St. Augustine in St. Johns County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
Slave Market
Photographed By Craig Swain, August 1, 2011
1. Slave Market Marker
Inscription.
Slave Market. .
From 1605 to 1765 there stood on this site a guard house and watch tower, Under British rule it became the market and place of public auction ever since called the slave market. This tablet authorized by the following committee appointed by the city of St. Augustine Florida July, Second, 1890., Harold Colee Pres. St. Aug. Historical Society Col. Herbert Felkel, editor, St. Aug. Record C. Morton Matting, M.D., Tourists Nina Hawking, Member D.A.R. Robt. Ranson, historian Geo. W. Babbett, Jr., Mayor.
From 1605 to 1765 there stood on this site a guard house and watch tower
Under British rule it became the market and place of public auction ever since called the slave market
This tablet authorized by the following committee appointed by the city of St. Augustine Fla. July, Second, 1890.
Harold Colee Pres. St. Aug. Historical Society Col. Herbert Felkel, editor, St. Aug. Record C. Morton Matting, M.D., Tourists Nina Hawking, Member D.A.R. Robt. Ranson, historian Geo. W. Babbett, Jr., Mayor.
Location. 29° 53.555′ N, 81° 18.691′ W. Marker is in St. Augustine, Florida, in St. Johns County. Marker is at the intersection of Cathedral Plaza and Charlotte Street, on the left when traveling west on Cathedral Plaza. Located in the Plaza de la Constitucion. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Saint Augustine FL 32084, United States of America. Touch for directions.
The largest promotion of St. Augustine's public market as a "Slave Market" came when the famous photographer W.J. Harris depicted it on this mass-produced post card...'The caption on the back says, "OLD SLAVE MARKET
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA." The old market in the east end of the Plaza is an interesting landmark of antebellum days.
Old slave in foreground.'...Not only was Harris interested in selling his post cards, he was also the business manager for St. Augustine's historical society. He embodied the Ancient City's struggle between historical accuracy and economic survival. Harris' biggest adversary was Charles B. Reynolds, who published an article in Mr. Foster's Travel Magazine in 1921 refuting Duffus, Harris, and all of the historical embellishing that went on in St. Augustine. Harris defended himself and the historical society by saying Reynolds was bad for the town's economic backbone, tourism. Nevertheless, Harris eventually distributed a revised version of the Slave Market post card. The newer version reads, 'OLD SLAVE MARKET ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA., The old slave market in the east end of the Plaza is an interesting landmark of antebellum days. Built in 1840 for a public market. Called "slave market" by an enterprising photographer to make his pictures sell.' -- Augustine.com
Note that this postcard was sold by multiple publishers, not only with variations in both the front and back text (as noted above) but also with variations in coloring (as would be expected from hand-colored postcard images) and cropping. Other postcard publishers, when depicting the market, simply called the structure the "Old Market" or "Spanish Market".
Credits. This page was last revised on January 2, 2019. It was originally submitted on September 3, 2011, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,616 times since then and 66 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on September 3, 2011, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. 3. submitted on September 17, 2015.