St. Paul was originally at the south end of Lincolnville.
The Willie Galimore Community Center now sprawls over the old
church grounds.
A Humble Beginning
It was during federal Reconstruction of the Confederate South when
Richard James received his spiritual call. He and his son built a wooden
twelve-foot building at the end of Riberia Street and invited people to church.
The group worshipped there for fifteen years. As they grew, they built an
addition to their tiny building. At the same time, the booming development of
Florida attracted many black laborers, further swelling their membership.
Flagler-Era Boom and Bust
In 1888, as the palatial Flagler hotels and churches changed the
face of old St. Augustine, a local Building and Loan Association convinced the
St. Paul congregation to join the facelift. The congregation agreed to a
mortgage, and the developer built them an attractive masonry church on School
Street closer to downtown. The costs totaled $3,000. Payments were due
quarterly.
St. Paul enjoyed their new church for another fifteen years.
Meanwhile, the AMEC marched into Florida's old south politics. In his book,
Laborers in the Vineyard of the Lord, Larry Eugene Rivers says the AMEC "proved
itself the single most effective organizational force for Florida's black
residents." In fact, according to Rivers, the organization "had demonstrated
its capability to rock Florida's political balance of power," and "nearly had
succeeded in seizing control of the state's government."
Despite the successes of the AMEC, mainstream America would take
another half-century to understand the meaning of "freedom." Southern
entrepreneurs clung to ridiculous Jim Crowe laws for cheap labor, while
outspoken blacks demanded equality. As a result, Florida became one of the most
lynch-prone states. Already struggling to hold jobs, many black laborers found
themselves unemployed when the freeze of 1895 wiped out the farms they worked
for. At St. Paul, the spirits and finances of the congregation tumbled. They
began to default on the building loan. In 1903, the developer evicted the
congregation during Sunday school and locked the building. It was later taken
down and a house now stands on the site.
Birth of the Current Building
Door to the New St. Paul A.M.E.
For several months, the more dedicated members of the congregation
continued to worship in various locations around town. A local black leader
provided the spark for revival. In January 1904, county commissioner William
Van Dyke, St. Johns County's first elected black official, sold the St. Paul
group a lot on St. Benedict Street for $1,000. An old wood frame building on the
lot provided a makeshift meeting place.
St. Paul's Reverend E.F. Williams immediately led a drive to
construct a new building that was debt-free. He designed a church he felt would
best serve and represent his congregation. At the ground-breaking ceremony
Reverend Williams prayed, "Upon this spot God's Church is built and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it." Members and supporters donated time,
labor and money. In eight months, they erected the attractive brick church St.
Paul's A.M.E. has now called home for over a century.
In 2004, St. Paul's 200 active members celebrated the 100th
anniversary of this building. That centennial anniversary qualified it to be
one of the stops on St. Augustine's annual House of Worship walking tour,
which is sponsored by Grace United Methodist Church. |