[caption id="attachment_521" align="aligncenter" width="288" caption="Our new monument to the short-lived Republic of West Florida"]
[/caption]This past weekend was a big one in our little town: it was the 40th anniversary of our annual tour of historic homes, the Audubon Pilgrimage, and was also the closing ceremony for the 200th anniversary of a short-lived independent nation, the Republic of West Florida, for which St. Francisville was the capital!
[caption id="attachment_532" align="aligncenter" width="288" caption="Lowering the Bonnie Blue flag of the Republic of West Florida during the ceremony."]
[/caption]That’s right - for 74 days in 1810, St. Francisville was capital of an independent nation that won its freedom from Spain in a one-night battle in Baton Rouge. The Free and Independent Republic of West Florida stretched from the Mississippi River along the Gulf Coast to the Perdido River (Florida’s current western border).
[caption id="attachment_535" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Sweet Maid dancers perform a maypole dance in the lawn next to Grandmother’s Buttons all three days of the Pilgrimage. (Photo by Amanda McKinney)"]
[/caption]West Florida even had its own flag: called the Bonnie Blue, it featured a white star on a sky blue background (we were actually the first lone star state!)
[caption id="attachment_519" align="aligncenter" width="288" caption="Our high school band, the West Feliciana Saints, marching in to the monument dedication ceremony."]
[/caption]Grandmother’s Buttons is situated across the street from where the republic’s constitution was signed in a long-gone hotel, and the original Bonnie Blue flag is said to be buried in the street in front of us. This past Saturday, a new park and monument were dedicated on the grounds of the old hotel.
[caption id="attachment_539" align="alignleft" width="222" caption="Camie Norwood, wife of Republic of West Florida commissioner David Norwood, in full Pilgrimage regalia. Our tour is called the Audubon Pilgrimage to commemorate the years John James Audubon spent in West Feliciana painting some of his Birds of America. Pilgrimage volunteers dress in stunning and authentic 1820s costumes for the weekend."]
[/caption]More pictures below. We certainly know how to celebrate our history in St. Francisville!
[caption id="attachment_541" align="alignright" width="259" caption="The Sweet Maids taking a break in front of Grandmother’s Buttons"]
[/caption]For more information on the Audubon Pilgrimage, visit the town’s blog: http://bit.ly/fp6yht. Also on the blog is this very informative article about the Bicentennial of the Republic of West Florida: http://bit.ly/fI2dQw.
[caption id="attachment_543" align="alignleft" width="210" caption="Susan’s good friend Dorcas Brown, publisher of Country Roads magazine, observing the festivities."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_545" align="alignright" width="205" caption="West Feliciana Parish Historical Society chair, local elementary school principal and Susan’s sixth grade math teacher Dot Temple opening the ceremonies."]
[/caption]The photo below is one of two lovely gardens on the tour, Afton Villa Gardens encompasses the grounds and ruins of a mid-nineteenth century estate that burned in the early 1960s. (Photo by Felicia Senette)
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