Beaches drive Florida island city
Posted on Sunday, May 4, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Travel/224774/
FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — At the northeastern tip of Florida is the only place in the United States that has served under eight flags.
That alone would give Fernandina Beach a special panache, but the city offers much more than an interesting history.
It is, first of all, the only city on Amelia Island, one of Florida’s great resort areas. Thirteen miles of Atlantic beach lie minutes from downtown. A variety of hotels, motels, bedand-breakfast inns and rental homes on the island beckon to vacationers, as do its seven golf courses.
It is the site of historic American Beach, one of the few beaches on the East Coast open to blacks during segregation, and of Fort Clinch, a well-preserved pre-Civil War fortress that guarded the mouth of the St. Mary’s River.
Best known of the island’s hostelries is the Amelia Island Plantation, a mega-resort complex 10 miles south of Fernandina with inn and villa accommodations, 72 holes of golf, 23 tennis courts, several restaurants and miles of beaches. Nearby is another prestigious property, the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island, and closer to town are additional hotels and motels, B&Bs and vacation homes, some right on the beach.
But the hub of the island is Fernandina Beach’s historic downtown district. Moss-laden oaks line Centre Street, a twisting main street bordered by brick sidewalks and shops and restaurants in Victorianera buildings.
Dozens of lovely Queen Anne homes, some now elegant B&Bs, grace nearby blocks. Viewed perhaps most appropriately from a horse-and-carriage tour are such iconic homes as the Hoyt House, Bailey House, Fairbanks House and Williams House.
A landmark building on Centre Street is the Palace Saloon, Florida’s oldest continuously operating drinking establishment. Today it looks much as it did in the late 1800 s and early 1900 s. You can belly up to the elegant 40-foot bar designed by Adolphus Busch, founder of the Anheuser-Busch beer empire. Its floors are inlaid mosaic, its ceiling made of embossed tin, and its walls are decorated with six large murals depicting scenes from works by Shakespeare and Dickens.
Just off Centre Street stands another venerable building, the Florida House Inn, the state’s oldest surviving hotel. Built in 1857, Florida House has played host to such guests as President Ulysses S. Grant, Cuban martyr Jose Marti, automaker Henry Ford and actress Mary Pickford, as well as members of the Rockefeller and Carnegie families.
What made Fernandina Beach such a thriving city was its location at the confluence of the St. Mary’s and Amelia rivers, both deep enough that early pirates could easily sail into them and find hiding places. This also made it a favorite spot for smugglers and slave traders.
Later, its mild climate brought hundreds of vacationers from the North, and its rich seabeds created a shrimping fleet that still brings in much of Florida’s shrimp harvest.
Its strategic location made Fernandina Beach a much-contested spot for many countries, which is why it served under eight flags. The first was the French flag, flown when explorer Jean Ribault landed on the island in 1562. The Spanish flag was raised in 1565 when forces led by Pedro Menenez de Aviles drove out the French, killing 350 colonists.
Then came the British, when James Oglethorpe took over the island in 1763 and named it Amelia. But in 1783 Spain again controlled Florida, and during its reign the Patriot Flag of the Republic of Florida appeared briefly when a group attempted unsuccessfully to transfer the island to the United States.
In 1817, a Scotsman with 55 troops seized the island from the Spanish and they raised their own flag, the Green Cross of Florida. Following that, a pirate named Luis Aury sailed into the harbor, raised the Republic of Mexico’s flag and declared himself the island’s ruler.
In 1821 the United States took over the territory, losing it only for a year during the Civil War, when the Confederates raised the eighth flag to fly over the island.
Today, Fernandina Beach rests happily under the Stars and Stripes, playing host to tourists instead of pirates, sunseekers instead of smugglers.
It’s not a bad exchange. Information: Amelia Island Tourist Development Council, (800 ) 226-3542, www. ameliaisland. org or www. islandchamber. com.