Palm Coast Mayor supports Lighthouse grant

Recently re-elected Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts provided a letter in support of the matching grant application filed with the Historic Preservation Grants Program of Florida’s Cultural, Historical and Information Programs in Tallahassee by the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum.

The purpose of the grant is to fund a series of educational programs, traveling and changing exhibitions to reveal how maritime archaeology is telling the multicultural story of the American Revolution in Florida.

“This project will assist in the education of Floridians as well as out-of-state visitors regarding the rich history and role that Florida played in our nation’s independence,” Netts wrote. “Florida has many diverse untold stories to tell and funding from this grant will aid in the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum’s ability to tell them.”

The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum will also support the “Viva Florida 500 Project” honoring Florida’s 500-year heritage since the discovery of Florida for Spain by Ponce de Leon in 1513.

As part of Florida’s Birthday Commemoration in 2013, the Lighthouse and Museum will highlight the multicultural connections during the revolution; including the legal and personal dilemmas of free blacks in Saint Augustine at the time of British withdrawal along with the history of the Menorcan, Greek, Italian, Spanish and Cuban families that became anchors for Florida’s maritime culture.