Fernandina Beach

Fernandina Beach Fernandina Beach is a historic town with many faces. As the second oldest city in Florida, we enjoy almost incredible variety. As an island, we have variety most of Florida cannot match. Fernandina Beach is located on a portion of Amelia Island.

Smugglers and pirates prized the island's natural deep-water port at the dawn of the 19th century. With all U.S. ports closed to foreign shipping, the island's Spanish harbor of Fernandina became the nations' smuggling center for slaves, liquor and foreign luxuries. What is now known as Old Town attracted racketeers worldwide. Eventually, Fernandina was forced to relinquish its illegal ways when it ceded to the United States in 1821.

In the 1850s, visionary U.S. Senator David Yulee built Florida's first cross-state railroad connecting Fernandina Beach on the Atlantic with Cedar Key on the Gulf of Mexico. Today, an original 1899 railroad depot and 1920s-era Seaboard Coastline Railroad sleeper car serve as the Visitor Center on the Island.

By 1875, thousands of Northerners voyaged to Fernandina on the Mallory Steamship Line from New York creating the dawning of the Golden Age on Amelia. Hailed as "The Queen of Summer Resorts" by an 1896 edition of American Resorts magazine, the breathtaking beaches and climate lured visitors to this new destination Florida.

Golden Age prosperity prompted the building boom of Fernandina Beach, attracting America's entrepreneurial elite. It's now preserved as the picturesque Centre Street, home of antique shops, boutiques and some of the area's finest restaurants. The most colorful watering hole on Centre Street is Florida's oldest tavern, The Palace Saloon (1878). A former haunt of the Vanderbilts, DuPonts and Carnegies, spirits are still served from its 40 foot mahogany bar graced by handcarved caryatids.

Walking Tours of Historic Fernandina Beach - Given by the Amelia Island Museum of History, walking tours take groups up Historic Centre Street and into the Silk Stocking District exposing them to the many great historical figures who influenced the architecture and business on the Island. These tours can be modified for children.