Black History

Zion Baptist Church

96 Evergreen Avenue

Zion Baptist Church hosted rallies to encourage support for the civil rights movement in St. Augustine. A guest speaker here was the Freedom Riders' famous attorney, William Kunstler.

Dr. Hayling's House

8 R.B. Hayling Place

Dr. Robert B. Hayling has been called the "father" of St. Augustine's civil rights movement. For his efforts to end segregation, he was severely beaten by the KKK, and shots into his house killed his dog and barely missed his wife.

Roberson Family's House (firebombed)

Gault Street

Bungum Roberson served as local treasurer of Dr. King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. After his sons braved the dangerous trek as black students entering the all-white Fullerwood School, the family lost their house to a firebomb; only the steps remain.

Loucille Plummer's House

177 Twine Street

Loucille Plummer hosted a special houseguest who first put St. Augustine in the spotlight of national news. Her guest, Mary Parkman Peabody, the 72-year-old mother of the Governor of Massachusetts, was arrested for trying to be served in a racially integrated group at the Ponce de Leon Motor Lodge.

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