Union Academy

In 1865 the Freedmen Bureau established the Union Academy to educate blacks. Supported by northern friends, the George Peabody Fund, and the Alachua County Board of Public Instruction, black carpenters built the frame building, the second largest school constructed by ...

St. Augustine Day Care

Erected between 1875 and 1889 as an Episcopal mission church for the black community in Gainesville, this building served as a parochial school after moving to its present site in 1895.

It became a day care center in 1957 and ...

Smathers Library

This Library has an extensive collection of documents, photographs and other material related to African American history and culture.

Information provided by Florida Department of State.

Photo courtesy of www.ppd.ufl.edu/historiccampuswebsite

Shady Grove Primitive Baptist Church

One of the oldest congregations in Gainesville, the Shady Grove Primitive Baptist church stands on land deeded to the elders of the church in 1900.

The present coquina block church was built in the Porters neighborhood in the 1930s.

Porters ...

Pleasant Street Historic District

Bounded by Main Street, NW 8th Avenue, NW 2nd Avenue and NW 6th Street (Depot Avenue).

The oldest and largest continuously inhabited black residential area in Gainesville, this district is significant as the religious and social center for black entertainment, ...

Mount Pleasant African Methodist Episcopal Church

Organized in 1867, the first church building was a wood-frame structure constructed on a site purchased from Charles Brush. That building was replaced by a brick structure in 1887 which was destroyed by fire in 1903.

The present building, a ...

The Jesse Aaron House

Jesse Aaron (1887-1979), was part Seminole and African American and began carving wood when he was in his eighties.

He was a noted folk artist whose cypress and cedar carvings were widely sought by collectors and museums. Aaron carved on ...

Institute of Black Culture

Created in 1971 at the University of Florida, the Institute is home to many historical artifacts and resources related to the African and African American students who have enrolled at the school.

Information provided by Florida Department of State.

Haile House at Kanapaha Plantation

South Carolina's Thomas and Serena Haile moved to Florida in the 1850s. Members of the Haile-Chestnut clan purchased land in the Kanapaha area of Alachua County. The 1860 census indicates that Thomas Haile owned 66 slaves.

The Haile house included ...

Friendship Baptist Church

Founded in 1892 at 4th Avenue and 6th Street, the church moved to its permanent home here in January of 1897. The first minister was Rev. J. S. Kelsey, who served the church from 1897-1901. The present building was completed ...