African American History in Florida

Florida invites you to explore the captivating tapestry of African American history, woven throughout the state. Here, you’ll discover larger-than-life figures like Pensacola's “Chappie” James, who broke barriers as the first Black four-star general in American military history; poignant tragedies like the harrowing "Ax Handle Saturday" of 1960, where courageous members of the Youth Council faced brutal attacks by segregationists yielding axe handles and baseball bats for participating in sit-ins; and haunting sites like of Key West's Higgs Beach, believed by experts to be the sole African refugee cemetery in the entire United States.

Read on to discover Florida’s African American landmarks, notable figures, and destinations.

The Wells' Built Museum of African American History & Culture

511 West South St., Orlando, 32805 | (407) 245-7535

Some of history’s most beloved Black performers -- Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington -- couldn’t sleep in the best hotels or eat at the best restaurants when they visited Orlando during the ugly era of segregation.

Instead, they made their way west of downtown to a neighborhood called Parramore. Dr. William Monroe Wells, one of Orlando’s first Black doctors, opened the Wells’ Built Hotel in 1929 for them. While the hotel shuttered its doors long ago, a victim of urban renewal around 1970, the Wells’ Built Museum of African American History and Culture remains, a tribute to its history and heyday.

Since it opened in 2001, thousands of people have walked through its doors to wonder at photographs, artwork, books, artifacts and mementos dedicated to Black history in Orlando as well as throughout the Florida and nationally.

African-American History in Miami’s Overtown

Historic Overtown, once known as “Colored Town,” is a captivating Miami neighborhood blending a century-old legacy with contemporary vibrancy. Initially dubbed “The Harlem of the South” for its jazz scene, recent years have brought a remarkable revitalization, making it a prime spot to explore Miami's rich Black heritage through food and music.

The Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater, a museum, theater, and research hub housed in a landmark building since 1913, promises artifacts and records spanning a century that recount the story of South Florida's Black community. Don't miss the chance to catch a concert or explore the D.A. Dorsey House, built in 1915 by Miami's first Black millionaire.

The Black Police Precinct & Courthouse Museum tells the story of Miami’s original African American police officers, while you can explore African American fine art at the Historic Ward Rooming House with Hampton Art Lovers latest exhibition. Nearby, admire Purvis Young’s mural "Everyday Life" at the Culmer/Overtown Branch Library. Historic Overtown's dining scene has also flourished, notably with Marcus Samuelson's Red Rooster Overtown, offering Southern, African, and Caribbean dishes that have earned it a MICHELIN-recommendation.

Celebrate Jackie Robinson's Legacy in Daytona Beach

105 East Orange Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL 32114 | (386) 257-3172

Jackie Robinson Ballpark is marked by its unparalleled role in breaking racial barriers. Open since 1914 as City Island Ballpark, it defied segregation laws in 1946 to host the Hall of Fame second baseman, then a member of the Montreal Royals. Renamed in his honor in 1990, the Ballpark showcases a statue embodying his legacy. The Tortugas pay tribute through special uniforms and on-site exhibits, aiming to immerse fans in Robinson's groundbreaking era. Moreover, the ballpark experience extends beyond the game itself, offering a museum-like experience. Visitors are invited to wander the outside concourse adorned with plaques and interactive exhibits that highlight Robinson's remarkable career. Among these is a broad-jump sand pit, vividly showcasing Robinson’s prowess in track and field.

Hannibal Square Heritage Center

642 West New England Avenue, Winter Park, FL 32789 | (407) 539-2680

Founded in 1881, Hannibal Square in Winter Park -- named for the ancient African general -- was an all-Black neighborhood, with residents who worked as laborers for the white residents of Winter Park, the railroad, or the service industry. But in the 1990s, the square became a magnet for developers who saw opportunity in its prime location, and the Black-owned barbershops, banks, grocery stores and churches were replaced by boutique shopping, spas, salons and upscale eateries.

Created in 2007 by the Crealde’ School of Art along with the city of Winter Park, Hannibal Square Heritage Center is a tiny gem that celebrates the area’s rich culture and history with photographs dating back to the 1880s, accompanied by oral histories told in the words of community residents. The Heritage Center Visiting Exhibition Gallery features visual art exhibitions that explore cultural preservation and the African American experience. Tours of the center and walking tours of Hannibal Square are available by calling (407) 539-2680.

