Page 3 - Peter Willott News Today

Here are the top stories viewed at staugustine.com during the past week.

St. Augustines James Jackson was arrested alongside Martin Luther King in the notorious Monson Motor Lodge incident in 1964.

The $4 million project is expected to take about two years to complete; it will be a center for disadvantaged mothers and children.

Uptown Swinery, located on San Marco Avenue, is here to stay after series of challenging openings and closings since 2019.

Editors note: Last month, as part of The Records "Where History Lives" series, Peter Willott wrote about the mystery of the Florida Southwestern Railway and the two brothers, Fred and Floyd Perry, who built their very own locomotive in a St. Augustine backyard. Floyds son, Charles Perry, saw the story and reached out to St. Augustine Historical Societys Chief Librarian Bob Nawrocki with more information. On Wednesday, Nawrocki and Willott met Charles Perry at his St. Augustine home where hel...

The Daytona Beach News-Journal It’s hard to read the two-part (so far) saga of Brian Freeman’s sojourn in St. Augustine  and remain unmoved. As reported by The St. Augustine Record’s Peter Willott and Sheldon Gardner, the bare bones of Freeman’s story go like this: Our photographer Peter Willott noticed the evolving garden, as did many other passers-by. He saw Freeman picking up trash on the side of the road. He rightly thought it was a story that needed to be told. Because Freeman’s...

With recent development and new projects on the way, activity in the so-called "marina district" along the San Sebastian River has given rise to a new entertainment scene in St. Augustine. One of the bright spots in the revival is the St. Augustine Fish Camp, a waterfront restaurant that opened with dinner service in August 2020 and then expanded to lunch hours in December. The physical space of the building — airy, bright and clean — reflects its menu which specializes in Southern coast...

With the recent explosion of residential and commercial development in south St. Augustine — especially along the corridors of Wildwood Drive and State Road 207 — growth in this area of St. Johns County is beginning to rival that of communities north and west of the city. Of course, with growth comes traffic. St. Johns County officials will host a public meeting to discuss an upcoming project to improve traffic flow at the Wildwood Drive/US 1 South intersection. The meeting will ta...

As part of his new line of work, St. Johns County resident Chris Simoes has become well-acquainted with Bigfoot culture.  The filmmaker has traveled with Bigfoot enthusiasts and gone on sasquatch hunts. He camped in North Georgia with a friend he describes as a "Bigfoot believer," who used various calls to try and attract a sasquatch.  “There’s several ways that people believe Bigfoot communicates," Simoes said. "He knocks on trees, like with a stick. So they’ll knock on trees. They�...

When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stayed in St. Augustine in 1964, he was shuffled from house to house to maintain his safety; held strategy meetings with local civil rights leaders; and stirred crowds at churches that still exist in the city today.  He planned to use St. Augustine as a platform to bring about national change for civil rights, but became part of a movement that sought a local transformation. While the effort sparked obvious changes, officials say work still remains. Dr. Benj...