The all-Black town of Eatonville was established in 1887—two decades after the Civil War ended—by former slaves.
Located six miles north of Orlando, the town was first named Maitland and got its start when former slave, Joseph C. Clarke, along with northern philanthropist Lewis Lawrence, bought over a hundred acres of land from Josiah Eaton, one of the few white landowners willing to sell to Blacks.
They then parceled the acres to Black families from the surrounding area of central Florida. The town was officially incorporated in 1887 when 27 registered black voters indicated their intention to create a municipality.
They named the town in honor of Josiah Eaton, who eventually also served as its mayor. The new town’s citizens, however, chose Columbus H. Boger as its first mayor to head an entirely black-staffed government.
The life of Eatonville, like other all-Black towns and the black sections of mostly white communities, revolved around its church and its school. The St. Lawrence African Methodist Episcopal Church, then simply called the Methodist Church, was the first religious institution in the city.
The church received the first ten acres of land purchased by Clarke and Lawrence and upon its founding in 1881, predating the town, it became the first African American church in the area. St. Lawrence A.M.E. still stands in Eatonville and continues to serve the community to this day.
Along with St. Lawrence A.M.E., the town’s first post-primary school, the Hungerford Normal and Industrial School, was central to the town’s culture. The school, which was founded by Professor and Mrs. Russell C. Calhoun in 1889, sat on land that was donated in the memory of Dr. Robert Hungerford, a white doctor who had died while caring for sick African-Americans.
Aside from Zora Neale Hurston, other notable residents include Deacon Jones, football defensive end; Norm Lewis, actor and baritone singer; and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, football safety.
Before the days of racial integration, Club Eaton was a popular stop on the Chitlin’ Circuit, hosting performers like B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and James Brown.
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