Florida has a rich and diverse history.  African American landmarks and legacies exist in various locations throughout the state. The following historical sites can be found in Charlotte County.  While some of these sites can be visited, other listings are marked "private" and are not open to the public.


Cleveland
The George Brown House
27430 Cleveland Avenue (Private)
This property was built in 1915 by George Brown, a talented African American carpenter and local businessman, for himself and his family. The home is a monument to his second wife, Tommie.


Cleveland Steam Marine Ways
5400 Riverside Drive
George Brown came to the Peace River area in 1890 to work for a phosphate mining company. During the 1890s he was superintendent of buildings for the Desoto Phosphate Mining Company in Liverpool, near Arcadia. He later founded the Cleveland Steam Marine Ways where he built luxury yachts for affluent white residents of Charlotte Harbor. Brown was an “equal opportunity” employer, hiring whites and blacks, and paying equal wages for equal skills. The building is now a recreation hall for a mobile home park.


Punta Gorda
Bethel African American Episcopal Church
260 East Olympia Avenue
“Uncle Dan” Smith, a local African American religious leader, constructed a thatch-roofed hut church on this site in 1886. Several white families, including Colonel Albert W. Gilchrist, who later became governor of Florida, were in attendance at the first service. The first permanent sanctuary, a wooden frame building, was built in 1897 but destroyed by Hurricane Donna in 1960. The building was replaced in the 1960s. (941) 637-9296.


The Blanchard House Museum of African American
History & Culture of Charlotte County
406 Martin Luther King Boulevard
This 1925 house was originally built for Joseph Blanchard, a black sea captain and key member of early Punta Gorda’s business community, and Minnie, his mail-order bride. Upon the death of Blanchard’s last surviving daughter, African American community historian, Bernice Russell, purchased the Blanchard House. Since Russell’s death, the museum has been operated as an open access, educational institute devoted to the procurement, preservation, study and display of artifacts and materials related to the history, culture and contributions of African Americans in Charlotte County.
(941) 575-7518.


New Operation Cooper Street
650 Mary Street
This is the original site of Baker’s Academy, Charlotte County’s first African American school. Located in the East Punta Gorda Historical District, in the 1960s, this site was a gathering place and recreation center for the black community. (941) 639-3034 (Grace Nurse).


Punta Gorda Railroad Depot & Museum
1009 Taylor Road
The Atlantic Coast Line Depot, built in the Mediterranean Revival architectural style, was the southernmost station in the U.S. when it opened in the late 1920s. Segregated bathrooms and waiting areas as originally designed, and a refurbished ticket office are part of the exhibit. Rotating exhibits display the historic and cultural impact of the area’s aviation and fishing industry. (941) 639-1887.


St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church
402 Dupont Street
St. Mark was founded in the late 1880s by Punta Gorda’s African American pioneer, area businessman and civic leader, Dan Smith. Smith named the church and was ordained as the first deacon. Dan Smith’s wife, Louisa Evans was a Baptist, and according to his grandson, Smith founded St. Mark’s to please his wife. (941) 637-1519.

Adapted from Florida Black Heritage Trail, published by the Florida Department of State, in partnership with VISIT FLORIDA, copyright 2007.  For more information on African American sites, please visit flheritage.com.  Additional information can also be found at: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/milesmedia/floridablackheritage/