel, the National Parks Service acknowledged that the “series of demonstrations that occurred on the site were widely covered by national media and contributed to the passage of the national Civil Rights Act immediately thereafter.”
In total, the National Parks Service awarded $23.4 million to historic restorations and other projects protecting the history of the Civil Rights Movement around the country.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correctly identify the St. Johns Cultural Council as the nonprofit organization affiliated with the St. Augustine Beach Hotel.
