By Chloe Smith When Gayle Phillips walked through the doors to the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center for the first time, she had no idea the role she would play. Now, after almost eight years of transforming a building on its last legs into a…
A building that once housed St. Augustine’s black high school is open to the public as the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center, but its parking lot is empty.
By Shelby Gillis | gargoyle@flagler.edu While walking through downtown St. Augustine, almost everything you stumble across has a story behind it, most of which stretch all the way back to four and a half centuries ago. Next September marks the 450th anniversary of St. Augustine’s founding….
An interview with William (Mayhem) Macrae, St. Augustine’s pirate magician.
By Tiffanie Reynolds| gargoyle@flagler.edu
Historic Downtown St. Augustine will now get much needed restoration under the management of University of Florida.
The university was selected as part of a bill arranged by State Rep. William Proctor, who thought a partnership would better fund the projects without taxing the city.
“It occurred to me at the time that Pensacola has a number of houses of this type and that the state provides some money for their maintenance through the University of West Florida. I raised that issue and the city commission asked to see if we could pass comparable legislation,” said Proctor, District 20 Florida House Representative.
By Kelly Gibbs | gargoyle@flagler.edu
When I moved to St. Augustine from Gainesville two years ago, I never dreamed I’d one day sit on a sidewalk shooting the breeze with two older black men taking pictures of a former slave cabin and sharing neighborhood gossip.
I was excited to find my own cheap apartment down the street from campus in Lincolnville in August 2009. I was told I was moving into a “mixed neighborhood” by my landlady, but didn’t understand the phrase.
Written and Photographed by Phillip C. Sunkel IV gargoyle@flagler.edu For Carl Halbirt, finding hidden treasures isn’t only his passion, it’s his job. As the city archeologist of St. Augustine— the nation’s oldest permanent European city — Halbirt has a passion for finding the treasures which lie…
By Cal Colgan | jcolgan@flagler.edu
Howard Lewis is frustrated that while the city of St. Augustine has started to recognize the importance of the civil rights movement in shaping the town’s history of race relations, most tour guides have left out 400 years of black influence in the nation’s “Oldest City.” He said they do not even acknowledge that Augustine of Hippo, the famous philosopher and theologian who is the town’s namesake, was an African.
“If you look up St. Augustine, you’ll see that he was born in Médéa, and the Internet will tell you that that is now Thagaste, Algeria,” Lewis said.
By Lindsay Imwold | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Gala Menendez 2010 Assistant Director Janet Smith considered this year’s event a success.
The annual event celebrates the birthday of St. Augustine’s founder, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. This year was his 491st birthday.
By Lindsay Imwold | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Director Melissa Stuart has been involved with the Gala Menéndez for the past two years.
She’s been volunteering since 2008 and just became director about three months ago. The annual Gala Menéndez will take place on Saturday, Feb. 27, celebrating the 491st birthday of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, founder of St. Augustine.