Monson Motor Lodge

Monson House
General information
Location24 Bay Street, St. Augustine, Florida, United States
Opened1884
Demolished1960
Monson Motor Lodge
General information
Location32 Avenida Menendez, St. Augustine, Florida, United States
Opened1961
Demolished2003

The Monson Motor Lodge was a hotel located at 32 Avenida Menendez, Saint Augustine, Florida. The site was originally the site of a boarding house as early as the 1880s, and was later the site of the Monson Hotel before the final Monson Motor Lodge was constructed in 1961. It was the site of the 1964 Monson Motor Lodge Protests, a series of landmark Civil Rights protests. The Monson Motor Lodge was demolished in 2003 and a Hilton Hotel was built on the site. Today, historical markers at the hotel commemorate the protests and the motel's front steps and original sign have been preserved.

The Monson House

The original hotel was established by Captain Anthony Vincent "Bossy" Monson and his wife Florence Young in the 1880s, not long before the opening of the Flagler hotels made the city a luxury tourist destination.[1]

The first Monson House was on the water's edge at 24 Bay Street (now Avenida Menendez), between the Plaza de la Constitución and Fort Marion. According to historical descriptions, there were rooms for ten boarders at $9-$10/week.[2] In addition to rented rooms, the Monson offered tourists a chance to sail on one of four yachts anchored near the club house.[2] In 1895, the structured was destroyed by a fire.[3]

Later, Monson House was reopened in a new location at 26 Bay Street next to Brava Lane. Open all year, the rates were $1.50 to $2.00 per day with $7.00 to $12.00 per week. Residents could enjoy hot and cold baths. The hotel was again enlarged in 1901 and in 1912, when the capacity was advertised at 75. The second Monson House burned down in the April 1914 fire that started at the Florida House and destroyed everything from Saint George Street to the Bay.[2] The fire claimed four hotels, the opera house, the courthouse, and countless homes and businesses.[4]

Monson Hotel

The Monson was rebuilt as masonry structure and reopened on January 5, 1915, as the Monson Hotel.[5] Anthony Monson died later that year, and his brother-in-law, Charles E Young Sr., became manager of the new hotel.[5] After reopening, the Hotel embraced its fiery history, adopting phoenix imagery on it's letterhead and facade.[3] The Hotel became so successful that it was enlarged in 1917 with an addition to the south side.[3]

For a brief period from 1942-1945, the hotel was taken over by the U.S. Coast Guard before being reopened to the public.[3] In 1947, the Monson came under new ownership when it was purchased by William W. Faw.[3] Faw was the first owner of the Hotel not related to the Monson family.[3] The Monson Hotel remained a fixture on Saint Augustine's bay front until 1960, when changing tastes were leading to the rise in popularity of motels.[3] It was demolished in 1960 and the Monson Motor Lodge was built in its place in 1961.[3][6]

The Monson Motor Lodge and the Civil Rights Movement

Further information: 1964 Monson Motor Lodge protests

The new Monson Motor Lodge was a segregated motel with an attached restaurant and a waterfront pool.[7] The Motel remained under Faw's ownership, but was managed by James Brock, then President of the Florida Hotel-Motel Association.[7] Brock's association with the Florida Hotel-Motel Association and the fact that the motel's restaurant was popular with local reporters, are likely reasons that the Monson was targeted during the 1964 Civil Rights protests in St. Augustine.[8]

In the spring of 1964, Robert Hayling, a prominent St. Augustine Civil Rights Activist working with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, invited Martin Luther King Jr. to visit St. Augustine.[7] On June 11, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. attempted to dine at the Monson Motor Lodge's restaurant.[9] He was refused service and later arrested on the Monson's front steps when he refused to leave.[10] King was taken to St. Augustine Jail, where he wrote a "Letter from the Saint Augustine Jail"[9] to his friend, Rabbi Israel S. Dresner, encouraging rabbis to come to Saint Augustine and take part in the movement.

A week after King's arrest, on June 18, 1964, another major protest occurred at the Monson. A group of rabbis, led by Israel S. Dresner, led an open-air prayer in the Monson's parking lot.[11] At about the same time, a group of black and white activists jumped into the Monson swimming pool in defiance of segregation ordinances.[7] Brock responded by pouring muriatic acid (a cleaning agent)[12] into the water to drive the "wade in" protestors out.[7] Photographs of this action, and of a police officer jumping into the pool to arrest the young activists, were broadcast around the world and became some of the most famous images of the Civil Rights Movement. Hundreds of bystanders at the protest were taken into custody alongside the swim-in participants and the group of rabbis[7] (notably, this marked the largest mass arrest of rabbis in American history).[13] After the Civil Rights Act was passed on July 2, 1964, the Monson was integrated, though it continued to be the site of protests, now by white segregationists and members of the Ku Klux Klan.[12]

