Life Under Eight Flags: Amelia Island

 

Amelia Island in Florida is a blend of cultures that lived under eight flags. It was a haven for pirates, con men, and hardworking settlers from many countries. From the Timucuans who met the first French and later Spanish settlers, to the Jim Crow era and the founding of American Beach, where African Americans could frolic freely, it has a unique history and offers a perfect vacation spot with fewer crowds than better known Florida beach towns. 

Amelia Island Museum of History

The Amelia Island Museum of History is the perfect place to begin your Amelia Island trip. Its exhibits of the earliest inhabitants, the Timucuans, take you to the pre-European period. The museum is in the former Nassar County Jail. One of the more modern-time exhibits is a letter from a Black inmate to his friend “Billy.” The letter tells the difference in how white and Black prisoners were treated. 

Throughout the island’s history, there is a thread of one culture trying to best another. Take the Museum’s Eight Flags Tour to learn more. Our guide, Barbara, took us through the museum exhibits sharing the island’s history. In 1513, Ponce de Leon sailed near here and claimed all of Florida for Spain. The French were the first to lay claim to Amelia Island. The colony was composed of Huguenots who were not welcome in France. Spain sent Menendez to found the Spanish colony of Saint Augustine in 1565. The Spanish realized the French were too close and needed to be removed, so they did so and raised the Spanish Flag over Northeast Florida. England quickly saw they were missing out on a wonderful island, and they took control.

Pirates loved the island because of its fresh water and good harbor. The museum has an interactive replica of a pirate ship, Margery. For several days, a group known as the patriots took over. The next flag was raised by a notorious con man, Gregor McGregor, who claimed to be representing a group called Free America. MacGregor raised what he called the “Green Cross of Florida”, a flag showing a green cross on a white field. Spanish soldiers, combined with American irregulars, and French-born pirate Luis Aury, forced MacGregor out and raised their plain white and blue checkered flag claiming the island for the Republic of Mexico. When the Civil War erupted, Confederates seized abandoned Fort Clinch. Union forces regained control of the island on March 3, 1862, and raised the American Flag.

Cumberland Island Cruise

A cruise on Amelia Island Cruises takes you past much of the history you learned at the museum of history. You pass the old town, the site of the original Spanish Fort San Carlos, now Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park. You get an excellent overview of Fort Clinch from the water, plus a very different view of Cumberland Island by cruising around it. The two captains, Bob and Benny, did an excellent job of sharing Amelia Island’s history.

 

Maritime Museum of Amelia Island

The water views give you a good idea why pirates loved Amelia Island. For more about the pirates and the treasure they may have left somewhere on Amelia Island, visit the Maritime Museum of Amelia Island. The museum has models of galleons, a map showing known wrecks along the coast, and some fantastic artifacts. One display case has a jeweler’s furnace — the only one like it in the world.