St. Johns County will relocate the Canright House to West Augustine’s Collier-Blocker-Puryear Park

Lucia Viti, St. Augustine Record
Updated ·2 min read

St. Johns County will relocate the Canright House to West Augustine’s Collier-Blocker-Puryear Park

The Canright House
The Canright House

The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted unanimously to relocate the historic Canright House from its Anastasia Island shoreline location to West Augustine’s Collier-Blocker-Puryear Park and not Windswept Acres Park, as originally planned and reported in late January.

The vote followed a public discussion that took place on Feb. 8 between the BOCC, the St. Johns County Parks Foundation and community members to discuss the home’s planned location at Windswept Acres Park, located on A1A South.

Commissioner Sarah Arnold described the BOCC’s decision as a win-win.

“Residents living around Windswept Acres Park expressed their concerns with using the park as the location for the Canright house,” she said. “In contrast, West Augustine’s CRA Steering Committee (West Augustine CRA) graciously offered to accept its relocation within its community.”

Robert Nimmons, chair of the West Augustine’s CRA released a statement supporting the BOCC’s new relocation decision, describing the relocation of the Canright house to West Augustine as a house returning home.

“Our entire community is opening up our arms to welcome this house to our community,” he said. “It’s a rich part of history. I want to thank the commissioners for bringing that house home.”

According to a recent press release, an additional $250,00 is needed for the West Augustine relocation. Appropriation possibilities include the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council reserve funds and the general fund reserves.

The Canright House, named after its owners, was thrust into the national spotlight by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in May 1964. The Canrights, a white couple from New Jersey who supported the Civil Rights movement, opened their home to King while they served as missionaries in China.

King was scheduled to stay in the beachfront cottage during the 1964 Southern Leadership Conference being held in St. Augustine. Violence however, thwarted those arrangements.

The cottage was targeted with bullets and firebombs. Windows were smashed and racist epithets were sprayed on its walls before King ever stepped foot indoors. King was forced to find lodging elsewhere. One of the most iconic Civil Rights photographs ever taken shows King pointing to a bullet hole in the window.

Dr. Martin Luther King points to a bullet hole in a glass sliding door of a home he was scheduled to stay in on Atlantic View in Butler Beach, south of St. Augustine, after it was shot at in 1964. King was not in the home at the time.
Dr. Martin Luther King points to a bullet hole in a glass sliding door of a home he was scheduled to stay in on Atlantic View in Butler Beach, south of St. Augustine, after it was shot at in 1964. King was not in the home at the time.

Never demolished, the home became a topic of arguments for years. Sporting a story with a multitude of twists and turns, its present-day arrival is one some describe as salvation. State funding will finance relocating the house — donated to the county by its current owner — from its 5480 Atlantic View location now to West Augustine.

“We are all thrilled to have found a most appropriate location for this valuable piece of county history,” concluded Arnold.

Currently the house is located at 5480 Atlantic View. It will be moved to 10 N. Holmes Blvd., in St. Augustine.

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to relocate the historic Canright House from its Anastasia Island