African Cemetery at Higgs Beach

Clarence S. Higgs Memorial Beach Park, 1074-1094 Atlantic Blvd, Key West, FL 33040

Visitors to Key West's Higgs Beach might not pay much attention to the small rectangle of fenced-off beachfront, flanked by tall columns. If they don't, however, they're missing the chance to view an extraordinary piece of America's past: a site that experts believe is the only African refugee cemetery in the United States.

Its story is riveting and tragic. In 1860, three illegal slave ships were intercepted by the US Navy and diverted to Key West. The people of Key West were so horrorstruck at the treatment of the human cargo that they worked collectively to provide food and shelter for the almost 1500 Africans who would have been sold into slavery. In spite of their efforts, hundreds of the refugees died and were then buried at Higgs Beach.

Today, the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and a memorial commemorates the African Burial Ground at Higgs Beach. The historical and archaeological details of cemetery can be found on exhibit at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, located at 200 Greene Street in Key West.

Ray Charles Childhood Home

443 SW Ray Charles Avenue, Greenville, FL 32331 | (850) 948-2251

Although he was born in Georgia, Charles had deep ties to Florida. He was raised in Greenville, educated in St. Augustine at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, and played at clubs around Orlando before heading across the nation to Seattle and fame.

Created by Bradley Cooley and Bradley Cooley Jr. in 2005, Greenville's Ray Charles statue honors the man who earned 17 Grammy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and was named by Rolling Stone as #10 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Greenville also commemorates one of the world's greatest music legends with his restored childhood home.

Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, the First Florida State Park Named for African Americans

5603 North Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, 33004 | (951) 923-2833

On July 4, 1961, a group of Black South Florida residents waded into the ocean at the “whites only” beach near Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. The bathers’ demonstration marked the first in a series of “wade-ins” to protest segregated beaches, attracting worldwide press and the hostility of many local whites.

More than 50 summers later, a beachfront state park on land once designated as Broward County’s only “Colored Beach” now bears the names of the two civil rights leaders who led those wade-ins.

Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park – formally known as John U. Lloyd State Park – is the first state park in Florida to be named for African Americans. The name change took effect July 1, 2016, following an act of the Florida Legislature signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott.

Dr. Mizell was one of Fort Lauderdale's early Black doctors and Johnson was the county's first NAACP president. Both faced lawsuits and death threats during their long struggle for racial equality.

Celebrating History and Culture at ZORA! Fest in Eatonville

Some celebrities are so famous they need only one name. In Florida, it’s Zora.

That's for Zora Neale Hurston, the celebrated Harlem Renaissance author, best known for her novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

You can learn about her legacy in Eatonville, where Zora grew up, at the annual “Zora!” Festival in late January; or at the Zora Neale Hurston Museum of Fine Arts, which specializes in art by individuals of African descent. The museum offers maps for self-guided tours of the area where Zora grew up and also sets up guided tours.

Other Florida destinations to celebrate the global icon’s legacy include Rollins College in Winter Park, a private liberal arts college that played a major role in Zora’s career when she returned to Eatonville from New York in the early 1930s. Hannibal Square Heritage Center, also in Winter Park and only minutes from Eatonville, offers over 100 photos and oral histories highlighting local and national African-American experiences, with visiting exhibits that explore quilt making, urban art and other elements of Black heritage and Southern folklore.

Florida’s Angola Community

In 1821, Angola, a settlement in northwest Florida with roughly 800 inhabitants, met a tragic end. Formerly a refuge for people fleeing slavery, it was attacked by Creek allies of U.S. Gen. Andrew Jackson soon after Spain ceded Florida to the United States. Many were captured, returned to slavery, or died. Some escaped to central or south Florida, and 97 individuals found freedom in the Bahamas.

Angola's history remained elusive until discovered by archaeologists guided by underground radar in 2009. They unearthed British-made artifacts dating back to the early 1800s, linking the settlement to maroons – the nickname for Black Seminoles --who trained with the British at Apalachicola.

