Lincolnville Research Paper

The neighborhood of Lincolnville was established after the Civil War by freed slaves and, is in the oldest city in America, St. Augustine. The settlement was first called Little Africa, however, when the streets were paved in 1878 the community became known as Lincolnville in honor of Abraham Lincoln (1). The Lincolnville District is St. Augustine 's most well-known black neighborhood and has been a part of many important events in not only African American history, but also St. Augustine’s and America. Racism and segregation in the South during the late 19th century and early 20th allowed for black businesses to be established and then for them to grow and prosper. As the 20th century progressed Lincolnville became an important part of St.

By the 1920s a number of black-owned businesses began to open on Washington street making this area the center of socialization and culture of the neighborhood (10). Lincolnville business man Frank Butler owned a grocery store on Washington Street. Butler often sold goods on credit at his stores a later became a real-estate investor (11). At this time, it was very difficult for blacks to own property so considering he was a real-estate investor was astonishing for the time. Butler was also well liked by city officials and received tips on taxes and real-estate. This was not typical for the time. Lincolnville residents often said Butler goal in life was to be a successful African American. Butler was so successful that he was able to purchase land on Anastasia island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Matanzas River and developed it into Butler beach (12). If you were an African American during segregation Butler Beach would be your only option to go to the ocean short of driving to Jacksonville or Daytona. In total Butler owned several barber shops, grocery stores, restaurants and Butler Beach on Anastasia island (13). Truly for his time Butler was an incredible man who did a lot for the African American community. In the 20th century many black professionals provided health services to the people of Lincolnville Rudolph Gordon was a dentist and Leon Reid and T.G. Freeland were doctors (14). Today much of early Lincolnville lives on through the photos of Richard Twine’s. Twine spent a lot