A Town of Their Own

by Veda Eddy

In the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, African-Americans in the South sought a future beyond the shadow of slavery. Some blacks in central Florida dreamed of having their own town, where they could chart their own destiny.

In 1887, 27 registered voters, all black men, proudly voted to establish Eatonville on a 112-acre tract of land bought by businessman Joseph C. Clarke from Maitland Mayor Josiah C. Eaton. The town, named in honor of the original owner, became the first incorporated African-American municipality in America.

“There were hundreds of towns populated exclusively by people of African descent that sprang up after the Civil War,” says N.Y. Nathiri, executive director of The Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community (P.E.C.). “We are one of a handful of such towns still in existence.”

Today, Eatonville (pop. 2,432) remains a community populated primarily by African-Americans, some of whom take great pride in the town’s history and cultural heritage.

“It’s one thing to have on your letterhead that you are the oldest black community,” Nathiri says, “but for us it’s a matter of how this community can use that history in an active, relevant-to-today way.”

Adding to the town’s rich cultural history is the fact that Zora Neale Hurston, a celebrated writer, folklorist, and anthropologist of the 1930s and ’40s, called Eatonville home.

Overlooked by academia for years, Hurston regained popularity in the 1970s when Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker proclaimed her literary brilliance. Hurston’s stories, which often used Eatonville as their setting, portray blacks as strong and independent, not victims of poverty or racism, explains Hurston biographer Valerie Boyd. “She grew up hearing stories told on the porch of Joe Clarke’s general store. For her, Eatonville certainly shaped who she became.

“For me and other black women writers, she is a literary forerunner,” Boyd adds. She and as many as 150,000 other visitors travel to Eatonville, 10 miles northeast of downtown Orlando, each January for the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, now in its 15th year. The four-day event not only celebrates Hurston and the legacy of her hometown, but also the many cultural accomplishments and contributions of people of African descent.

“The festival takes over the whole town,” Nathiri says. “People use their driveways and yards for parking, and hundreds of people serve as volunteers.” Activities include educational forums and cultural arts events, plus plenty of food, fun and top-notch entertainment.

“The festival is great because it is really an unusual blend of an academic conference and a rollicking street fair,” says Boyd, who adds, “In a way, the festival sort of saved the town.”

Indeed, in 1987 when Orange County officials announced plans to turn Eatonville’s main street into a five-lane thoroughfare, concerned citizens, fearing the road-widening project would destroy the historic character of the town, formed P.E.C. The organization conceived the idea for the festival, thus proving that a better way for an economic boost was to promote tourism.

Building on the goal of making Eatonville a premier heritage destination, P.E.C. opened the Zora Neale Hurston Museum of Fine Arts, a small gallery showcasing the works of artists of African descent, and established a historic walking trail, one of the first in Florida. In 1998, the town was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We have had visitors come from every place on the planet,” Nathiri says. “They come to Florida to visit Walt Disney World or Universal Studies, and when they realize Zora’s Eatonville is just up the road, they come here.”

“You’ve got a lot of pride in Eatonville,” adds Bob White, a resident for 40 years who volunteers several hours a week putting up new mailboxes to spruce up the town. “There’s a lot of people doing a lot of good things here.”

Veda Eddy is a freelance writer in The Villages, Fla.

first appeared: 1/11/2004