By Alexa Jaworski
Times-Union staff writer

ST. AUGUSTINE -- Along Lincolnville's tree-lined one-way streets, a century of culture peeks out from the rotting wood of dollhouse-like homes tarnished by years of crime and poverty.

The sagging front porches and chipped paint belie the turn-of-the-century charm attracting new residents such as Kathy Ammons who hope to recapture the historically black community founded by freed slaves.

Some of the attraction for buyers is the return on investment. A house bought in Lincolnville in 1994 and renovated could easily be sold for triple or quadruple the purchase price.

For Ammons, who now lives in a white two-story Victorian house with her husband, Donald, "it was a shot ... a leap of faith." She bought the house for $45,000 six years ago; now it is worth $180,000.

"It was only because of the location that I would have even spent the money. I was very optimistic," she said.

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  "We could encourage some of the young people who are heirs of these properties not to forfeit them. When you sell that, you sell all of your roots," Lincolnville resident Carrie Johnson said. -- Crista Jeremiason/Staff--------------------------------------------------

But some long-time residents fear the price could include the loss of history.

"We could encourage some of the young people who are heirs of these properties not to forfeit them. When you sell that, you sell all of your roots," resident Carrie Johnson said. The 66-year-old Lincolnville native said her own family house on Weeden Street fell into disrepair after several generations.

Others see the arrival of their white young to middle-aged neighbors as a way to resurrect the community.

Black communities such as Harlem in New York that have been ravaged by crime and poverty are being revitalized -- another common term is gentrified -- by white residents and investors.

That's what inspired St. Augustine-based real estate agent Norbert Tuseo of Sunstate Realty and Travel, who has sold 150 to 200 buildings in Lincolnville. Tuseo originally came from New York to invest in Lincolnville's dilapidated homes.

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  Albert Kroll has lived in and around Lincolnville for the last 12 years. "It was scary back then because there were drugs on every corner," Kroll said. He bought a house which he plans to restore to original condition. "I suspect I'll double my money," he said. -- Crista Jeremiason/Staff--------------------------------------------------

"It's exactly the same thing as up Harlem," Tuseo said. "I saw it happen before. That's why I had the vision. Lincolnville is a little Harlem."

The average cost of a home in St. Johns County is $107,000 -- roughly double the cost of many of Lincolnville's unrenovated properties.

There are renovated houses selling in excess of $100,000 that years ago were selling for $15,000 to $20,000, he said. Once a proposed multimillion-dollar marina off Riberia Street is built, he expects the value of Lincolnville property to increase another 25 percent.

Investors and homeowners are primarily white, younger- to middle-aged people who renovate the houses themselves, St. Augustine real estate agent and broker Janice Brown said.

"You have a lot more people moving in because of the close proximity to downtown, affordability and the attractiveness of the homes," she said.

Some are drawn into the community by the changes.

"It's a very diverse community," said Brenda Sugg, who bought and renovated a four-bedroom Victorian home on Bridge Street 10 years ago.

"The dollar is green, not black or white. If we improve the neighborhood, the people will benefit from it," said Holly Mulkey, who shares the house.

At 73, Christopher Lightburn knows what Lincolnville -- the place he has called home for 54 years -- can be. He can remember what a thriving business district was established along Lincolnville's Washington Street.

"Washington Street was the street," he said. Bars, cafes, dry cleaners and a movie theater lined the street. Lightburn, a founder of the Lincolnville Restoration and Development Commission that runs the annual Lincolnville Festival,d a tavern on Washington Street and held dances.

Although he has no problem with the integration of the community, he worries about the heritage that will be lost.

"All of the businesses were owned by black people," he said. "I believe the black history of Washington Street will be lost. All of the people who made the street what it was are dead."

St. Augustine historian David Nolan said that history runs deep.

Nolan knows the story of Lincolnville's homes, telling their stories as if talking about old friends, describing individual characteristics, pasts and the struggle for recognition. He surveyed all of the city's historic buildings in 1978.

"Its an area where you can just scratch the surface and there's history everywhere," Nolan said.

But when history collides with modern-day economics, history sometimes loses.

Local civil rights icon Katherine Twine, 76, who's lived in her house on Twine Street -- named after her and her late husband, former City Commissioner Henry Twine -- for almost 50 years, said many black families cannot afford to buy or renovate property in Lincolnville.

The changes appear to have made a difference. Seven years ago, real estate agents would neither show nor list property in Lincolnville, Tuseo said. Now, the price of a house in Lincolnville has grown by three or four times since 1994.

Albert Kroll bought his two-story gingerbread house on Oneida Street for $35,000 two years ago.

The cedar-shingled house has been vacant since 1955. The porch has collapsed. Kroll suspects it was a hangout for drug users at one point because he found makeshift crack pipes inside.

But Kroll, a contractor, sees a lucrative new life for the dilapidated home once he and his son finish renovating it.

"I suspect I'll double my money," he said.

Twenty years from now, most expect the neighborhood to be completely revitalized.

"I think the majority of the homes will be redone or torn down," Brown said. She expects the revitalization momentum to eventually move to West Augustine.