Pellicer-De Burgo House | |
 Pellicer-De Burgo House, 2018 | |
  | |
| Location | 31 St. George Street St. Augustine, Florida |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 29°54′54″N81°18′44″W / 29.91500°N 81.31222°W |
| Built | 1974 |
| Architectural style | British Colonial |
| Part of | St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District (ID70000847) |
The Pellicer-De Burgo House is located at 53 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstruction of two connected houses built during the British Period (1763-1783) of East Florida.
According to a Spanish map of 1763, there were two lots at the site of the Pellicer-De Burgo property. The north lot had belonged to Lucas Escovedo and the south lot had belonged to Prudencia Ansures but the two owners left St. Augustine as the British took over the colony after the 1763 Treaty of Paris. At the beginning of St. Augustine's British Period, agent Jesse Fish was put in charge of selling the two lots. He sold them to Francisco Pellicer and José Peso de Burgo in 1780. Pellicer's wife and two youngest children died shortly after he bought the lot.
In 2000, Francisco Pellicer was nominated to become part of the Great Floridians Program. [1] Pellicer Creek, just south of St. Augustine, is named after Francisco Pellicer.
Minorcan Pellicer and Corsican Peso de Burgo had been members of Dr. Andrew Turnbull's New Smyrna colony that eventually ended up in St. Augustine. Pellicer was a master carpenter and had built Turnbull's plantation home. Allegedly Pellicer was one of the men who came to Governor Tonyn in 1777 charging Turnbull with mistreatment of fellow colonists. In 1784 Peso de Burgo was identified as a storekeeper and half owner of a sloop. [2]
A 1788 map describes both houses as being wooden. Both houses were one room and shared a wall. There was also a small outbuilding on the lot. Pellicer built his own house and potentially Peso de Burgo's as well. Peso de Burgo moved out of his home before 1791 and rented it out to lodgers.
In 1787 Francisco Pellicer sold his home to Greek fisherman and sailor Demetrios Fundulakis and his wife Maria Bros. Peso de Burgo sold his house in 1791 to Juan Sánchez, the chief master caulker of the royal works, who also rented out the house for income. He sold it in 1792 to John Martin Struder, who in turn sold the house in the mid-1790s to a Minorcan farmer named Pedro Fusha.
At some point prior to 1831, when a map show the lots to be vacant, the two houses were demolished. One Peter Arnau owned both lots at that time. [2]
An archaeological excavation at the lots of the Pellicer-De Burgo House was conducted in 1973 funded by the Florida Bicentennial Commission to look for the original wooden foundations of the two houses. Senator Verle A. Pope donated towards the cost of reconstructing the buildings. [3]
An article from 1974 tells us that the Pellicer-De Burgo lot was locally known as the Paffe property before the reconstruction project. [4] The project was completed in March 1977, and was one of the last houses reconstructed for San Agustín Antiguo, St. Augustine's living history museum. Ironically, though this project was called "restoration" it actually resulted in the demolition of the home and gallery of one of America's famous artists, Earl Cunningham(1893-1977)--often called "Grandpa Moses" for his similarity to the well-known Grandma Moses. The Menello Museum in Orlando has the best-known collection of Cunningham's work.
The Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board reserved the structures to house an exhibit on the Minorcans that moved from New Smyrna to St. Augustine. On August 5, 1996, the Board had a grand opening of "The Minorcans of St. Augustine" where they served Minorcan dishes to guests. The project was financed in part with the Historical Museum Grants-in-Aid Program out of the Museum of Florida History, Bureau of Historical Museums, Florida Department of State. The exhibit, part of the what was then known as the Spanish Quarter, and is now the Colonial Quarter in downtown St. Augustine, was advertised in local newspapers. [5] It displayed panels on the Minorcans that travelled to New Smyrna, their social conditions, and their later influence on St. Augustine trade, customs, language, and food. [6]
Today 53 St. George Street is the Bull and Crown Publick House restaurant in downtown St. Augustine. It is one of the eateries within the Colonial Quarter. The house is owned by the State of Florida and managed on its behalf by University of Florida Historic St. Augustine, Inc.
The datil is a very hot pepper, a variety of the species Capsicum chinense.
Albert C. Manucy was an author, historian and a Fulbright Scholar who specialized in Spanish Colonial Florida and the architecture of St. Augustine, Florida.
Francisco Pellicer ( c1747-1826) was an early resident and carpenter of colonial St. Augustine, Florida. He was named a Great Floridian in 2000, and Pellicer Creek is named in his honor.
The William Watson House is located at 206 Charlotte Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstructed property representing the architecture of St. Augustine's British Period (1763-1784).
The Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board (HSAPB) was a state agency in Florida that participated in the restoration and preservation of historic buildings in St. Augustine, Florida from 1959 to 1997. Created in 1959 by Governor LeRoy Collins, the agency acquired, restored, and preserved historic structures in St. Augustine until its abolishment by the State of Florida in June 1997.
The Gonzáles House and the De Hita Houses are located at 33 and 35 St. George Street, St. Augustine, Florida. Both houses are reconstructions of First Spanish Period (1565-1763) homes built on their original foundations.
The Triay House is a historic property located at 31 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstruction of the First Spanish Period structure that stood on the site.
The Sánchez de Ortigosa House is located at 60 St. George Street, St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstruction of a home dating from the First Spanish Period (1565-1763) that stood on this site.
The Gómez House, located at 27 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida, is a reconstruction of a simple wooden house dating back to Florida’s First Spanish Period (1565-1763).
The De Mesa-Sánchez House is located at 23 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a restoration of a home dating back to East Florida's First Spanish Period.
The Ortega House is located at 70 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstructed home representing the architectural style of the First Spanish Period (1565-1763) in Florida.
The Marin-Hassett House is located at 97 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is reconstructed on its foundations that date to St. Augustine's First Spanish Period.
The Joaneda House is located at 57 Treasury Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It was restored to be an example of a Second Spanish Period (1784-1821) residence. It is one of the oldest buildings in Florida.
The Salcedo House and Kitchen are located at 42 and 42 1/2 St. George Street, in St. Augustine, Florida. They are reconstructions of 18th century structures that stood on these sites in St. Augustine's First Spanish Period (1565–1763).
The Hispanic Plaza is a garden in St. Augustine, Florida owned and maintained by the St. Augustine Foundation, Inc. It is closed to the public and is only opened for special city events.
Elizabeth Towers (1899–1985) was an American philanthropist and socialite known for her dedication to historic preservation in northeast Florida.
The Casa del Hidalgo is located at 35 Hypolita Street, at the southeast intersection of Hypolita and St. George Streets in downtown St. Augustine, Florida. It was constructed in 1965 and housed the Spanish government's official exhibition and cultural center.
The Paredes-Dodge House is located at 54 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. The one and a half story structure was built between 1803 and 1813, and is one of the only surviving colonial structures in St. Augustine.
Juan José Eligio de la Puente y Regidor (1724–1781) was a Spanish Floridian (Floridano) who held various public offices in St. Augustine, Florida and in Havana, Cuba, during the 18th century. He served as chief officer of the Real Contaduría for Spanish Florida, and as principal auditor for the Tribunal de Cuentas in Havana, offices that managed the colonial governments' accounts and expenditures. Puente was a member of St. Augustine's 18th century elite Criollo community, and had a role in many events of that period in the history of Florida. He acquired considerable wealth, became a royal treasury official in Cuba, and influenced Spanish foreign policy in North America.
The Minorcans of Florida are an ethnically diverse group of people that settled in St. Augustine, Florida in the late 18th century.