The Arrivas House is located at 46 St. George Street,

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...

. It was the first completed restoration project of the

Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board 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 LeRoy Collins, Govern ...

(HSAPB), and was named after early owner Don Raimundo de Arrivas.

History

It is believed that the first building on this property dates back as early as 1650–1680, and was built of ripio, a shell concrete mixture. The original structure was replaced around 1725 with a building made of

coquina Coquina () is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term ''coquina'' comes from the S ...

. Don Raimundo de Arrivas is listed as the owner of the property on a 1764 map, which was created as an inventory of buildings that the Spanish compiled for the British when Florida became a colony of Great Britain. During the British Period, the property was placed in the charge of a British agent,

Jesse Fish Jesse Fish (1724 or 1726–1790) was a shipmaster, merchant, and realtor who lived in St. Augustine, Florida under both Spanish and British rule, and is infamous in the town's history to this day. He was a schemer involved in contraband trade and ...

. The property later reverted to the Arrivas heirs when Florida was regained by Spain in

1783 Events January–March * January 20 – At Versailles, Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain signs preliminary peace treaties with the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain. * January 23 – The Confederation Congress ...

. A 1788 map shows that the building had evolved into a large L-shaped masonry house, very similar to the structure that stands today. From 1824 until 1960 ownership changed over 20 times, with several architectural changes made, including the addition of a second story and balconies. Paul Arnau, St. Augustine Collector of Customs and Superintendent of Lighthouses, was another notable resident of the Arrivas House. While St. Augustine was under

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

control, he oversaw the darkening of the St. Augustine Lighthouse and removed its lighting apparatus. In November 1861, Arnau was elected mayor, a post he resigned when the Union took control of the town. He was imprisoned until lighting mechanisms, which he had stored in his home, were returned to the Union Navy.

Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board

The Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board purchased the Arrivas House in July 1960 for $49,900, and set out to restore the structure to its Second Spanish Period appearance. It was the first restoration project they undertook in preparation for St. Augustine's 400th Anniversary celebration in 1965. Work began on the home in January 1961, and was formally dedicated on March 11, 1963. Then-Vice President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

visited St. Augustine to mark the occasion, and gave a speech to the city from the Arrivas House balcony. During Johnson's visit, Senator

George Smathers George Armistead Smathers (November 14, 1913 – January 20, 2007) was an American lawyer and politician from the state of Florida who served in both chambers of the United States Congress, the United States House of Representatives from 1947 t ...

formally invited the Spanish government, represented by Spanish Ambassador Antonio Garrigues, to participate in St. Augustine's 400th anniversary celebrations. The Arrivas House served as an interpreted historic site run by the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board, where costumed docents demonstrated typical activities of Spanish colonial women. This included spinning, weaving, and candle making. In 1968, the Preservation Board acquired a loom that dated back to 1792 in Ohio. It was a gift from Van E. Marker of Tangerine, Florida. The loom was made of oak, maple, and black walnut and weighed almost 1,800 pounds. The Board put it to use at the Arrivas House. The second story briefly served as administrative offices for the Preservation Board. The Arrivas House was documented as part of the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in 1960. Complete documentation is available on the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

's online catalog.

Present day

Today, the Arrivas House is a commercial retail space, owned by the State of Florida and managed by University of Florida Historic St. Augustine, Inc. It is operated by The Panama Hat Company.

References

External links

* {{coord, 29.89630, -81.31332, display=title Houses in St. Augustine, Florida Architecture in Florida