Family Heritage House Museum

A resource for the study of African American achievements, this extensive black history library of books, newspaper clippings, magazines, photographs and audio cassettes represents over 50 years in the cultural and economic life of African Americans.

Information provided by Florida ...

Williams Academy Black History Museum

The first Williams Academy, built in 1913, was a two-story building located between Anderson Avenue and Lemon Street. It was the site of the first government-funded, black school in Fort Myers. When the second floor was destroyed by a fire, ...

Paul Laurence Dunbar School

Completed in 1927, the Dunbar School served as the colored high school for the predominately black Dunbar community and surrounding area. Prior to September 1925, educational opportunities for African Americans were limited to grades one through six. The masonry vernacular ...

Mount Olive African Methodist Episcopal Church

One of the oldest churches in the Dunbar community, Mount Olive's congregation dates to 1895. Church services were held for many years at several locations, including the Lee County Courthouse, where the congregation was originally organized. The church was built ...

Centennial Park

The Civil War's 2nd Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops monument is dedicated to the black Union soldiers who defended a federal post in Fort Myers against the Confederates in 1865. A single black soldier standing before a wall with a ...

Rosemary Cemetery

Restored marble headstones and a historical marker at the intersection of Pine Ridge Road and the Tamiami Trail identify Rosemary Cemetery, Naples' primary burial ground until 1947. The cemetery was platted in 1934 to re-inter the remains of the first ...

Naples Railroad Depot

Naples' first railroad passenger station, the Naples Depot was built in 1927 by the Seaboard Air Line Railway. This historic downtown landmark serves today as a branch of the Collier County Museum and is being restored to its 1920s appearance. ...

Macedonia Baptist Church

The oldest African American church in Naples, this church was organized in 1929, and relocated to its present site in 1952. The new, Gothic-style church building was dedicated in 1954, the annex was built in 1973, and the church was ...

St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church

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, ...

Punta Gorda Railroad Depot and Museum

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 ...