Protests against segregated beaches were just some of the demonstrations during the Civil Rights Movement in St. Johns County. | St. Johns Cultural Council
Published on August 18, 2025 at 12:07 pm
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A new self-guided trail connects 20 local Black history landmarks from the pre-colonial era to the present.
The St. Johns County Black Heritage Trail is an effort from the St. Johns Cultural Council to bring more attention to the Black people who shaped the area over centuries of history.
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From the colonial era to the Civil Rights Movement, the historians and community advocates behind the project hope that the Heritage Trail will encourage more people to drive, walk and bike to important sites like St. Benedict the Moor School, the Lincolnville neighborhood and more.
Historian Tameka Bradley Hobbs was the lead researcher on the project. She says selecting the trail’s locations was made possible by input from people whose families have been in St. Johns County for generations.
Without those people, Hobbs says, the stories from St. Johns County during the Jim Crow era may have been lost.
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“The part that I enjoyed the most was our charrette, our gathering of local cultural keepers,” Hobbs says, “long term residents who were able to fill in those gaps for us, and what they shared with us really gave us such a wonderful and powerful glimpse of the community networks and the tapestry of the various communities, whether it was West Augustine, Lincolnville …”
The Heritage Trail offers an opportunity for people to learn more about just how connected St. Johns County was to the Civil Rights Movement, Regina Gayle Phillips, executive director of the Lincolnville Museum, says.
“That’s probably one of the most amazing stories we tell where people come back and say, ‘Oh, wow, I didn’t know that happened here,’” Phillips says. “We get that almost every day with people going through the museum because they’ve seen the pictures of Mr. Brock pouring acid in the pool at the Monson Motor Lodge. They’ve seen the wade-in pictures, and they say, ‘I did not know that was in St. Augustine.’”
And while 20th century history is represented by locations like Dr. Robert B. Hayling Freedom Park and the Lincolnville Museum, places like Fort Mose Historic State Park tell local stories that go all the way back to the 16th century.
The 20 locations on the Heritage Trail span St. Johns County, and maps showing where to find each landmark with historical information and photos are on the St. Johns Cultural Council’s website and available to pick up in print at local visitor centers and in Florida welcome centers.
