Architectural Treasures of Amelia Island

Architectural Treasures of Amelia Island

Amelia Island offers a unique opportunity to experience history. Fernandina Beach's Historic District is a living museum. Like sleeping beauties, the island's Victorian-era homes have been frozen in time. Each offers a story about the people and events that shaped the history of Florida's most northern barrier island.

Once a month, we will feature a home located in Fernandina Beach’s Historic District.

Florida House

Located just off Centre Street at 20-22 S. Third St., The Florida House Inn is the oldest continuously run inn or rooming house operating in Florida. The main structure was built around 1857 by the Florida Railroad to provide housing for railroad employees. Its architectural style is vernacular with Greek Revival adaptations. The double-galleried porches are distinctive.

The inn was essential to David Yulee's ambitious efforts to establish Fernandina as a terminus for the state's first trans-peninsular railroad. The Florida House was a center of activity and the primary place for both employees and visitors to stay. The inn has a long history of famous people visiting, staying, and/or dining. The inn was a boarding house for Union officers during the Civil War. After the war, Major Thomas Leddy, the Provost Marshal of Northern Florida, and his wife bought the property and continued to operate it as a hotel. In 1865, they added living space for themselves and a dining room for guests. The dining room proved successful and served such notables as the Carnegies, Morgans, and Duponts. There was a saying at the time that the Carnegies of Cumberland Island stayed at the Florida House, played at the Palace Saloon, and prayed at St. Peter's Episcopal Church.

The Florida House has never been a private residence but has always offered rooms as an inn or a boarding house. It is one of the only antebellum buildings remaining on Amelia Island. Several additions were made through the years to accommodate the popularity of the island and the inn. In 1990, it was sold and entered into a long process of restoration and, eventually, opened as a popular bed and breakfast, restaurant, and wedding venue.

The building has survived hurricanes, tough financial times, severe weather, and the Civil War. Its survival is a testament to the quality of the original building. The inn is a veritable museum of events in Amelia Island's history. José Martí, considered a Cuban national hero, spent time staying at the Florida House while visiting his friend Nathaniel Borden. Outside the front door of the Florida House Inn on S. Third Street is a bronze memorial plaque noting that it is likely that Martí planned his invasion of Cuba while staying at the hotel. President Ulysses S. Grant entertained at the inn when visiting his friend David Yulee. During the glory days of the movie industry's activities in Jacksonville, notables who stayed at the Florida House included Laurel and Hardy, and Mary Pickford.

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, The Florida House has been integral to Amelia Island's history and continues as a welcoming inn and restaurant.