Today, Angola's story is commemorated at Manatee Mineral Spring Park, a quiet spot near the river. Its modest exhibit honors the resilience of those who escaped, including those who made it to safety in Andros Island in the Bahamas, home to the village of Red Bays, known as the haven of the Black Seminoles.

The annual Back to Angola Festival, held the third week of October, and the park are registered on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. The festival serves as cultural guide, illuminating the past and leading descendants to the location where Angola flourished centuries ago.

African-American History in St. Petersburg’s Deuces Neighborhood

Barely a mile from St. Petersburg’s bustling downtown, 22nd Street South – nicknamed The Deuces – offers a rich story of courage, perseverance, love and purpose.

It once was the busy main street of the Sunshine City’s African-American population.

At its peak during the early 1960s, more than 100 businesses, retail stores, professional offices and entertainment venues thrived on the thoroughfare. Oldtimers have estimated that perhaps 75 percent were Black-owned or operated. They served residents in all of St. Petersburg’s African-American communities.

Today, a detailed African-American heritage trail, a self-guided walking tour, reflects the street’s glory days. Nineteen signs in shiny blue and gold, the colors of the city’s historic Black high school, tell of pioneers, the rise of entrepreneurial spirit, the vibrant personalities, the building of a city within a city and the community’s inevitable neighborhood highs and lows.

It includes waypoints like the Manhattan Casino; the old Mercy Hospital site; and the Royal Theater, one of only two theaters that admitted African-Americans during the Jim Crow era. Newer elements include the Midtown Campus of St. Petersburg College and the Johnnie Ruth Clarke Center, a medical facility on the old hospital site that provides outpatient care for the entire community. Along Ninth Avenue South are historic churches and Happy Workers Day Care Center, dating back to 1928-29 and credited with being Pinellas County’s first social services center. It is still in operation.

Here where you can learn more about St. Pete’s African-American Heritage Trail. Individuals, groups, and classes can arrange for a guided tour (walking or by trolley) by contacting the African American Heritage Association.

Pensacola’s African-American Roots

Pensacola's history is intertwined with the story of its Black community, like the roots of the heritage oak standing guard over St. Michael's Cemetery, an eight-acre cemetery established in the mid-1700's that has nobility and slaves buried side by side—one of the few in the county.

The African American Heritage Society of Pensacola beckons visitors to discover the town’s African American Heritage Trail. Stops on the trail include Chappie James Memorial Plaza, where you’ll find a granite, laser-etched memorial of Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James, a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force who in 1975 became the first Black officer in the history of the United States military to attain 4-star full general rank.

Another fascinating waypoint is the Julee Cottage Museum in Historic Pensacola Village, which today serves as a Black history museum. The cottage once belonged to Julee Panton, a free woman of color who successfully purchased the freedom of enslaved Blacks.

The Martin Luther King Plaza is anchored by a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., while in Pensacola's historic Belmont-DeVilliers neighborhood, murals highlight local African Americans who founded the area. Here’s more information about and addresses for Pensacola’s African American Heritage Trail.

African-American History in St. Augustine's Lincolnville Neighborhood

Established by newly freed slaves following the Civil War, the Lincolnville Historic District emerged as a crucial hub for the Civil Rights movement. Notably, on June 9, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent leader in the movement, was arrested in St. Augustine during a demonstration advocating for human rights. Accompanying him was Rev. Andrew Young, who organized a night march from Lincolnville to the Plaza de la Constitucion, encountering fierce resistance along the way. Visitors can trace his courageous path following the brass footsteps at the Plaza’s Andrew Young Crossing. The Plaza also encompasses the bronze Foot Soldiers Memorial, built in remembrance of those who protested peacefully during the turbulent 1960s.

The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center, housed in what was once the area’s first public Black high school, preserves and promotes African American history through art, educational programs, lectures, live performances, oral histories, and immersive exhibits. You can also experience the poignant chapters that tell the stories of some of the Black Americans and events that changed history in St. Augustine through virtual tours. For instance, Frank Butler, a resident of Lincolnville, was vital in ensuring that Black citizens had a place where they could enjoy the beach.

