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Gracing Florida's northeastern coast, Amelia Island has a truly unique and fascinating history. The only community in the United States to have experienced life under eight different flags, Amelia Island and its charming seaport village of Fernandina Beach are largely characterized by its colorful and sometimes turbulent past. With its cast of pirates, Timucuans, shrimpers, nobles and confederates, the island's rich 4,000 year history is full of tales and treasures that live on today.
Originally inhabited by the Timucuans (as early as 2,500 B.C), the French rose what would be the first of eight flags over Amelia Island on May 3, 1562. This began a chapter of the island's history that has been described as "the French visited, the Spanish developed, the English named, and the Americans tamed."
Amelia's maritime heritage is due in large part to the natural deep harbor on the north end of the island, which provided easy access for smugglers, pirates, and assorted sea captains. The waters surrounding Amelia Island today attract a wide variety of recreational and commercial activity. The island's city center, Fernandina Beach, was once a charming seaport village, and in the early 20th century became known as the birthplace of the modern shrimping industry. Now visitors can enjoy waterfront dining as they watch shrimp boats dock. Once a year, the island hosts the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival to celebrate the industry with live music, arts and crafts, and boatloads of fresh shrimp and seafood.
Today Fernandina Beach is still characterized by Victorian-era architecture and a remarkable historic district. The district is home to Northeast Florida's oldest continuously operating bar, the Palace Saloon, and Florida's oldest operating hotel, the Florida House Inn, both located in a 50-block area of homes and buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On the north end of the island, visitors can explore Old Town, the last Spanish Town in the Western Hemisphere in 1811. Old town was the original encampment of the Timucuans and at one time featured the Spanish Fort San Carlos. In 2011, Old Town will celebrate its 200 year anniversary.
On the southern end of Amelia Island is American Beach, the first stop on the Florida Black Heritage Trail. In 1935, the Afro-American Life Insurance Company purchased 200 acres, which was eventually transformed into a glorious oceanfront haven for African Americans during the Jim Crow-era of segregation. American Beach offered homes, restaurants, and nightclubs that attracted some of the great musical superstars of all time, including James Brown and Ray Charles.
On the North end of the island, Fort Clinch State Park mixes a little of Amelia's military past with an assortment of present day park activities. One of the most preserved 19th century forts in the United States, Fort Clinch was occupied briefly during the Civil War and again during the Spanish-American War and World War II. Visitors can roam the battlements and interact with period re-enactors as they go through daily depict garrison life.
There is no better way to appreciate the island's past than a visit to the Amelia Island Museum of History, Florida's first spoken history museum. Housed in the building used as the county jail in 1935, the museum offers entertaining exhibits, as well as daily docent-led tours of the island's historic district. Recently renovated, the museum features a new jail cell exhibit, educational programs, and a selection of permanent and temporary exhibits.
The Eight Flags that have been raised over Amelia Island:
- France, 1562-1565, led by Jean Ribault - naming the island "Isle de Mai" or Island of May
- Spain, 1565-1763, seized control of the city for the next 236 years
- England, 1763-1783, a result of the Treaty of Paris - ending the French and Indian War
- Spain, 1783-1821, in a second Treaty of Paris, England was forced to surrender Florida back to Spain
- Patriots, 1812, the Patriot flag flew over Fernandina Beach for twenty-four hours
- Green Cross, 1817, the family flag of General Gregor MacGregor - only raised for about 3 months
- Mexican Period, 1817, Mexican revolutionaries took over for 3 months
- United States, 1821-1845, Florida became a territory of the US
- United States, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the US
- Confederate Nation, 1861-1862, during the Civil War Florida bore the Confederate flag
- United States, 1862-present, following the Civil War, Florida rejoined the US
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