Fort Mose brings spirit of early freedom-seekers to life
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, folks will gather at events in Florida cities including St. Augustine to honor the civil rights leader’s legacy, perhaps recalling his 1964 campaign to confront discrimination in the old city. King’s efforts, including his arrest in St. Augustine, helped pave the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
At the time, few people realized that hundreds of years earlier, Black men, women and children had traveled south toward St. Augustine in the cause of freedom.
In 1686, Spaniards in St. Augustine began to spread the word that refugees from enslavement in the British colonies would be given religious sanctuary there. In 1738, more than 100 freedom-seekers created a fortified town at
St. Augustine’s northern border: Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, now called Fort Mose — the first legally sanctioned free Black community in what’s now the United States. (It’s pronounced “Moh-say”).
“It’s a part of U.S. history that’s just not well known,” says University of South Florida professor J. Michael Francis during a video history of Fort Mose. “The first Underground Railroad runs south — it runs south to St. Augustine, not north.”
Landmark history
Fort Mose is not a new discovery. In the late 1980s, a team led by Dr. Kathleen Deagan of the Florida Museum of Natural History conducted an archaeological and historical investigation at the site, which was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1994. The National Park Service considers Fort Mose important for both Black and Hispanic heritage as well as Underground Railroad history. It’s been designated a
UNESCO “Site of Memory.”
Yet, Fort Mose deserves to be much better known than it is, especially in Florida.
Members of the 25-year-old Fort Mose Historical Society work hard to spread the word, through events ranging from jazz concerts to historic reenactments. They want people to never forget Fort Mose — “the “original Underground Railroad,” as they call it. It’s a story that once had completely disappeared, vanished into the Florida marsh that surrounded it.
“We all share this passion for the story,” says historical society member Alma Melvin. “We make it truly authentic and visible,” made richer because they’re able to tell it on the very place where it happened.
There, they plan next to build a replica of the original fort and hope to start in the next year. It will stand in a clearing under moss-strewn oaks, where they offer monthly Militia Musters and chat with visitors about the details of 18th-century warfare, including the complicated process of firing flintlock rifles.
In addition to offering a sanctuary, Fort Mose was the northernmost point of defense for St. Augustine under Spanish rule, says Lawson Dukes, head of the Fort Mose militia reenactors, who gives his troops commands in Spanish. Defending the city from the British was Fort Mose residents’ “ticket to freedom,” he notes.
The Fort Mose militia represents “the first national guard in the country,” adds reenactor Lloyd Mitchell, a former Marine cook and retired chef from Philadelphia. With his wife, Ramona, he supplies the meals for fellow volunteers during major reenactment events, from pulled pork and chicken to coffee and dessert. It’s an act of love, both for his friends and for Fort Mose.
“This is so rich — this history,” he says. “I really love it; I really do.”
‘Flight to Freedom’
Later this month, the Fort Mose
Historical Society presents one of its biggest annual events, “Flight to Freedom,” in which reenactors invite visitors to imagine what it would be like, in 1738 or so, to be on that Florida-bound path toward freedom, pursued by bounty hunters, making one’s way though tangled underbrush until reaching Fort Mose.
The event is set for Jan. 27, 28 and 29, with tours starting from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day (weather permitting), at Fort Mose Historic State Park, 15 Fort Mose Trail, St. Augustine — just east of U.S. Highway 1 and about 3 miles north of the Bridge of Lions. There is no cost for the event, but donations are welcome. Admission to
the Fort Mose Museum is $2 (no charge for children younger than 6). On Jan. 29, parking will be available in designated lots, with free shuttle service to the event site beginning at 8:30 a.m.
School groups are welcome to attend on Thursday and Friday. Reservations are required. For more information, write to connect@FortMose.org or visit fortmose.org/flight-to-freedom-2022.
Beyond events such as “Flight to Freedom,” the grounds of Fort Mose Historic State Park, a 40-acre waterfront site with plentiful opportunities for birding, are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The visitor center is open Thursdays through Mondays. For more information, visit FortMose.org or call 904-823-2232.