The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum, a long-standing fixture of historic Aviles Street, will re-launch “I Lived Here, As Well” Black history tours.
“I Lived Here, As Well — Together” will run Jan. 19 through Feb. 25, at 10 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings. The tour is open to the public, led by costumed historical actors, and lasts approximately 60 minutes. Admission is $22 per person and tickets must be purchased in advance at ximenezfatiohouse.org/ILHAW.
At the Ximenez-Fatio House Museum, guests are invited to step into a 225-year-old boarding house and experience, firsthand, the stories of the people that lived within it.
The “I Lived Here, As Well” program is a series of interpretive Black history tours in which the tour guides are actors who portray several characters from St. Augustine’s past. Some of these characters are people who lived in the historic house, like Louisa Williams, a previously enslaved woman who was freed by Union troops in St. Augustine in 1862. Other characters were crafted to represent enslaved and freed people who were documented as working in the house, but whose names were never recorded.
The museum’s latest installment of the series combines the 2022 and 2021 programs into a single performance titled: “I Lived Here, As Well — Together.” In the past two years, the series has presented, individually, the perspective of a male enslaved person and a female enslaved person, but never together.
In the 2023 edition, guests will be joined by two actors portraying each viewpoint to witness the harsh conditions of slavery, and life afterward. The program will include stories and accounts not heard during the traditional museum tour, along with full access to the house museum’s three floors of exhibition space.
The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum has stood on Aviles Street for 225 years and has been owned by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Florida since 1939.
“I Lived Here, As Well – Together” is presented by the museum with support from the St. Johns Cultural Council and the Tourist Development Council.
The Ximenez-Fatio House is located at 20 Aviles St. in historic St. Augustine. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and a Florida Heritage Landmark. Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, with special tours available on select dates. The Fig Tree Gift Shop is also on site, and the property and grounds can be reserved as an event venue.
Go to ximenezfatiohouse.org or call 904-829-3575 for further information.
