This is the first of two highlights on St. Augustine's historic black sites, drawn
from Florida Black Heritage Trail, a Florida Heritage Publication of the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose (Ft. Mose), Saratoga Boulevard two miles north of St. Augustine off U.S. 1. In 1693, King Charles II of Spain decreed runaway slaves were to be given sanctuary in his colonies. Black fugitives from the British Colonies made their way south and fought against a British retaliatory attack on St. Augustine.
In 1728, the territorial governor abolished the slave market and freed any remaining soldiers who were slaves. Ten years later Governor Montiano established Fort Mose as the first free black settlement in North America and the northernmost outpost protecting the capital of Spanish Florida.
The Spanish encouraged enslaved Africans to flee English settlements in the Carolinas, promising them freedom if they converted to Catholicism. Fort Mose was a diverse community made up of people from widely varied backgrounds: Nandingos, Congos, Carabalis, Minas, Gambas, Lecumis, Sambas, Gangas, Araras and Guineans.
The fort and village were abandoned in 1763 and for more than 175 years the remains of this first free black town lay forgotten in a salt marsh north of St. Augustine. Although nothing remains of the fort, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994 and is a tangible reminder of the people who risked and often lost their lives in their struggle to attain freedom.
A festival is held annually to reenact the journey to freedom.
St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church and School, 78 Martin Luther King Avenue. This block of property in the Lincolnville District is owned by the Catholic Church and contains historic buildings important to St. Augustine's African American heritage. It was part of the "Yallaha" orange grove plantation before the Civil War and was conveyed to the church by the Dumas family in 1890.
The first building constructed in 1898 was the school, originally called St. Cecilia, later St. Benedict. It is the oldest surviving brick schoolhouse in St. Augustine (now under renovation). With a tower and original wraparound porch, it is a landmark of Victorian architecture.
It was the gift of Saint Katharine Drexel, a wealthy Philadelphia heiress who founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People and established more than 60 Catholic parochial schools around the country. The Sisters of St. Joseph who came from Le Puy, France, in 1866 operated the school.
They were involved in a civil rights case in 1916, when three Sisters were arrested for violating a 1913 Florida law that made it a criminal offense for whites to teach black children. They were released when a judge ruled the law did not apply to private schools.
St. Benedict the Moor Church, located on the north end of the property, designed by Savannah architects Robinson and Reidy, was completed in 1911. The rectory was built in 1915 and housed the Josephite Fathers out of Baltimore, who pastored here for many years.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., visited the rectory in 1964.
Photo: waymarking.com. Historical marker at St. Benedict site highlights celebrated Civil Rights case involving three nuns.
St. Augustine Bedtime Stories - Dramatic accounts of famous people and events in St. Augustine's history - in booklets designed for quick reads before bed. Information here