Rosewood Heritage Marker

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Located on State Road 24, about nine miles east of Cedar Key.

In 1923, Rosewood was the site of an African American massacre. Following a false accusation by a white woman, white men from the Cummer Lumber Company in Sumner were joined by other whites from as far away as Georgia in the search for the accused black man. During the week of terror and torture that followed, seven people were killed. The all-black town was destroyed and burned to the ground.

Remaining residents hid in the surrounding woods. Some were able to escape by train to Gainesville, Archer and Bryceville through the assistance of the John Wright family. Rosewood teacher Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier is remembered for helping women and children escape the massacre by train. After the massacre, Carrier completed her college degree and became the first African-American female principal in Florida.

An exhibit at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach documents the Rosewood tragedy.