167 School Street

167 School Street

167 School Street, St. Augustine, Fla. 32084

Dixon, Virginia M.

Private

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-day Kings-ferry 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 hald of the 19th century, the groves were owned by Jose Mariano Hernandez, a prominent Territorial peiod politician and landowner who participated in the capture of Osceola. The porperty 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 conveys title to the St. Augustine Improvement company, a leading local real estate firm headed by William and Heth Canfield, which sundivided the property the following year. Development proceeded 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]

This one-story Bungalow residence at 167 School Street was constructed between 1910 and 1917. Significant details include brackets under the eaves. 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 built. 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.

David Nolan

Stephanie Giordano

Florida Master Site File

Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board

7812

8SJ2144