In 1957 Zora Neale Hurston moved to Fort Pierce, and was offered a small two-bedroom house, rent free, by Dr. C.C. Benton, a family friend from her Eatonville childhood. Dr. Benton, a respected physician, had worked to establish the School Court community. He sold land for a new black high school, built duplexes on the south side in 1950, and individual houses in 1957.

School Court was the first attempt by a private enterprise to provide affordable, safe housing for the community. This house was Hurston's home from 1957 until her death in 1960. During this period she wrote for the Fort Pierce Chronicle, a black weekly, and worked on her manuscript, Herod the Great. Contemporaries recall her dog Sport, a back bedroom full of papers, books and a typewriter, a garden with beans, peas, onions, and collards and a flower yard with roses, zinnias and hibiscus.

Information provided by Florida Department of State.

Photo courtesy of Sebas Torrente.