Draft:St. Michael's Catholic Church (Fernandina Beach, FL)

• Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest policy, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. JPositive116 (talk) 13:45, 29 September 2025 (UTC)

---

St. Michael's Catholic Church
Location	Fernandina Beach, Nassau County, Florida, U.S.
Country	United States
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Status	Parish church
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	(historic) Unknown; multiple renovations
Administration
Diocese	Diocese of St. Augustine

St. Michael's Catholic Church (also known as the Church of St. Michael the Archangel) is a Roman Catholic parish church in Fernandina Beach, Florida, within the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine. The present brick church, located at the northeast corner of North 4th and Broome Streets, was dedicated on February 8, 1874. The parish was formally erected on April 21, 1954, and the sanctuary was expanded and rededicated on August 1, 2015.

History

Catholic presence on Amelia Island dates to the Spanish colonial era, with intermittent missionary activity and visiting clergy. In the mid‑19th century, after Fernandina’s relocation to the higher‑ground “New Town” (c. 1857) to support railroad construction, a small wooden Catholic church was built near the present site. That early church was looted during the Union occupation in 1862, prompting correspondence by Bishop Augustin Verot to military authorities.

In 1872–1874, the second resident priest, Rev. John Bertazzi, oversaw construction of a 138 ft × 42 ft brick church at North 4th and Broome. The building, with a steeple and stained‑glass windows, was dedicated under the patronage of St. Michael the Archangel in remembrance of Fray Miguel de Añón. Rev. Charles Sartorio, the first resident priest, and Rev. Bertazzi are buried outside the current church entrance.

A 2,300‑lb bell, later known as the "Raymond Bell" in memory of benefactor H. H. Raymond, was blessed on August 15, 1924, replacing an earlier 18th‑century engine bell.

St. Michael’s was erected as a territorial parish for Nassau County on April 21, 1954. The sanctuary was remodeled in 1990 and, to address overcrowding, expanded and dedicated by Bishop Felipe Estévez on August 1, 2015.

Mission for Black Catholics: St. Peter Claver

The parish maintained a mission for Black Catholics in Fernandina’s Old Town. In 1867 Bishop Verot reacquired a lot there and ordered a chapel built; in the late 1880s Rev. Anthony F. J. Kilcoyne erected St. Peter Claver Chapel for the “colored contingent” of the parish. The structure deteriorated by the 1890s; a new brick church for the congregation was completed in 1924 at North 3rd and Calhoun Streets. The mission later closed in the 20th century.

Education

The Sisters of St. Joseph (SSJ) of Le Puy, France, were invited to Fernandina in 1871 by Rev. Bertazzi to teach; separate schools were established for white children and for children of color. A brick convent‑school complex opened in 1882 as St. Joseph’s Academy (boarding and day school), which educated local children until 1971. The campus later served as a filming location for The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988). The parish reopened the school as St. Michael Academy in 1999; a middle‑school wing was added in 2005.

Students of color received a dedicated school building circa 1900 with support from Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament; by 1924 St. Peter Claver School enrolled approximately 80 pupils.

Yellow fever of 1877

During the fall 1877 yellow fever epidemic in Fernandina, the Sisters of St. Joseph converted their convent into a hospital to nurse the sick. Mother Célénie (Marie Célénie Joubert) and Sister Marie de Sales Kennedy died of the disease on October 13, 1877, and are interred in what is now Villalonga Park on the church grounds.

Architecture and features

The historic brick church is noted for its steeple and colored stained‑glass windows described in the 1875 Catholic Directory. The campus includes the Raymond Bell (1924) and a parish hall constructed and renovated in stages, with significant sanctuary expansion completed in 2015.

See also

• Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine
• Fernandina Beach, Florida