A self-guided tour of the ACCORD Freedom Trail, with 31 historic markers, reveals various sites that played a significant role in the Civil Rights movement in St. Augustine.

3 ‘Conch Towns’ Where Florida’s Bahamian Culture Thrives

From Goombay festivals to junkanoo bands, Bahamian culture thrives in Florida, where the islanders have had a presence for centuries. Favorites include:

Coconut Grove, Miami

The majority of Bahamians in Florida – about 21,000 in total –live in and around Miami, especially the city's Coconut Grove neighborhood. When the first Black residents of South Florida arrived in the 1880s from the Bahamas to work at the Peacock Inn on Biscayne Bay, they established the Village West neighborhood in the Grove. The neighborhood thrived in the early 1900s with Black-owned businesses and single-family homes. Bahamian landmarks in the West Grove include the Mariah Brown House, 3298 Charles Ave., built from Florida pine by a Bahamian family in 1897; and also the historic Charlotte Jane Memorial Park Cemetery, 3575 S. Douglas Rd., where Bahamian settlers have been buried since the early 1900s. Its above-ground tombs reportedly inspired Michael Jackson’s song, “Thriller.”

Bahama Village, Key West

Follow the aroma of conch, peas and rice to the Bahama Village, a sprawling, 16-block neighborhood in Old Town marked by a colorful arched gate entrance on Petronia Street. Quaint homes lining the streets of this conch town are painted in shades of blues, turquoises, purples, yellows, and reds, with tiny yards that often feature nautical accessories, whimsical paintings and funky yard art. A flea market beckons with fanciful kiosks and shops.

Once marginalized, today the neighborhood hosts some of the island's popular restaurants. Among them is a favorite breakfast spot, Blue Heaven. Chickens and cats roam the al fresco, wood-deck dining space behind the shuttered blue building, which occupies the same spot where author and one-time Key West resident Ernest Hemingway used to referee boxing matches.

Tarpon Springs

This city of 24,000 on Florida's west coast shares a historical connection to the Greek sponge trade with Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. The most experienced sponge divers in the world, from Kalymnos, Greece, began arriving in the Bahamas around 1887. Some 18 years later, Greek sponge divers were recruited to Tarpon Springs, which has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any U.S. city.

Today, residents in both Tarpon Springs and Nassau are tied through the business of sponges, as well as marriage, family and culture. The Tarpon Springs Cultural Center often explores this link with arts events, lectures and workshops.

Conch shells used as grave markers at Rose Cemetery are signs of Bahamian cultural influences. With a reputation as one of the most haunted cemeteries on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the five-acre site is the largest intact, segregated cemetery in Pinellas County, and dates back to 1904.

Community of Royal

9060 County Road 231, Wildwood, FL 34785 | (352) 748-0260

Established in 1865, the village of Royal was initially called Picketsville, a nod to the white picket fences surrounding its 40-acre homesteads. It was established by former slaves from the Old Green Plantation along the Withlacoochee River.

Royal stands as one of Florida's oldest African American communities, where the people were able to preserve, keep, and pass down the land through generations. Visitors are invited to explore the rich heritage of the area through the '40 Acres & A Mule Experience' at the Alonzo A. Young, Sr. Enrichment & Historical Center, presented by Young Performing Artists (YPAs), Inc.

Explore Florida’s Black Heritage Trail

In May 2007, VISIT FLORIDA, the Florida Department of State, and the Florida African American Heritage Preservation Network collaborated to unveil the third iteration of the Florida Black Heritage Trail. Spanning 64 vibrant pages, it showcases significant African-American landmarks from Pensacola to Key West. Similar to its predecessors, this edition offers profiles and biographical narratives of notable African-American figures in Florida. Here’s where you can Read the Florida Black Heritage Trail online and here’s where you can Download the Florida Black Heritage Trail (pdf, 6.6 MB).

Guide to African-American Heritage Landmarks and Historic Sites in Florida

To discover to historical sites and African American Heritage Trail locations in every corner of Florida, check out these offerings, grouped by county. While some of these sites can be visited, others are private and not open to the public.