May 20th A stop in at a National Register Site, The Old St Augustine Record Building....

Ambled by here on my ACCORD tour, today, the building has another life as an apartment conversion....

The St. Augustine Record

The St. Augustine Record is a daily morning newspaper published in St. Augustine, Florida. The newspaper was founded in 1894 and is owned by Morris Communications of Augusta, Georgia.

St. Augustine Record is serving the community's needs The St. Augustine Record has been serving St. Johns County readers since October 21, 1894 when The Daily Herald went to press.

Charles F. Hopkins Jr., who owned a real estate business in downtown St. Augustine, founded the newspaper but it would be five years and another owner who would put Record into its name. Hopkins sold The Herald in 1899 to D.E. Thompson and the Flagler System in the summer of 1899. In September that year he changed its name to The Evening Record. But Thompson's association with The Record would also be short. After a dispute with the Flagler System over the operation and policy of The Record, he left.

The Flagler System retained ownership until 1942 guiding the newspaper through its expansion and the addition of a commercial printing operation. In 1906, The Record moved into a new building on the corner of Cordova and Bridge Street. The building was expanded in 1925.

On Dec. 6, 1925, The Sunday Record debuts. The Record continues its six-day a week operation.

During the Flagler System ownership, Miss Nina Hawkins was named editor in 1934. She had the distinction of being the first woman to lead a daily newspaper in Florida who was not an owner or related to the owner. Hawkins, who was editor until 1953, is in the Florida Newspaper Hall of Fame. She also is recognized by the state one of its Great Floridians, a program started in 2000.

In 1936, The word "Evening" was either added or dropped from the newspaper's name and it either became called or ceased to be called The St. Augustine Evening Record. In 1942, A.H. "Hoop" Tebault Sr., and other local investors bought The Record from the Flagler System. Tebault had come to St. Augustine from Tallahassee in 1937 to become general manager. The Record Press, a commercial operation, was sold to C.E. Shepperd. The Tebault family owned The Record until 1966. In 1963, A.H. Tebault Jr., became the publisher and general manager after his father's death. In 1965, editor was added to his duties on the death of Harvey Lopez who has succeeded Hawkins in 1953.

The Record was thrust into the national spotlight during the summer of 1964 when the civil rights movement made St. Augustine its last staging ground before the passage of the Civil Rights Act that summer. Tebault years later acknowledged that he had met with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., that summer at The Record to talk about the impact of the civil rights movement on St. Augustine. By 1966, Florida Publishing Company in Jacksonville, owner of The Florida Times-Union and the Jacksonville Journal had its sights set on The Record. Tebault and his family agreed to a sale that summer. Tebault was retained by the company until he announced his departure in 1973. At that time, he bought a weekly paper in Orange Park, expanded it to a daily and renamed it Clay Today. He later sold Clay Today and returned to St. Augustine and other business interests.

In 1971, The Record switched from hot type to cold type production.Florida Publishing Co., owned by Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, later CSX Corp.,was put up for sale in 1981 by the railroad.

Morris Communications Co., Augusta, Ga.., owner of several daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and other publications, took over the ownership of Florida Publishing Co. in 1982. Many signification changes have occurred during the Morris ownership. The paper had operated since its founding on a six-day publishing cycle. During some years, the weekend paper was published on Saturdays and other years on Sundays. It did not publish on national holidays. In 1986, The Record announced a significant commitment to helping the community needy and elderly during the holiday season with the creation of the Empty Stocking Fund. The fund has provided more than $1 million to help others in need since its founding.

On Sept. 2, 1988, The Record began a seven-day operation, adding back a Sunday newspaper, to wit publication every day of the year including all holidays. It continued its combination of afternoon-morning publications for a dozen more years.

On March 3, 2000, The Record went to morning publication seven days a week. That wasn't to be the only major change for The Record. On July 22, ground was broken at the corner of State Road 207 and State Road 312 for a new 68,000-square foot building. The building would follow the distinctive Mediterranean architecture that Henry Flagler used for his 19th century hotels which dominate the city's skyline.

The community watched the new building go up and on Oct. 14, 2001, Record employees moved from 158 Cordova St., the paper's home for 95 years, to One News Place. Readers received the first Record published from the new building on the morning of Oct. 15, 2001. In 2010 the Record transferred its printing press, accounting and HR operations to The Florida Times-Union. The ad sales and the newsroom remain in St. Augustine.