The Elkton Hastings Historic Farmstead Survey, St
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THE ELKTON HASTINGS HISTORIC FARMSTEAD SURVEY, ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FLORIDA Prepared For: St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners 2740 Industry Center Road St. Augustine, Florida 32084 May 2009 4104 St. Augustine Road Jacksonville, Florida 32207- 6609 www.bland.cc Bland & Associates, Inc. Archaeological and Historic Preservation Consultants Jacksonville, Florida Charleston, South Carolina Atlanta, Georgia THE ELKTON HASTINGS HISTORIC FARMSTEAD SURVEY, ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FLORIDA Prepared for: St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners St. Johns County Miscellaneous Contract (2008) By: Myles C. P. Bland, RPA and Sidney P. Johnston, MA BAIJ08010498.01 BAI Report of Investigations No. 415 May 2009 4104 St. Augustine Road Jacksonville, Florida 32207- 6609 www.bland.cc Bland & Associates, Inc. Archaeological and Historic Preservation Consultants Atlanta, Georgia Charleston, South Carolina Jacksonville, Florida MANAGEMENT SUMMARY This project was initiated in August of 2008 by Bland & Associates, Incorporated (BAI) of Jacksonville, Florida. The goal of this project was to identify and record a specific type of historic resource located within rural areas of St. Johns County in the general vicinity of Elkton and Hastings. This assessment was specifically designed to examine structures listed on the St. Johns County Property Appraiser’s website as being built prior to 1920. The survey excluded the area of incorporated Hastings. The survey goals were to develop a historic context for the farmhouses in the area, and to make an assessment of the farmhouses with an emphasis towards individual and thematic National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) potential. Florida Master Site File (FMSF) forms in a SMARTFORM II database format were completed on all newly surveyed structures, and updated on all previously recorded structures within the survey area. A survey log sheet and final survey report, meeting the requirements of Chapter 1A-46.001 FAC, were also produced. Numerous historic structures were newly recorded within the Elkton and Hastings region during the current project. Previously recorded historic structures in the area were also revisited, and their FMSF forms were updated. In total, forty-four cultural resources were updated / recorded with Smartform II database files as a result of this project. As part of this contract, BAI also completed a number of additional ancillary tasks. These tasks included the preparation of a historic synthesis for the Elkton and Hastings region; the gathering of historic records from numerous repositories in St. Johns County; the development of management recommendations; the completion of this report and a FMSF Survey Log Sheet; informant interviews and interaction with the public; public and agency meetings; and the compilation and incorporation of numerous regulations, references, recommendations, and bulletins within this report. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page MANAGEMENT SUMMARY...................................................................................................i TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................................................ii LIST OF FIGURES .....................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................................vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................viii I. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................1-1 II. CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................2-1 2.1 Criteria for Evaluation...............................................................................................2-1 2.2 Methodology..............................................................................................................2-3 III. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ELKTON AND HASTINGS....................................3-1 3.1 Colonial Period Contexts, 1565 -1821 ......................................................................3-1 3.2 Antebellum Period, 1821-1860...................................................................................3-11 3.3 Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877 ..................................................................3-26 3.4 Flagler Years, Farming and Town Building in Elkton and Hastings during the Progressive Era, 18856-1919 ....................................................3-33 3.5 Florida Land Boom and Bust, 1920-1928 ...................................................................3-87 3.6 Great Depression, World War II, and Aftermath, 1929 -1960..................................3-91 