Statement prepared by Dr. Michael C. Scardaville,


Historian, Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board






The St. Francis Inn, also known as the Garcia-Dummett House, is
one of the few surviving colonial structures in the nation's oldest
city and lies within the St. Augustine National Landmark Historic
District. It was built as a two-story residence in the early 1790's by
Gaspar Garcia and changed ownership several times until acquired in 1838
by Col. Thomas Henry Dummett, a West Indian planter, who developed two
prominent Territorial period sugar plantations in central Florida.
The house underwent several alterations in the late 19th century, notably
the ca. 1890 addition of a mansard roof by John L. Wilson, founder of
the local public library.

The massive coquina structure has generally been used for commer-
cial purposes since the mid-19th century, whether as a boarding or
apartment house or hotel, and it has been known by different names:
Teaham Hotel, The Palms, The Graham House, and, since the late 1940's,
the St. Francis Inn. Proper maintenance and preservation of the building
has thus depended upon its continued profitable use in providing lodgings
for the visiting public.