Eatonville Eatonville, Florida is a small community of great significance to African-American history and culture. Of the more than one hundred black towns founded between 1865 and 1900, fewer than twelve remain today. Eatonville is the oldest. Eatonville is located in Orange County, Florida, six miles north of Orlando. It was one of the first all-black towns to be formed after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. It was the first such town to be incorporated. Eatonville, was named for Captain Josiah Eaton of Maitland. Reconstruction after the Civil War was a time of joy and for building a better way of living for some blacks. At first, newly freed blacks began to establish homes and businesses in white communities. By the 1800s, tensions from this new coexistence gave rise to segregation, the separation of blacks to a particular area in the community. **Initially, establishing this township did not at first appear promising. "The white land owners were unable or unwilling to sell them any tract large enough for that purpose." (Eatonville Historic District) In 1883, support and guidance for the new town came from Isaac Vanderpool; Josiah C. Eaton, who sold land to Clark; and Lewis Lawrence who bought an extra 22 acres from Josiah E. Eaton and gave 12 acres to Clark and 10 acres to the Trustees of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. On August 15, 1887, 27 registered voters, all black men, met in a building they call Town Hall and voted unanimously to incorporate. Eatonville was born and history was made. **The signers of the "Incorporation papers of the Town of Eatonville in Orange County, Florida, August 15, 1887" were: Simon Bevin, A.J. Bird, C.H. Boger, Louis Brazell, J.B. Brazell, Matthew B. Brazell, Richard Butler, Smart Bynum, F. Caraway, J.E. Clark, Thomas Clemmon, David Gelder, E.L. Horn, J.R. Johnson, Anderson Lawson, Joseph Lindsay, T.J. Pender, George Oats, L. Sewall, E.J. Shines, C.S. Sizemore, Elloy Smith, John Suman, J.T. Taylor, W. T. Thomas, Joseph Walker, J.N. Watson, Richard Weston, and Ishmael Williams. (Note: Of the 29 men listed, only 27 actually signed the incorporation papers. Rather than endure the indignities of restriction, some blacks established race colonies, communities of their own. These colonies often resembled extended families. They were centered on education and religion. Eatonville was a community founded in this tradition. Eatonville’s cultural importance was secured when the town was immortalized in the works of its renowned native daughter, Zora Neale Hurston. Her words captured forever the culture of the community and painted an image of an environment typical of the rural southern working-class African-American. Today the town continues to celebrate its connection with Hurston through the annual arts and humanities events at the Zora Neale Hurston Festival. Eatonville, is a town incorporated by African-American people, inhabited by African-American people and the officers of the town are African-American people. [Florida Index] Some Facts and Photos [1] [2] [ 3] [ 4] [Currency] [Lighthouses] [Art Deco- South Beach] [Kingsley Plantation] [Florida Plantations] [Ante Bellum Plantations] [Native Floridians] [James Weldon Johnson] [Mary Mc Leod Bethune] [The Knotts] [Zora Neale Hurston] [John Ringling] [Dr. John Gorrie] [George Proctor] Some information is from: Exploring Florida ** From:The Official Eatonville Website Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I have sincerely and honestly tried to follow all guidelines, terms of use and copyright notices for using information from the above sources and have given complete titles, web site addresses, credit, etc. to the best of my abilities. I take no credit for any of the information and have no personal knowledge of the events and I am not representing such. If the information I have provided concerning where and how the information was obtained is not properly done or credited, it is in no way intentional.