ACCORD Freedom Trail

Trinity United Methodist Church is the oldest congregation in historic Lincolnville and one of the oldest Protestant congregations in Florida. Its origins date to the early American period, in the 1820s, when a Methodist missionary came to St. Augustine and baptized both blacks and whites.

Two earlier church buildings, on Charlotte Street and on St. George Street, housed integrated groups until the Civil War, when the whites withdrew and the congregation became all black. In 1905 the whites tried to reclaim the coquina church on St. George Street. An agreement was reached to sell that building and divide the money, giving rise to the First Methodist Church for whites and Trinity for blacks.

This site on Bridge Street had been an orange grove owned by a free black man named Philip Edinboro under both Spanish Colonial and American Territorial rule. The church acquired it from Ward G. Foster, founder of the famous "Ask Mr. Foster" travel agency. They met in the Foster house, at first, then in 1912 broke ground for the current church building, which was completed in 1913 by contractor S. Clark Edminster. It is one of the great architectural landmarks of the city and has been included on the annual tour of historic churches.

During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Trinity was one of the main churches where rallies were held, in preparation for marches downtown to protest racial discrimination. When marchers were cursed and had bottles thrown at them in the downtown plaza, they made their way back to Trinity for sanctuary. Their courage and determination impressed the world and led to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

This Historical Marker presented this 2nd day of July, 2008 by:

Northrop Grumman

Marker is on Bridge Street.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Credits and Sources: