St. Augustine in St. Johns County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
St. Francis Barracks
Life on post Florida National Guard
Photographed by Brandon D Cross, July 25, 2020
1. St. Francis Barracks Marker
The magnificent Victorian-style quarters along Marine Street were constructed by 1885 as part of a complex of residential buildings for officers and senior enlisted soldiers when St. Augustine was a federal military reservation. These residences continue a long tradition of military occupation in this section of the colonial walled city since the mid-1700s when British troops first converted a Franciscan chapel and friary for use as a military barracks.
Authorized by the U.S. Quartermaster General Department, the post quarters include four homes and two duplex units. The three larger homes were reserved for the Post Commander and Company Officers. Farther south, the fourth home was reserved for the post commissary sergeant whose storeroom was across Marine Street in the building now known as the Kings Bakery. Behind the single family homes, two duplex units housed senior noncommissioned officers.
Until 1900, the post quarters housed members of the U.S. Army Infantry and Artillery units stationed in St. Augustine. In 1907, the St. Francis Barracks was designated headquarters for the Florida National Guard. Today
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Topics. This memorial is listed in this topic list: Notable Buildings. A significant historical year for this entry is 1885.
Location. 29° 53.215′ N, 81° 18.568′ W. Memorial is in St. Augustine, Florida, in St. Johns County. It is on Marine Street south of St Francis Street, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 92 Marine Street, Saint Augustine FL 32084, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this memorial is in First Coast and in Greater Jacksonville. It is also in the American South and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Floridas First Muster Site
Photographed by Brandon D Cross, July 25, 2020
2. St. Francis Barracks Marker
Another marker is no longer nearby. Officers' Quarters (was here, next to this marker but has been reported to have been replaced with another marker now near it).
Photographed by Brandon D Cross, July 25, 2020
3. “United States Barracks – A Dress Parade.”
Harpers New Monthly Magazine, January 1875. Prior to the construction of officers housing, officers and senior enlisted soldiers attached to the Post of St. Augustine resided in the St. Francis Barracks.
Photographed by Brandon D Cross, August 19, 2020
4. Quartermaster Stables, St. Francis Barracks, 1860s.
Outbuildings in the vicinity of todays Parade Field east of Marine Street included a stable, gunshed, woodshed, blacksmith and carpenter shop, as well as the extant Kings Bakery. In 1894, a bandstand was added to the yard between the company officers houses.
Photographed by Brandon D Cross, August 19, 2020
5. Officers Quarters, St. Francis Barracks, 1908
Prior to construction of these homes in the early 1880s, the grounds were used as a kitchen garden and orange grove for troops quartered in the St. Francis Barracks.
Credits. This page was last revised on October 28, 2020. It was originally submitted on August 20, 2020, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 637 times since then and 34 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on August 20, 2020, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
