TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Eatonville is not going to be the number one location for the site of a proposed new Florida Museum of Black History.
The group tasked with choosing the location for the proposed museum voted 5-4 in Tallahassee Tuesday to rank St. Augustine as the number one location for the project.
Eatonville came in second place.
The nine task force members deliberated after months of lobbying and debate.
The Town of Eatonville was established back in 1887 and is the oldest Black community in the United States. It’s considered the home of celebrated Harlem Renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston. Its proximity to Orlando, the top tourist destination in the nation, also made Eatonville an attractive choice.
Eatonville recently was listed as one of " target="_blank">America’s most endangered historic places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
St. Augustine, the oldest continuous city in the United States, also has a big place in Florida’s Black history. Nearby Fort Mose, established around 1738, is considered the first legally established free African settlement in North America, which was abandoned when Florida was transferred to the British in 1763.
St. Augustine’s Plaza de la Constitución was originally the site of a slave market and became important during the Civil Rights Movement when activists like Martin Luther King, Jr. led nightly marches around the market, leading to violence with segregationists. King was arrested in June 1964 for trespassing when he and others attempted to eat at a place for “whites only.”
The task force will now work out details like funding for the museum. A recommendation will then go to the Florida Legislature and Gov. DeSantis for final approval.
The task force has to finish by July 1.
You can listen to every episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate in the media player below: