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Fernandina Beach–history at every turn
By Kathy Mitchell
Photos by Kathy Mitchell
I found myself on Florida’s Amelia Island on a late spring Sunday afternoon that was too rainy for the beach and decided to explore the island’s colorful history. There’s a lot to explore. The island claims a 4,000-year history dating back to the Timucuans, who may have lived there as early as 2500 B.C.
Even the years since the first Europeans arrived in the mid-16th century have generated a lot of history. Amelia Island is the only place in America to have been governed under eight different flags. Granted, some of those reigns were pretty short. The Green Cross, the family flag of Gen. Gregor MacGregor, flew over the island for just three months in 1817, and Mexican revolutionaries ran the place for another three months that same year. And taking the prize for shortest-lived government, a group called the Patriots flew its flag over Amelia Island for 24 hours in 1812.
 During a 300-year period, the island also was variously ruled by the French, the Spanish, the English, the Confederacy and finally the United States. One local Web site says of the island “the French visited, the Spanish developed, the English named, and the Americans tamed.”
It’s possible to spend a day or more exploring just one area of Amelia’s lively history. For example, on its southern end is American Beach, the first stop on the Florida Black Heritage Trail.
Those interested in military history might be more attracted to the north end of the island, the site of Fort Clinch, one of the best preserved 19th century forts in the United States, with exhibits from the Civil War, the Spanish-American War and World War II.
 Time was short, however, so I focused on the historic district of Fernandina Beach, the island’s city center, with its remarkable Victorian-era architecture. In the heart of the district on Centre Street, the main shopping area, are reminders of bygone days. Along the waterfront, shrimp boats still bring their bounty from the sea as they did when Fernandina Beach was primarily a shrimping village. There, in Brett’s on the Waterway one may sit and watch the boats and the seagulls while having lunch or dinner from outside on the deck or inside through the large windows.
Within sight of the dock is the 1899 depot that served Florida’s first cross-state railroad. This depot, which now houses the Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center, features on its grounds a life-size statue of a pirate, a reminder of another colorful chapter in the area’s history.
A short stroll up Centre Street is the still-operating 1912 Fernandina Post Office, a delightful example of the lavish buildings constructed by the U.S. government in that era. Across 4th Street is the Three Star Saloon, which has been around since 1877 though it no longer functions as a saloon. The thirsty need not despair, however, since just a few feet away on the corner of Centre and 2nd is Florida’s oldest one-location saloon, The Palace. The 1878 building has been a saloon since 1903 and continues to serve drinks today.
History buffs and hungry tourists won’t want to miss Florida House, the state’s oldest hotel. Just off of CentreStreet, Florida House, now a bed-and-breakfast inn is actually two buildings, one erected 1857-59 and the other in 1882. I enthusiastically recommend the scrumptious array of goodies offered at its Sunday brunch.
 Less than a block away is the Nassau County Courthouse, built in 1891, which the state of Florida has declared “the finest surviving Victorian courthouse in Florida.” Nearby is the 150-year-old First Presbyterian Church, one of the oldest churches in Florida.
Those who admire Victorian homes will find that they’ve hit the mother lode in Fernandina. In fact, the 1988 movie The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking, which called for an old family home widely believed to be haunted, was shot at one of Fernandina Beach’s marvelous old houses with the “gingerbread” trim.
The Pippi Longstocking house is in an even older part of town–known as Old Town–about a mile north of Centre Street. But those taking a walking tour of the Centre Street area can see dozens of fine examples of rambling ornate residences with the “haunted house” look. One, the Bailey House, built in 1895 for steamship agent Effingham Bailey, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Another house in the area claims its very own ghost. Several area houses were built by the prominent Thompson family, but the one built in 1882 for the brother of a senator is not only the first brick building in the city to be used solely as a residence, but also is said to be haunted by one of its original residents, Nettie Thompson.
Another standout among the area’s Victorian buildings is Lesesne House. Complete with wood columns, a picket fence and a balcony that stretches the width of the house, the large white residence, built in 1860, is another on the National Register.
Also individually cited on the National Register is the Tabby House, which was built in 1885 using crushed oyster shell, once a popular building material in the area.
Visitors who want a closer look at some of the old houses may be delighted to learn that many now function as restaurants or bed-and-breakfasts. Among them is the Murdaugh House, a 90-year-old home on South 3rd Street that was renovated in 2005. It’s now a restaurant, where the name is a clue to the address—it’s called 29 South.
Among the more-than-a-century-old homes that are now bed-and-breakfasts are Addison House, built around 1876; Hoyt House, built in 1905, and the Fairbanks House another National Register entry, which was built in 1885.
A good starting place is the Amelia Island Museum of History, housed in the old jail building in the Centre Street area. It even offers “ghost tours” every Friday evening.
Visit www.ameliaisland.com or http://www.aifby.com/Fernandina-Beach.52.0.html for more information on Fernandina Beach’s historic district.
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