Frank B. Butler
(1885-1973)

Died aged c. 88

Frank B. Butler, born in Georgia in 1885, was a businessman, civic and political leader and founder of one of the few beaches for African-Americans in Florida. He operated a grocery store beginning in 1914 and the following year went into the real estate business. His company developed the College Park subdivision. He was the only African-American citizen from Florida to have an exhibit at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago and was the first in Florida to serve on a grand jury. Butler began the development of Butler Beach, south of St. Augustine, in response to segregated beaches nearby. This site and American Beach north of Jacksonville were popular vacation resorts for African-Americans from northeast Florida and southeast Georgia. Frank B. Butler died in 1973.

OpenPlaques