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The LESESNE HOUSE BY DICKIE ANDERSON
The LESESNE HOUSE
GREAT HOMES & CHURCHES
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BY DICKIE ANDERSON • PHOTO BY JAN JOHANNES
One of the oldest homes in the Historic District is found on busy and mostly commercial Centre Street. Its generous, double-galleried porches stretch across the front of the house. Friendly rocking chairs seem to invite those passing to enjoy a quieter, slower-paced, and more elegant time. The center door is framed by sidelights and an overhead transom. The house is constructed of rough handhewn lumber fastened with wooden pegs. It is guarded by a picturesque fence and lush vegetation.
David Levy Yulee brought great changes to Amelia Island as he built his railroad. He was actually able to move the town of Fernandina from a beautiful bluff overlooking the river several miles to the north to its current site. Old Town, as the original site the town of Fernandina is now called, was where the river boat captains lived. The bluff allowed them views of the river on which they made their livings. Yulee did not find the bluff and the large swamp area that bordered the town on its south side an ideal place for his railroad. Following the acquisition of Florida by the United States in 1821, the heirs of Domingo Fernandez sold the land grants which contained the Eliza and Louisa and Yellow Bluff plantations to Yulee. The Florida Railroad Company first platted the City of Fernandina in 1857, and New Town began to take shape.
Dr. John F. Lesesne, the original owner of the Lesesne House, would have been one of the early home builders in New Town, as the house was built prior to the Civil War on the emerging town’s Centre Street. However, he left Fernandina during the Civil War and never returned. The house eventually became the property of Judge John Friend, a German immigrant, who was appointed district tax commissioner by President Andrew Johnson. A prominent man, he served as County Commissioner, a judge, and, at the time of his death, he was the State Senator-elect from Nassau County. At one time, an olive orchard thrived on the lot next door where the Centre Street post office now stands.
This article has been reprinted with permission from Dickie Anderson’s book, Great Homes & Churches: Architectural Treasures of Amelia Island. It is availble at The Book Loft, Story & Song Bookstore Bistro, and the Amelia Island Museum of History.