The Monson Motor Lodge remained open under the management of James Brock through the remainder of the 20th century.[2] Eventually, William Faw decided to sell the Monson Motor Lodge to Brock[2], who became the owner after Faw's death in 1980.[3]

Hilton Garden Inn and the Monson's Legacy

In 1999, Brock sold the Monson Motor Lodge to Kanti Patel.[2] The restaurant and motel remained open until 2003, when the property was razed to make way for the construction of a new Hilton hotel. Prior to the demolition, the City of St. Augustine conducted a multi-year archaeological investigation of the property between 2000 and 2003.[6] This investigation revealed that the site had first been developed as early as the Spanish Colonial Period in the early 1700s.[6] During excavations prior to construction of the Hilton's underground parking garage, archeologists also found evidence of colonial foundations from Saint Augustine's British Period (1763–1784).[14]

There was some controversy over the demolition of the Monson Motor Lodge, as some saw it as an important historical site relevant to the Civil Rights Movement worthy of preservation.[15] While the building was ultimately demolished, multiple historical markers at the Hilton St. Augustine Historic Bayfront Hotel commemorate the history of the protests.[16] The Monson's front steps were also salvaged and preserved at the hotel with a historical marker.[17][18] The Hilton also hosted an event on the 50th anniversary of the protests in 2014 to commemorate the historic events that took place there.[19]

The last sign from the Monson is preserved in the ACCORD Civil Rights Museum at 79 Bridge Street, the former dental office of Dr. Robert Hayling, the leader of the civil rights movement in St. Augustine.[20]

References

  1. ^ Bowen, Beth Rogero (2012). Saint Augustine in the Roaring Twenties. Charleston SC: Arcadia. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-7385-9121-6.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Pirog, Stacy M. (May 4, 2004). "Finding Forgotten Memories: A Comprehensive Historical Examination of Blocs Three and Four, St. Augustine, Florida". University of Florida Digital Collections. Kanti Patel, Jalaram Motels. Retrieved February 12, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nolan, David. "Supplement Florida Master Site File, 40 Avenida Menendez Wall". University of Florida Digital Collections. St. Augustine Historical Society. Retrieved February 12, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Harvey, Karen (2006). Legends and Tales II. Charleston SC: History Press. p. 16. ISBN 1-59629-070-6.
  5. ^ a b Bowen, Beth Rogero (2012). Saint Augustine in the Roaring Twenties. Charleston SC: Arcadia. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-7385-9121-6.
  6. ^ a b c Halbirt, Carl D. (August 23, 2003). "Synopsis of Archaeological Excavations at the Monson Motor Lodge, St. Augustine Florida, and a Description of Three Trash Deposits". University of Florida Digital Collections. Planning and Building Department, City of St. Augustine, FL.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b c d e f Niebuhr, Casey (February 27, 2021). "From Sit-Ins to Swim-Ins". The Flagler College Gargoyle. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
  8. ^ Colburn, D. R. (1985). Racial Change and Community Crisis: St. Augustine, Florida, 1877-1980. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 91.
  9. ^ a b Lee, Karen (October 23, 2024). "The Monson Motor Lodge Incident and Its Role in the Civil Rights Movement". Medium.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Branch, T. (1998). Pillar of Fire: 1963-65 America in the King Years Vol. II. Simon and Schuster. p. 339.
  11. ^ Lindquist, J. (2018). Forcing Change. Cocoa, Florida: Florida Historical Society Press. p. 76.
  12. ^ a b "Motel Owner Just Can't Win - Now the Klan is Angry with James Brock". Civil Rights Library of St. Augustine. United Press International (UPI). July 26, 1964. Retrieved 2026-02-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Branch, Taylor (1998). Pillar of Fire. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-80819-6.
  14. ^ Gordon, Elsbeth Buff (2015). Walking Saint Augustine. Gainesville FL: University of Florida. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-8130-6083-5.
  15. ^ Dobies, J. M. (February 18, 2003). "Last Call: A St. Augustine Landmark Shuts Down in Preparation for Demolition". The St. Augustine Record.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ "The Monson Motel Historical Marker". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
  17. ^ "Monson Motel Steps Historical Marker". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
  18. ^ Gordon, Elsbeth Buff (2015). Walking Saint Augustine. Gainesville FL: University of Florida. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-8130-6083-5.
  19. ^ Campbell, Elizabeth (2014-06-17). "50 years later: Monson Motor Lodge incident". WJXT. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
  20. ^ "ACCORD Civil Rights Museum & Freedom Trail". St. Augustine & Ponte Vedra, FL. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
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