Fernandina Beach is the only American town to have flown eight flags, and it still looks the part: fifty blocks of 19th-century buildings, a working shrimp harbor, and a brick fort guarding the north tip of Amelia Island.
Why visit Fernandina Beach
- 01
A fifty-block historic district
One of the largest National Register districts in Florida — intact 19th-century commercial and residential buildings, not a few restored facades.
- 02
The Palace Saloon
The 1878 saloon at Centre and Second still pours under a pressed-tin ceiling. Sit at the counter.
- 03
Fort Clinch
A pre-Civil War brick fort and state park, with garrison reenactors on the first weekend of every month.
- 04
Shrimp from the boat
Fernandina is the birthplace of modern shrimping; the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival fills Centre Street every May.
How to spend a day
Take the harbor walk at dawn to see the trawlers go out, then spend the morning on Centre Street and the side streets of the historic district.
Drive to Fort Clinch in the afternoon, and make time for American Beach, the historically Black beach community to the south.
Before you go
Fernandina Beach is about 45 minutes northeast of downtown Jacksonville. Time a visit for the first weekend of the month to catch the fort reenactors.