St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church will be open for viewing everyday of the 2024 History Festival from 9:00am to 4:00pm. Don’t miss this opportunity to see this wonderful historic house of worship!
St. Cyprian’s rich history began in the late 1800’s when it was established as a place of worship in the Episcopal tradition for former slaves and other African Americans in St. Augustine. The present church building was consecrated in 1900. For many decades the parish thrived as a cornerstone of spiritual life in the Lincolnville neighborhood of St. Augustine, and teachers, shop owners, attorneys, doctors and dentists were counted among the membership during its prosperous years. Although St. Cyprian’s was not directly involved in the Civil Rights movement when it came to St. Augustine in the 1960’s, there are stories of individual members of the congregation supporting the cause from behind the scenes. In the generations that followed, the church’s membership declined and the building suffered from deferred maintenance as the Lincolnville neighborhood experienced its own decline.