IV. DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF THE HISTORIC ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES OF WEST AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA .....................................................4-1 4.1 Analysis of Survey Findings .....................................................................................4-1 4.2 Historic Development Patterns and Periods of Building Construction.....................4-1 4.3 Functions, Uses, and Condition of Buildings............................................................4-3 4.4 Historic Architectural Styles .....................................................................................4-4 4.5 Summary....................................................................................................................4-23 V. RECOMMENDATIONS………………………………………………………………..….5-1 5.1 Summary of Recommendations..................................................................................5-1 (1) Identifying, Documenting, and Evaluating Historic Resources ............................5-3 (2) The Importance of Historic Preservation to the Elkton and Hastings Region.......5-3 (3) The Elkton and Hastings Region's Preservation Past ...........................................5-7 (4) National Register of Historic Places.....................................................................5-8 (5) Local Recognition and Historic Preservation Ordinances....................................5-13 (6) Further Historic Preservation Actions ..................................................................5-15 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED Page (7) Private and Voluntary Financial and Legal Techniques.......................................5-19 (8) Federal Financial Incentives and Programs..........................................................5-21 (9) State Incentives and Programs..............................................................................5-21 (10) Private Actions.....................................................................................................5-22 VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………………………….6-1 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED APPENDIX 1: FMSF Survey Log Sheet APPENDIX 2: List of No Longer Extant & Inaccessible Historic Structures APPENDIX 3: Reconciled Historic Structure Addresses and FMSF Numbers APPENDIX 4: Inventory of All Resources Recorded / Updated During the Current Project iv LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1-1: Project Location……………………………………………………………………….. 1-2 Figure 3-1: Northeast Spanish Florida, 1764 (Hulbert 1915)………………………………………. 3-2 Figure 3-2: Deep Creek Region British East Florida, 1769 (DeBrahm 1769)……………………… 3-4 Figure 3-3: Solano Grant, 1834 (FSA Confirmed S74)……………………………………………... 3-10 Figure 3-4: Township 9 South, Range 28 East, 1834 (Butler 1834)………………………………... 3-14 Figure 3-5: Township 8 South, Range 28 East, 1851 (Putnam 1851)………………………………. 3-16 Figure 3-6: Hannah Smith Grant, 1848 (FSA Confirmed S64)……………………………………... 3-17 Figure 3-7: Township 9 South, Range 28 East, 1848 (Putnam 1848)………………………………. 3-18 Figure 3-8: Northeast Florida, 1839 (Mackay & Blake 1839)……………………………………… 3-21 Figure 3-9: Northeast Florida, 1864 (Cowles 1891-1895)………………………………………….. 3-28 Figure 3-10: Utley J. White, c. 1910 (Chapin 1914)………………………………………………... 3-34 Figure 3-11: Merrifield Subdivision, 1886 (DB KK, p. 388-389, Clerk of Court, St. Johns Co. Courthouse)…………………………………………………………………………………………. 3-39 Figure 3-12: Thomas H. Hastings, c. 1890 (TOH)………………………………………………….. 3-40 Figure 3-13: Hastings House, c. 1889 (Leonard Part 1 Slide 42)…………………………………… 3-41 Figure 3-14: Park Terrell's Rose Prairie Subdivision, July 1889 (Map Book 1, p. 47, St. Johns Co. Courthouse)………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3-42 Figure 3-15: Thomas Hastings's Greenhouse, c. 1890 (Leonard Part 1 Slide 43)……………………3-44 Figure 3-16: Leonard House, c. 1900 (Leonard Part 1 Slide 96)……………………………………. 3-49 Figure 3-17: Leonard's Subdivision of Wetumpka Fruit Co. Lands at Hastings, 1906 (Map Book 1, p. 120, St. Johns Co. Courthouse)……………………………………………………………………… 3-52 Figure 3-18: Erwin & Estes Subdivision, c. 1901 (Map Book 1, p. 106, Clerk of Court, St. Johns Co. Courthouse)………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3-54 Figure 3-19: Prairie Flower Citrus Crate Label, Wetumpka Fruit Co. (Leonard Hastings Part 1 Slide 166)…………………………………………………………………………………………………... 3-55 Figure 3-20: Prairie Garden Citrus Crate Label, Wetumpka Fruit Co. (Leonard Hastings Part 1 Slide 165)…………………………………………………………………………………………………... 3-56 Figure 3-21: Wetumpka Fruit Co. Citrus Packing House (SJ2582)…………………………………. 3-58 Figure 3-22: George C. Middleton's Addition to Hastings, 1906 (Map Book 1, p. 144, Clerk of Court St. Johns Co. Courthouse)……………………………………………………………………………