The Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts in Eatonville

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Zora Neale Hurston Festival

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The Well's Built Museum of African American History and Culture holds authentic 1930s furnishings, famous artifacts and slave records.

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 Orange County.  While some of these sites can be visited, other listings are marked "private" and are not open to the public.

Eatonville

The Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts and Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community Inc. (PEC)
227 East Kennedy Boulevard
From the 1880s to the 1930s, hundreds of communities founded by and for African Americans were established throughout the southern U.S. Few have survived, but Eatonville is an exception. In 1887 it was the first of these communities to incorporate with an all black government. This 20-acre historic district includes buildings constructed between 1882 and 1946. The museum provides information on the community and displays the works of artists of African descent. Quarterly exhibitions feature the works of emerging and legendary artists. Eatonville’s Zora Neale Hurston Trail correlates 16 historic sites and 10 markers with Hurston’s writings. A walking/ driving tour brochure is available at the Museum. The Zora Neale Hurston trail is continued with the “Dust Tracks Heritage Trail” in Ft. Pierce. (407) 647-3307.


Orlando
Callahan Neighborhood
Bounded by Colonial Drive, Central Avenue, Division Street and Orange Blossom Trail
This is one of Orlando’s oldest black communities, originating in 1886. The district includes Callahan Neighborhood Center, the former old Jones High School, established in 1895. (407) 246-4442.


Dr. I.S. Hankins House
219 Lime Street (Private)
This Mediterranean Revival style residence was built in 1935 as the home of Orlando’s pioneer black physician who campaigned for improved race relations and black home ownership.


Hankins Building
647 West South Street (Private)
Dr. I.S. Hankins constructed this Art Deco commercial building in 1947. Hankins was an African American physician, civic leader and active participant in the Washington Shores development, which provided opportunities for new home ownership for Orlando’s African American residents.


Nicholson-Colyer Building
29 West Church Street
This late Victorian structure was built in 1911 for J.A. Colyer, an African American tailor and J.E. Nicholson, a Canadian baker. It was one of few properties outside the traditional African American neighborhoods that was owned and operated by African Americans.


Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist
4077 Prince Hall Blvd.
The congregation first met in a shed in 1919, and erected this stone church in 1920. This Romanesque style building now houses the Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church. (407) 841-3658.


Wells’ Built Museum of African American History & Culture
511 West South Street
Dr. William Monroe Wells, an African American physician, built this hotel in 1926 to provide lodging to African Americans visiting the Orlando area. Second-floor hotel rooms complemented three first-floor store fronts. The adjacent South Street Casino attracted many famous entertainers, and the hotel became their favorite stopping place. Today, with authentic furnishings of the 1930s, the museum, features artifacts that include official hotel documents, an original Negro League baseball jersey and slave records. Fully restored by The Trust for Public Land and the Association to Preserve African American Society, History and Tradition, Inc. (PAST), the Museum focuses on African American contributions to jazz and entertainment. (407) 245-7535.


Winter Park
Hannibal Square Historic Neighborhood
Pennsylvania and Morse Boulevard
From its beginning in 1881, African Americans played an integral part of Winter Park’s development. The original town plan designated the Hannibal Square neighborhood for homes of African Americans who worked in the groves, hotels, homes, and as carpenters and farmers. Landmark buildings include Mount Moriah Church, Bethel Baptist Church, Flowers Temple, Grant Chapel, the Early Rising Lodge and Lake Hall Lodge.

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/