A new pirate statue carved by Jett Paxton will soon grace Fernandina Beach's new waterfront park.
Published on March 4, 2026 at 10:32 am
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A new pirate statue will soon grace the Fernandina Beach waterfront, just five months after Peg Leg Pete, decaying from 58 years of wind and weather, was moved to the Amelia Island Museum of History.
The new wooden pirate statue, carved by Jett Paxton, will be unveiled as part of the grand opening of the city’s new Amelia River Waterfront Park.
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The statue’s name will be up to the city’s schoolchildren.
The city’s Youth Advisory Committee is having a naming competition for students in grades 6 to 12,” city spokesperson Mary Hamburg said in a statement. The winner will be announced at the park’s grand opening ceremony on April 11.
Artist Wayne Ervin carved a single 10-foot piece of live oak into the original pirate statue, which was parked in 1978 on Fernandina Beach’s historic waterfront, then moved to the Amelia Island Welcome Center.
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A recent engineering company review requested by city officials found that the statue had deteriorated from age and weather and was no longer safe for people to climb on for photos.
In October, Peg Leg Pete got a pre-dawn forklift ride from the center to the museum. City crews and volunteers from the Fernandina Pirates Club parked it on an outside wall at the museum on South 3rd Street, then recently moved the statue into a more protected site inside a gated entrance. About $1,500 raised in a GoFundMe campaign will go to its maintenance, the city said.
The new statue
City officials began seeing serious signs of weather damage on the original 5-foot-tall statue last summer as it stood atop a concrete base just off Centre Street. In late August, a proposal for conservation was brought before the city’s Historic District Council.
Another proposal was made to replace it with a new statue commissioned a few years ago by the Fernandina Beach Pirates Club, carved by Paxton. But the council tabled the statue’s swap and requested the engineering assessment.
The assessment, sent to city officials Sept. 5, states that the statue had “visible decay and soft areas noticed in several places,” with more damage probable under the surface. Some of the cremated remains of a local pirate enthusiast remain inside the wooden statue, apparently placed there in recent years, officials confirmed.
With Peg Leg Pete moved to a safer site, the city’s Historic District Council approved Paxton’s statue to be placed in the new Amelia River Waterfront Park.
The final design includes a multiuse pavilion, sidewalks, restrooms, a children’s play area, improved parking and increased green space. The construction of this park is funded through Parks and Recreation impact fees.
Meanwhile, the city’s legal department is working on a policy for permanent art structures, Hamburg said. Until that is approved, the new pirate statue will scowl at park visitors under a temporary, one-year permit.
“He will likely live in the park for longer than that,” Hamburg said.
