Gordon J. Wilson honored with 2026 De Aviles Award for decades of National Park Service stewardship

Gordon J. Wilson, a longtime National Park Service superintendent, received the 2026 De Aviles Award from the St. Augustine City Commission at a February ceremony.

Vice Mayor Barbara Blonder, who formally nominated Wilson, summarized his 33 years of service at Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas National Monuments and presented the honor. "He cared for them, protected them, strengthened them," Blonder said, citing Wilson’s partnerships with federally recognized tribes and local institutions and his role in securing preservation funding.

Why it matters: The De Aviles Award recognizes a lifetime of public service to St. Augustine and St. Johns County. Commissioners and community members said Wilson’s work helped protect irreplaceable historic structures, increase volunteer engagement and generate revenue for park preservation.

Blonder told the commission that Wilson served from January 1992 through September 2025 and that under his leadership volunteer involvement grew from "just over 4,000 hours a year to more than 23,000 hours." She also credited entry into the park "recreation fee program" with generating "more than $20,000,000 for preservation and visitor services." Blonder said Wilson helped secure "millions of dollars" for stabilization and long-term conservation projects at Castillo de San Marcos and advanced strategies for coquina masonry preservation.

Blonder highlighted Wilson’s work building government-to-government consultation with 25 federally recognized tribes, a partnership with the Seminole community enabling tribal interpretation at the parks, and collaborations with the University of Florida, Flagler College and state and federal agencies. "What we honor today is not just a list of accomplishments. What we honor is a career built on service, stewardship, partnership, and heart," she said.

Wilson, accepting the award, thanked the commission and recalled arriving in St. Augustine in 1978 and returning as a superintendent in January 1992. "I first came into this meeting room in January 1992," he said, describing his long association with the community and the parks and noting ongoing projects such as a new seawall in front of the Castillo.

The commission presentation was described in the ceremony as approved "by unanimous approval of the City Commission of Saint Augustine this February 2026." The transcript does not record a roll-call vote or individual tallies in the meeting record.

The presentation concluded and the presiding official said the meeting would reconvene at 5 p.m.