Cultural Resource Management

In 2020, St. Johns County was awarded a Small Matching Grant in the amount of $50,000, from the Division of Historical Resources for the Historic Properties Survey of Hastings. The County contracted with PaleoWest who documented a total of 350 structures. One of the goals of the survey was to determine if any structures in the Hastings area may be eligible for local or federal historic designation. PaleoWest recommended eleven structures are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The eligible structures included both residences and public structures.

This iconic structure stood as the entrance to the Florida Normal and Industrial Institute central campus, which existed in impressive grandeur at the intersection of King Street and Holmes Boulevard. The college purchased the property in 1917 and began classes in October 1918. The report is a result of the necessary documentation required prior to the County’s moving and restoring of the Arch in 2009.

The First Spanish Period Pablo Road, and the British Period King’s Road were the two more important roads used in colonial times. This report documents the paths of these roads north of St. Augustine through historic maps and papers illustrating the importance of them as public landmarks throughout St. Augustine history. The report also assesses the modern-day location of these significant resources on today’s landscape.

St. Johns County received a small matching grant from the State Division of Historic Resources in 2020 and through this grant was able to hire a contractor to manufacture new historic markers and historic interpretive panels for public information on various cultural and historic sites throughout the County. In 2022, County staff designed, assembled and installed a total of 13 historic markers and 27 interpretive panels at 15 different County park locations.

The rural Hastings/ Elkton area has been a center of agricultural production in Florida for over a century. This report documents the historical development of the county’s agricultural history and the development patterns of these communities. The report provides a detailed analysis of the important architectural styles still evident in historic farmhouses dotting the pastoral landscape, and recommends 10 of these farmsteads for National Register of Historic Places nominations.

This document presents the historical development of St. Johns County including economic, social, and infrastructural changes and influences. It also provides an overview of the origins of the many small communities within the County. The final section has a particular focus on the architectural styles represented in the County’s historical development.

St. Johns County received a small matching grant from the State Division of Historic Resources in 2020 and through this grant was able to hire a consultant to conduct a historic resource survey of the entire length of the coastal area from the northern St. Johns County line in Ponte Vedra Beach south to Vilano Beach. The survey area focused on historic structures (50 years or older) located along both sides of Ponte Vedra Blvd. in Ponte Vedra Beach, Coastal Highway and Vilano Road in Vilano Beach. 

The West Augustine community is the largest historical community in the county outside of downtown St. Augustine. This report provides a detailed narrative of the historical development of the community and assesses the more significant historical structures still standing. The report also recommends a potential historic district within West Augustine.