Another day, another public interest victory in St. Johns County!
Thanks to County Commissioners, Sheriff Robert Hardwick, Trey Alexander Asner, David Nolan, St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society and thousands of others for supporting preserving the 1953 Old Jail, where 1000 people were illegally incarcerated during 1963-1964, some tortured, including some 16 Rabbis supporting Civil Rights laws arrested for praying on June 11, 1964.
Others arrested here were the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., local resident Barbara B. Allen, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Hosea Williams, Rev. Andrew Young (later our United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Congressman and Mayor of Atlanta, Dr. Robert B. Hayling, D.D.S., Mary Peabody, mother of the Governor of Massachusetts (Endicott Peabody), the St. Augustine Four (Audrey Nell Edwards, JoeAnn Anderson Ulmer, Willie Carl Singleton, and Samuel White)who were illegally incarcerated by segregationist St. Johns County Court Judge Charles Mathis, who locked them up in state juvenile penitentiaries for six months after they and their parents refused to give in to his indecent proposals that they stop demonstrating against segregation and for civil rights.
The 1953 Old Jail was almost demolished. We found out about the proposal during Black History Month in 2023. We stopped the sneaky satraps in. their tracks.
After sneaky St. Johns County officials spoke of demolishing this historic structure in a budget meeting, We, the People spoke out and were heard and needed.
I spoke quietly with Sheriff Robert Hardwick about it in 2024.
Acclaimed civil rights historian David Nolan, the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Association, Rabbi Merrill Shapiro and other Rabbis spoke out in favor of preservation.
Fired former County Historic Preservation Officer Trey Alexander Asner wrote a reasoned and documented proposal.
Yet smug, unthinking County apparatchiks, led by County Administrator JUYYAO "JOY" ANDREWS, graduate of a Chinese Communist law school, actually signed a demolition contract!
Willful blindness and ignorance of historic preservation were defeated, once again.
Pray for them.
By unanimous vote on April 20, 2026 Consent Agenda of St. Johns County Commission Item 13, the historic Old Jail will be preserved and protected. Forever.
As Alexander Hamilton said, "Here, sir, the people govern."
Let freedom ring!
More here:
https://stjohnsclerk.com/minrec/agendas/2026/042126BCC/04-21-26CON13.pdf
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/08/blog-post.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/05/recommendation-to-nominate-historic-st.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/08/draft-statement-of-ed-slavin-to-sjc.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/06/xxxxxx-dear-ms.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/06/st-augustine-will-commemorate.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/05/big-victory-no-demolition-of-1953.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/05/county-administrator-please-change-june.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/03/statement-of-ed-slavin-to-st-johns.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/02/liz-ryans-february-23-2025-interview.html
As I, Ed Slavin, wrote County Commissioners in 2025:
During Black History Month, we learned that Administration applied for a demolition permit to tear down the old county jail where Dr. King and other civil rights leaders were illegally incarcerated for demonstrating in support of civil rights laws. Shame on them. Last year, I advised the Sheriff to take the matter to our SJC Cultural Resources Review Board. But the current County Administrator in her unmitigated arrogance did not do so; Administration sought a demolition permit. Too many County managers do not give a fig about civil rights.
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/02/liz-ryans-february-23-2025-interview.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/02/could-st-johns-countys-old-jail-where.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/01/read-trey-alexander-asner-letter-to.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/02/pitiful-february-4-2025-sjc-press.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/02/advocates-try-to-save-civil-rights.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/01/speak-out-february-10-re-saving-st.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/01/beaten-by-klan-in-1963-black-man-just.html
https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2023/08/thank-you-for-saving-historic-canright.html
From April 23, 2026 St. Augustine Record:
St. Johns County approves contract to renovate historic Old Jail
Last year, the building that once jailed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and was the site of the largest mass arrest of Jewish rabbis in American history was under consideration for demolition because of maintenance issues and the need for office and parking space.
The consideration to demolish the Detention Center Annex, formerly known as the Old Jail, at 4025 Lewis Speedway, created a firestorm among local historians, rabbis and residents St. Augustine. Backlash paused the decision while the county considered additional options.
Earlier this month, the St. Johns County Commission approved a contract to move forward with the renovation of the county’s Jail Annex to preserve the historically significant structure while maximizing public assets.
According to a news release issued by the county's (sic), collaboration between the St. Johns County’s Infrastructure Delivery Team, the St. Johns County Facilities Management, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and the Cultural Resource Review Board.

"The project would not have been possible without meaningful input from residents and stakeholders following earlier discussions about the building’s future," the release said.
County Administrator Joy Andrews described the project as emblematic of the county and the community working together.
“We listened carefully, evaluated all options, and ultimately identified a path forward that preserves an important piece of our history while ensuring the facility continues to serve a functional purpose for our residents,” she said.
St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick said that he was happy with a solution that respects the building’s legacy and supports the office's operational needs.
“This outcome reflects a thoughtful balance between preservation and progress,” he said in the release.
The Cultural Resource Review Board played a key role in evaluating the building’s historical significance and advising on preservation considerations.
“This is a meaningful step forward in protecting a site that holds deep historical and cultural importance in our community,” Cultural Resource Review Board Chair Susan Schjelderup said. “Preserving structures like the Jail Annex helps ensure that future generations understand and appreciate our shared history.”
The Historical Significance of the Old County Jail
Constructed in the 1950s, the jail's historical significance dates to 1964, when President Lyndon B. Johnson was told that if “he wanted to keep an eye on the leaders of the civil rights movement, he should just look at the St. Johns County Jail because that's where they all were incarcerated.
On June 18, 16 rabbis were arrested and jailed with King in the St. Johns County Jail. The rabbis composed the famous, “Why We Went Letter.” The story made national headlines, including The New York Times, which touted “16 Rabbis Arrested as Pool Dive-In Sets off St. Augustine Rights Clash” on its front page.
s St. Augustine’s drama unfolded center stage, the U.S. Senate ended its 83-day filibuster and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law two weeks later.
“Why We Went Letter,” is publicly read at the site of the St. Augustine arrest every June.
In an earlier interview with the St. Augustine Record, local historian David Nolan detailed the building’s historical significance and underscored that it was "the government’s responsibility to maintain the historic buildings they own.
"Discussions must focus on preservation," he said. "Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Thomas May Construction Company will provide the labor, supervision, equipment and materials for $1.63 million. Construction will include casework and countertops, new commercial doors and hardware, a new roof, storefront window assemblies, exterior stucco, framing and drywall along with new flooring, painting of the building’s interior and exterior, new toilets, plumbing fixtures, an HVAC System, electrical circuits, VE lighting and fixtures, a new Fire Alarm System and more.
“The Old County Jail offers a historical educational value, while serving as an important function for tourism,” Nolan said. “St. Augustine is a history teacher to America at large, and we must show America's children something more than ghosts, and pirates and Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum. We must show historical places where real things happened.”
