Established to Preserve the Rich Cultural Heritage of the Lincolnville Community

www.ExcelsiorCulturalCenter.com

EXCELSIOR CULTURAL CENTER

From September 1901 through June 1921, the main school for blacks in St. Augustine was located on the site that became Excelsior High and Grade School.  During that time the school was known as School #2 - Colored School (from 1901-1921); and Colored Junior High School and Grade School, 1922 - June 1927.

On October 7, 1919, a large delegation of Negro school patrons appeared before the County School Board and presented a petition signed by a large number of the Negro school patrons, requesting the Board to build a new school building for Negro children in St. Augustine.  After a thorough discussion, the Board informed the delegation that there were no funds available to build a new school.

March 7, 1922, a delegation of colored school patrons, with Lawrence James as spokesman, appeared before the County Board to discuss the needs of improving and repairing the Colored Junior High and Grade School of St. Augustine.  He explained that the repairs requested by them would cost approximately $10,000.  Again the County Board explained that there were no funds available for extensive repairs, alteration of school buildings or for the erection of new buildings.

On June 6, 1922, the Reverend J. H. Moore, (Pastor of First Baptist Church, St. Augustine), and Professor James G. Reddick (Principal of the Colored School), appeared before the School Board with approximately $750 raised by the patrons of the Colored School for the purpose of repairing and enlarging Colored School #2.  They asked the County Board to supplement the amount they had raised to make repairs and enlarge the school according to the plans that they had worked out. Due to insufficient funds, the Board turned the request down, but promised to do whatever they could do under the existing circumstances; and to take the matter up with them later.

During the County School Board meeting on November 7, 1922, the Board decided to charge all students a tuition fee.  The tuition fee charges varied for different schools.  The tuition fee for students who attended the Colored School #2, was $4.00 for each pupil for the term.

At the April 23, 1924 meeting the Board of Trustees of the Special Tax School District #1, recommended to the County School Board that  new Colored Public School be built in St. Augustine on the ground on which the then Colored School was located, at 102 Central Avenue.  This action was due to legal technicality.  The Special Tax School District #1 bond sales did not include expenditures for the purchase of a new site for the Colored Junior High and Grade School building in St. Augustine.  The motion was approved, with the understanding that it be built without interfering with the operation of school the next year, the 1924-1925 school term.

On May 5, 1925, the new school #2 building was completed and approved for final payments of $42,252.80 for the construction of the new facility.  The Board also equipped the school with $4,545.00 worth of student and teacher desks, chairs, books and other equipment for the opening of school, September 1925.  On July 7, 1925, Arthur Sanchez was awarded the contract to remove the old Colored School #2 building(s) and clear the grounds.

On October 6, 1925, after one month in the school facility, Principal James G. Reddick, had to request additional staff due to the over-crowded conditions in the school.  He was granted two new teaching positions which increased his staff from 10 to 12 teachers.

On July 1, 1927, School #2 - The Colored School in St. Augustine became known as Central Avenue Colored School #10.  The next year (term 1928-29), the Central Avenue Colored School's #10 name was changed to Excelsior Colored High and Grade School.

During March of 1955, Excelsior became an elementary school.  The high school department, grades 7 - 12 was moved to Richard J. Murray High School - newly constructed and located on Holmes Boulevard in West St. Augustine.

At the end of the 1967-68 school year, Excelsior was closed as a school facility.  Since that time the facility has been renovated and served as the offices of the St. Augustine Technical Center Program and the State of Florida Human Resources Services - the main office location in St. Augustine.

The principals of the school facility, located at 102 Central Avenue, now Martin Luther King Avenue, from 1902 - 1968 were as follows:

          George S. Chairs, September 1901 - May 1915

          A. J. Johnson, September 1915 - May 1917

          James G. Reddick, September 1917 - May 1929

          James B. Williams, August 1929 - June 1939

          Richard J. Murray, September 1939 - March 1955

          Solomon Calhoun, September 1955 - June 1968

The Excelsior High School facility is a historical landmark in St. Augustine, deserving to be preserved as a center of education and culture of Lincolnville and relevant communities. 

And. . . so it is!