4 local sites listed among most endangered in Florida

Two Jacksonville sites — and four in Northeast Florda — are among the state’s most threatened historic places, according to a list compiled by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation for 2025.

One is a 167-year-old red brick lighthouse that a community group is working to move off Naval Station Mayport’s base and restore for public access nearby.

The other is what is left of a community of century-old bungalows at the eastern edge of Mixon Town, once part of a larger Black working class community.

The nonprofit state preservation group announced the “11 to Save” list Tuesday in collaboration with Florida Main Street, whittled down from public nominations to reflect the historic places that matter to local communities.

The 47-year-old trust is dedicated to protecting the state’s heritage and history. It is a statewide partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

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“The 2025 Florida’s ’11 to Save’ reflect the extraordinary breadth and depth of stories that make up the cultural mosaic of our state,” Florida Trust Board President Mike Cosden said in a statement. “By safeguarding these sites, we’re not just preserving buildings and landscapes, but also the diverse histories and voices that contribute to our shared heritage.”

The 2025 list represents endangered historic resources in Alachua, Duval, Gadsden, Levy, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Putnam, St. Johns and Seminole counties. Jacksonville is home to two.

ONEIDA BUNGALOW COURT is a group of small homes lining Wade Drive just east of Interstate 95, part of what was known as the West Lewisville community, bordered by the Riverside and Brooklyn neighborhoods. Laid out in 1875, it grew into a thriving Black working class community. The Oneida Bungalow Court was developed in 1925 by Francis L’Engle with 29 small wood-frame homes and a gas station.

Urban growth and construction of Interstates 10 and 95 led to the community’s decline, with little remaining of the original neighborhood, the historic trust says.

Former Navy pilot and Oasis Paint Co. owner Spencer Fletcher, whose company is working to restore the bungalows, called the community a “diamond in the rough” that needs to be saved when he spoke on.

“When you drive past, it’s really hard to articulate into words the feeling you get, but the best way to describe it is you are walking back in time,” Fletcher said last summer on First Coast Connect. “This is a common thread of a lot of neighborhoods in the U.S. now that there are communities that don’t get the attention that a lot of other communities do, primarily minority communities, and there’s a lot of good and rich history there. There’s a lot of good and bad, and it deserves to be preserved.”

THE ST. JOHNS RIVER LIGHTHOUSE in Mayport is another Jacksonville structure on the list. Built in 1858, it is the oldest surviving structure in the village of Mayport. After the lighthouse was decommissioned in 1929, the U.S. Navy absorbed it in the 1940s as Naval Station Mayport was established.

Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, the 81-foot-tall lighthouse is fenced in in and inaccessible to the public. But the nonprofit Mayport Lighthouse Association is working to move the historic lighthouse to city-owned land a half-mile away in nearby Mayport Village.

Making the preservation list is “very good news,” said association Vice President Elizabeth Boggs. A feasibility study into the move is due to begin in a few weeks, and the listing brings the process “much needed visibility” as its efforts continue, Boggs said.

The association’s goal is to move the lighthouse in five to 10 years, Boggs said.    

Also on the list:

THE MAGIC BEACH MOTEL, built in 1951, is just half a block from the Atlantic Ocean in Vilano Beach. The trust calls it “a rare and iconic example of Florida’s mid-20th-century tourism boom” that is rapidly disappearing due to ongoing development pressures.

Developer Rick Johnston wants to demolish the structure in favor of condominiums and businesses. But while the state of Florida has not recognized the Magic Beach Motel as a cultural landmark, St. Johns County recognized its cultural significance in 2021.

As such, the Cultural Resource Review Board must approve any proposals to replace it with something else. The board on June 30 determined that Johnston’s plan did not properly acknowledge the building’s local cultural significance.

The developer could file an appeal. But the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation hopes that inclusion on this year’s preservation list will provide “critical visibility and support, helping to educate property owners on the benefits of historic preservation and strengthening efforts to save this unique piece of Florida’s architectural and cultural heritage.”

MARY MOSSMAN HOUSE AND HALL in Melrose, in Putnam County, is the other local site on the list.

Erected in 1881 for spiritual healer Mary Howe Mossman, it became a center for spiritual teaching, joined in 1921 by a church building, now known as Mossman Hall. Both need significant repair and restoration, the list states.

The trust says the house and hall provide a “unique legacy of faith, healing, and women’s history in Florida.