Echo House
Dublin Core
Title
Echo House
100 Central Avenue, St. Augustine, Fla. 32084
Subject
Echo House, Inc.
Old Folks Home
Description
The area comprising the Atwood Tract Subdivision is situated between the early 18th century Indian villages of Pocotalaca to the south and Palica to the north. The subdivision corresponds exactly with the 1792 land grant to Martin Hernandez, a Minorcan who was royal carpenter of the fortifications and who converted the property into one of the first commercial orange groves in Florida. The road to the San Sebastian ferry, present-dday Kingsferry Street, formed the southern boundary of the tract and led to Hernandez' other grant on the west side of the river. [1] Throughout the first half of the 19th century, the groves were owned by Jose Mariano Hernandez, a prominent Territorial period politician and landowner who participated in the capture of Osceola. The property was purchased in 1865 by Anna Atwood, wife of George Atwood, a leader of the Florida Radical Republicans after the Civil War and former county clerk. In 1887, the Atwoods conveyed title to the St. Augustine Improvement Company, a leading local real estate firm headed by William Warden and Heth Canfield, which subdivided the property the following year. Development proceded rapidly to the west of Central Avenue. Some of the first houses along Park Place and DeHaven Street were built by Whites while the rest of the tract was developed as a Black residential area, one of the first of such neighborhoods outside the original Lincolnville community. [2]
The building at 100 Central Avenue is part of the history of the Buckingham Smith nursing home for Blacks originally establish in the 1870's at the building that later became the Buckingham Hotel on Granada Street, and continuing today at a location further south on Central Avenue. This particular building is linked with the generosity of Dr. Andrew Anderson [1839-1924], physician and friend of Henry Flagler, who is the subject of Thomas Graham's book The Awakening of St. Augustine. [3]
The St. Augustine Record reported in 1924:
" The Lincolnville branch of the St. Johns County Welfare Federation held its first regular monthly meeting at the Trinity Parish House on May 7th.
One of the most interesting features of the meeting was the outline of Dr. Andrew Anderson's generous plans for the new community house, which is to be erected very soon in Lincolnville. The house will be equipped for a day nursery, clubs and classes, and the office for the colored nurse and welfare worker. In addition there will be an up-to-date two-ward hospital for such old people as are homeless, and in need of care and medical attention for the last few years of their lives. The lot on which these buildings will stand is large enough to include a well-equipped playground and a small bath house. The need for a community center of this type is well known, says Miss Bolster, and there is no doubt but that Dr. Anderson's generous gift will be fully appreciated." [4]
The Community Center opened on Thanksgiving, 1925. [5] Today it continues to serve the Lincolnville Community as Echo House, Inc., under the directorship of Rosalie Gordon-Mills.
The building at 100 Central Avenue is part of the history of the Buckingham Smith nursing home for Blacks originally establish in the 1870's at the building that later became the Buckingham Hotel on Granada Street, and continuing today at a location further south on Central Avenue. This particular building is linked with the generosity of Dr. Andrew Anderson [1839-1924], physician and friend of Henry Flagler, who is the subject of Thomas Graham's book The Awakening of St. Augustine. [3]
The St. Augustine Record reported in 1924:
" The Lincolnville branch of the St. Johns County Welfare Federation held its first regular monthly meeting at the Trinity Parish House on May 7th.
One of the most interesting features of the meeting was the outline of Dr. Andrew Anderson's generous plans for the new community house, which is to be erected very soon in Lincolnville. The house will be equipped for a day nursery, clubs and classes, and the office for the colored nurse and welfare worker. In addition there will be an up-to-date two-ward hospital for such old people as are homeless, and in need of care and medical attention for the last few years of their lives. The lot on which these buildings will stand is large enough to include a well-equipped playground and a small bath house. The need for a community center of this type is well known, says Miss Bolster, and there is no doubt but that Dr. Anderson's generous gift will be fully appreciated." [4]
The Community Center opened on Thanksgiving, 1925. [5] Today it continues to serve the Lincolnville Community as Echo House, Inc., under the directorship of Rosalie Gordon-Mills.
The Lincolnville Community House at 100 Central Avenue [actually three buildings linked together] is part of a well-planned Mediterranean Revival style complex along one of the main commercial and residential streets of Lincolnville. It was constructed in 1926.
Three frame residences, 98 and 100 Central Avenue and 156 School Street, were removed from this site in the 1920's when the current complex was built. The street patterns in the area were changed to accomodate this and Excelsior High School across the street, also constructed in the Mediterranean Revival style popular during the Florida Boom period of the 1920's. Visible elements of the style in this building include a stucco shell-dash finish, jigsawn rafters, a clay tile roof, and double-hung 3/1 windows.
The western part of Atwood Tract was developed between 1888 and 1894 on land previously used for agricultural purposes. Development continued east to Washington Street in the first three decades of the 20th century. It is an area generally of wood frame residences, most of which are one story, and contains some interesting Victorian examples. There are some commercial and institutional buildings along Central Avenue and Riberia Street. The early, western, part of the tract has very small lots and narrow streets. The area was long connected with Black education, including both public and parochial schools. The street patterns in this area were changed in the 1920's when the distinctive Mediterranean Revival complex of Excelsior School and the Lincolnville Community House were build. Atwood Tract is bounded on the west by marshes and the San Sebastian River. On the east it runs through almost to Maria Sanchez Lake. The area is threatened generally by traffic on Riberia Street and Central Avenue, and by some housing deterioration.
Three frame residences, 98 and 100 Central Avenue and 156 School Street, were removed from this site in the 1920's when the current complex was built. The street patterns in the area were changed to accomodate this and Excelsior High School across the street, also constructed in the Mediterranean Revival style popular during the Florida Boom period of the 1920's. Visible elements of the style in this building include a stucco shell-dash finish, jigsawn rafters, a clay tile roof, and double-hung 3/1 windows.
The western part of Atwood Tract was developed between 1888 and 1894 on land previously used for agricultural purposes. Development continued east to Washington Street in the first three decades of the 20th century. It is an area generally of wood frame residences, most of which are one story, and contains some interesting Victorian examples. There are some commercial and institutional buildings along Central Avenue and Riberia Street. The early, western, part of the tract has very small lots and narrow streets. The area was long connected with Black education, including both public and parochial schools. The street patterns in this area were changed in the 1920's when the distinctive Mediterranean Revival complex of Excelsior School and the Lincolnville Community House were build. Atwood Tract is bounded on the west by marshes and the San Sebastian River. On the east it runs through almost to Maria Sanchez Lake. The area is threatened generally by traffic on Riberia Street and Central Avenue, and by some housing deterioration.
Creator
Nolan, David
Cozad, Ashley
Source
Florida Master Site File
Publisher
Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board
Date
12/1978
Identifier
8SJ474
Citation
Nolan, David and Cozad, Ashley , “Echo House,” Resilience: Black Heritage in St. Augustine, accessed April 26, 2024, https://blackheritagestaugustine.omeka.net/items/show/186.