A building that once sheltered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Freedom Riders during the darkest days of St. Augustine's civil rights struggle has undergone a $1,141,932 rehabilitation. The Fountain of Youth Elks Lodge #684, at 100 Washington Street in Lincolnville, marked the project's completion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on August 19, 2025, capping work that tackled flooding, structural decay, and decades of deferred repairs.
The rehabilitation included flood mitigation, structural stabilization, accessibility enhancements, and building-system upgrades, along with the restoration and repurposing of the lodge's distinctive jalousie windows, according to Visit St. Augustine.
A Command Post for the 1964 Movement
Fountain of Youth Lodge #684, a chapter of the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World, had a facility at 100 Washington Street that opened in 1958, according to Visit St. Augustine. In 1964, the building became a center for King, Hayling, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the St. Augustine campaign, a movement that helped push Congress toward passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Known historically as Elks Rest, the building operated as a daytime canteen and bivouac where nonviolent activists and visiting Freedom Riders were trained and fed — including peanut butter and jelly sandwiches — before heading out to march, according to the same account from Visit St. Augustine. College students arriving in town for the 1964 spring break protests were told to register at Elks Rest as soon as they got there. A historical marker at the building, dating to around 2006, was funded by Henry “Hank” Thomas, one of the original 1961 Freedom Riders, according to the Historical Marker Database.
Fixing Flood Damage With State and Local Dollars
The rehabilitation had a total project budget of $1,141,932. A grant of $891,932 came from the Florida Department of State's African American Cultural and Historical Grants program, funded through federal Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, as reported by WOKV. The city's Community Redevelopment Agency provided a $250,000 match, according to the same report.
The station's report notes that severe disrepair had previously limited the lodge to small private gatherings for its own members. With the structural work complete, plans call for the lodge to serve as a community center offering youth mentorship and senior programming.
Part of a Broader Push in Lincolnville
The lodge sits in Lincolnville, the neighborhood established by freedmen in 1866 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 for its Victorian architecture and Black cultural heritage, according to the National Park Service. The lodge's restoration falls under the Lincolnville Community Redevelopment Area's Institutional Rehabilitation Grant Program, according to the City of St. Augustine.
The rehabilitation also coincides with a major organizational milestone: founded in 1926, Fountain of Youth Lodge #649 is celebrating its centennial in 2026, with a 100-Year Legacy Centennial Gala scheduled for January 31, 2026, according to the lodge's own announcement.
