THE CIVIL WAR BROUGHT AN END TO SLAVERY

AND HUGE CHANGES TO THE LIVES OF AFRICAN AMERICANS.

BY 1882, BLACKS WERE ATTEMPTING TO ESTABLISH

HOMES AND BUSINESS VENTURES IN WHITE AREAS,

OFTEN MEETING GREAT RESISTANCE.

ONE BLACK BUSINESSMAN, JOSEPH E. CLARKE,

PURCHASED ACREAGE BETWEEN ORLANDO AND

MAITLAND AND SOLD LOTS TO BLACK FAMILIES FROM ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST.

HOPE SOON GREW FOR THE INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY

TO ESTABLISH ITSELF AS A TOWN, AND IN 1887,

TWENTY-SEVEN BLACK MEN ASSEMBLED TO VOTE

IN FAVOR OF INCORPORATION.

NAMED EATONVILLE FOR MAITLAND MAYOR JOSIAH EATON,

WHO SOLD THE LAND TO CLARKE,

THIS NATIONAL REGISTER-LISTED TOWN

IS THE OLDEST INCORPORATED BLACK MUNICIPALITY IN OUR NATION.

FAMED WRITER/ANTHROPOLOGIST ZORA NEALE HURSTON

GREW UP IN EATONVILLE.

INSPIRED BY HER COMMUNITY,

SHE BECAME A MAJOR FIGURE IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE.

ALTHOUGH NOW THREATENED BY MODERN DEVELOPMENT,

EATONVILLE IS STILL AN EXAMPLE OF ACHIEVEMENT IN BLACK HISTORY,

CELEBRATING ITS HERITAGE ANNUALLY WITH FESTIVE EVENTS

AND OFFERING A WALKING TOUR OF SITES SIGNIFICANT

TO EATONVILLE’S BLACK HISTORY AND CULTURE.

Courtesy of the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources