Carrie Johnson Way will honor the Voice of Lincolnville

The City of St. Augustine has announced to Historic City News that they will honor the Voice of Lincolnville by renaming Bravo Street to Carrie Johnson Way in a future ceremony.  The proposed name change was aired during the Monday January 13, 2020 meeting of the St Augustine City Commission.  Johnson, known as “Miss Carrie,” to almost everyone who knew her, passed away at 7:00 a.m., November 27, 2018. She was 83 years old.

St Augustine was Carrie Johnson’s hometown, she was born here on February 28, 1935.  She lived in Miami for many years, raising a family and working as a teacher’s aide, until Hurricane Andrew struck in August 1992. The Category 5 storm devastated the area where she was living.  She returned to her childhood home and remained a prominent figure in the Lincolnville community for more than 20-years until her death.

In a booming voice, you could here “HELLO, DARLING” a block or two before you reached the birdlike grey-haired great grandmother. Her voice rang out loud and clear and she loved to sing, speak, and pray so all could hear.  The force of her personality and goodwill proved irresistible, and without the worldly benefits of wealth or power she managed to become a significant force in the community.

For many years Carrie Johnson, led the chorus in the Lincolnville Community Christmas Caroling event, earning her the un-official title, “The Voice of Lincolnville”.  The carolers showed their support to our elders as they went Christmas Caroling at St. Joseph’s Convent, the Buckingham-Smith Assisted Living Center, and Samantha Wilson Bayview Senior Center.

It is fitting that Bravo Street will bear her name.  Her first St. Augustine home was in a building, no longer standing, at the corner of Bravo and Weeden Streets at the northern end of Lincolnville. 

She was living almost in the back yard of that site, at the corner of Bravo and Riberia Streets in 2016 when Hurricane Michael hit and inundated her house with several feet of water.  She spent her last two years living in St. Augustine Shores.