Did you know that a swim-in at St. Augustine’s Moson Motor Lodge on June 18, 1964, is credited as the catalyst for the passage of the Civil Rights Act? Shocking photos documenting a motel manager pouring hydrochloric acid to dispel Black swimmers drew national and international attention. The following day, the Civil Rights Act was approved in the U.S. Senate and later signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.
To honor its unique and pivotal history, officials in St. Augustine Florida’s St. Johns County launched the St. Johns County Black Heritage Trail in August 2025.
According to the trail’s official website:
“St. Johns County’s Black heritage is arguably the most significant and unique in the United States and certainly has the longest history. Africans first visited present-day St. Johns County in 1513 as part of Juan Ponce de Leon’s expedition to explore lands north of Puerto Rico. When the Spanish established St. Augustine in 1565, they brought both free and enslaved Africans with them to help build the new settlement.
During the subsequent 450 years, people of African descent in St. Augustine experienced slavery and injustices, but they also built communities, went to school, attended church, created businesses, and fought bravely as soldiers. To quote Thomas Jackson, life-long St. Johns County resident and former Board officer of the Fort Mose Historical Society and St. Augustine Historical Society, “We’ve always been here, and we still are.”
It was also Mr. Jackson who recommended the name Black Heritage Trail because the Smithsonian Institution refers to “African American” as 1776 and later. By that time, people of African descent had lived in St. Augustine for 200 years and established the first legally sanctioned free Black community in what would become the United States.
June 25, 1964 the St. Augustine Beach Hotel and pier were the staging area for beach wade-ins to desegregate beaches.
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Fast forward to the early 1960s. Civil rights demonstrations in St. Augustine, in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. participated, were broadcast by major national news outlets, thereby providing the political pressure for Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. You would be hard pressed to find another place that has more momentous historical events related to Black history and heritage.”
This guidebook provides you with an introduction to the extraordinary Black heritage of St. Johns County.
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All images obtained from stjohnsculture.com
