Amelia Island Museum of History
Housed in the old Nassau County jail, built of brick in 1878, this award-winning local museum explains Amelia Island’s history, from Timucuan Indian times through its possession by France, Spain, Great Britain, the United States, and the Confederacy. Only an upstairs photo gallery is open for casual inspection, so plan to take the 1-hour docent-led tour telling the story of the 8 flags that have flown over Amelia Island representing empires, pirates, scalawags and entrepreneurs, offered 11am and 2pm Monday through Saturday and at 2pm on Sundays.
The museum also offers excellent walking tours of historic Centre Street on Thursday and Friday from September to June. These last about an hour, cover eight blocks, and cost $15 for adults, $10 for kids. We especially recommend the Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem tour which is a 90-minute look into a mystery that has lasted over two centuries. Cost is $15 for adults, $10 for kids, though we don’t recommend that one for the wee ones. The Gilded Age tour is an eight-block look at Fernandina’s glorious north end, including the wealthy ‘Silk Stocking’ District, site of some of the Historic District’s most beautiful homes. Cost is $15 adults, $10 kids.
Leaving at 6pm every Friday from behind St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is a ghost tour that takes you past some allegedly haunted buildings. Cost is $15 adults, $10 kids. A pub crawl takes place the first and third Wednesdays of the month during which you’ll drink your way through four of the small town’s most popular, notorious, or otherwise historic pubs and bars. Cost is $40 per person (21 and over only) and reservations for this one are a must.
Housed in the old Nassau County jail, built of brick in 1878, this award-winning local museum explains Amelia Island’s history, from Timucuan Indian times through its possession by France, Spain, Great Britain, the United States, and the Confederacy. Only an upstairs photo gallery is open for casual inspection, so plan to take the 1-hour docent-led tour telling the story of the 8 flags that have flown over Amelia Island representing empires, pirates, scalawags and entrepreneurs, offered 11am and 2pm Monday through Saturday and at 2pm on Sundays.
The museum also offers excellent walking tours of historic Centre Street on Thursday and Friday from September to June. These last about an hour, cover eight blocks, and cost $15 for adults, $10 for kids. We especially recommend the Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem tour which is a 90-minute look into a mystery that has lasted over two centuries. Cost is $15 for adults, $10 for kids, though we don’t recommend that one for the wee ones. The Gilded Age tour is an eight-block look at Fernandina’s glorious north end, including the wealthy ‘Silk Stocking’ District, site of some of the Historic District’s most beautiful homes. Cost is $15 adults, $10 kids.
Leaving at 6pm every Friday from behind St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is a ghost tour that takes you past some allegedly haunted buildings. Cost is $15 adults, $10 kids. A pub crawl takes place the first and third Wednesdays of the month during which you’ll drink your way through four of the small town’s most popular, notorious, or otherwise historic pubs and bars. Cost is $40 per person (21 and over only) and reservations for this one are a must.
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