St John's Fairground is located in the greater St. Augustine, FL area and also was the host of the Annual Florida Tiny House Festival.
Just north of St. Augustine is Fort Mose’, a free Black community established before the United States was the United States! Fort Mose, or Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, was home to the enslaved Africans that had been escaping from Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas since the mid 1600s. Along this first Underground Railroad (the Southern route), these refugees were sometimes assisted by and integrated into local Indigenous communities. They lived and worked with the Seminoles who occupied much of Florida and mutually benefited from the skill sets they each brought in order to maintain their autonomy and freedom. Fort Mose is the only site of its kind in the United States, and is a precious and valuable part of our national history. It was named as a National Historic Landmark in 1995, and is an important element in Florida’s Black Heritage Trail.
Lincolnville Historic District, west of downtown St. Augustine Originally known as “Africa,” this enclave founded by freed slaves began in 1866 when Union troops occupied Florida during Reconstruction. Over the next 60 years, this settlement grew into a thriving residential and religious community with a significant commercial district along Central Avenue (now Martin Luther King Avenue)
In the 1960s, St. Johns County’s African-American community played a dramatic role in the American Civil Rights movement. Attracting participation from Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, these local actions gained a national audience including Vice President Lyndon Johnson.
The rich history of Black people seeking freedom here in St. Augustine makes for the perfect location for the Black Tiny Home Festival. Black and Brown tiny homeowners and enthusiasts are seeking freedom through an alternative lifestyle of living simply and experiencing life more fully.
