Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
A portion of this road was formerly called Sweet St., after the 1881 mayor Charles D. Sweet. Other portions were named Wallace, Poyntz and Beauclaire. They were officially combined to make Colonial Dr. in 1912. It was first clayed in 1915.
This 27-unit apartment building designed by Richard Boone Rogers opened on November 1, 1937. On May 8, 1955, the 24-room Gifford Arms Motor Lodge opened as an addition. The name was later changed to the Howard Vernon Motel.
Lake Dot was so named because of its roundness. it was originally referred to as the "mud hole with the big alligator".
In 1923, Max Roseman opened a store here, to go along with the one he already ran at the corner of Orange Ave. and Alexander Pl.
An old wooden church stood here for use by several congregations. In 1928, it was purchased by the First Church of God Orlando. That congregation left in the late 1950s and the building, then the oldest church building standing in Orlando, was torn down in December of 1986.
Beginning as a polo field, this formerly was the site of the exposition and fairgrounds, hosting sports and fair activities since the 1890s.
The first airplane flights in Orlando took place here in 1910 when a $1,500 prize was offered to any flier who could stay in the air for five minutes. Two crashed, and Lincoln Beasley won the prize and flew every day of the fair.
In 1913, a government laboratory was opened at the northwest corner of the fairgrounds. In it, Dr. Samuel Hood refined the first camphor gum in Florida. Orlando baseball teams played here in the 1920s.
On the south side of Livingston St. is the Orlando Expo Center, redeveloped in 1982-83 and 1991, and the Marriott Hotel (formerly the Omni Hotel) which opened in 1986. On the north side are the Orlando Tennis Center and the TD Waterhouse Centre, which opened in 1989 for a cost of $85 million.
This was formerly known as the Municipal Auditorium, and was built in 1926 by the Works Progress Administration. Extensive remodeling in 1978, and again in 1991, shifted its character from a general purpose auditorium to a home for musical and theatrical productions.
Air conditioning was installed in July of 1962. In 1975-77, the auditorium was remodeled for $2,360,000, using plans developed by H. Thomas Price and Don R. Duer. It was then renamed after Bob Carr, the mayor when the city first began consideration of it.
Across the street in front of the hotel is a statue created by Donald De Lue entitle Quest Eternal. It shows a leaping nude male figure reaching for the sky and is dedicated to the performing arts.
James M. Wilcox arrived from Philadelphia in 1880, and bought 40 acres of woodland here. He built the West End Hotel, but it burned down in 1887. The land remained vacant for years.
In 1892, the Fair Association was organized and bought 80 acres here for use as fairgrounds. It was later the site of a race track, and is now the home of the TD Waterhouse Centre.
Orlando's slogan, "The City Beautiful", was submitted by Jesse Foster Branch to win a slogan contest in 1908.
This was the National Guard armory built by the W.P.A. in 1935-38 for $80,000 on land donated by the city, and was the headquarters of the army camp set up during the war. It was named in Lt. Col. Robert C. Davis' honor in May of 1941, after he became the first Orlando man to die in World War II when he suffered a fatal heart attack near Jacksonville at Camp Blanding, an area he was turning into a major military base in anticipation of the war.
Later, this building served as a Navy Reserve armory, and then was the home of the Orlando Recreation Department and the Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame.
During World War II, a building at this location was leased by the federal government and operated by the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine for experiments on plants.
This street is named after James B. Parramore, a native Floridian who moved to Orlando in 1881. In 1897, he was elected to the first of his six terms as mayor. He was one of Orlando's most respected men.
Robinson St. is named after Samuel G. Robinson, who moved here from Michigan in 1876. He surveyed cities and railroads, and designed and surveyed Greenwood Cemetery.
In 1886, the Orlando Colored School was established in a frame building at the corner of Garland Ave. and Church St. Its first principal was Dr. Isaiah Sylvester Hankins Sr. In 1895, it was moved to a larger building at this intersection. The school was renamed Johnson Academy to honor Lymus Johnson, who served as its second principal until 1916.
Rev. C.J. Scott founded this church on April 1, 1880, beginning in a brush arbor. The first sanctuary was built on the corner of Robinson St. and Chatham Ave. A second sanctuary was erected in 1910 on the opposite corner of this intersection. The present building was erected in 1962.
This home was built in 1905 by Moses Crooms Sr. and his wife, Daphney, after they moved to Orlando from the northern part of the state. A former slave, he worked in Orlando as a master carpenter.
A home located here was built in 1907 by Gabriel Jones. He had a grocery store in Orlando beginning in 1887. This home has served as a rooming house for guests from Africa and the Caribbean.
This home was built in the early 1920s by black builder James Murrel for Viola Tillinghast Hill, who was the wife of pastor Rev. Hezehiah Hill of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. The house has served as a meeting place for famous people, including educator Mary McLeod Bethune and aviator Bessie Coleman. In the 1940s, the house was used as a sewing school for young women.
The Callahan Neighborhood, bordered by Colonial Dr., Orange Blossom Tr., Central Blvd. and Division Ave., began in 1886 when builder Rev. Andrew Hooper built the first homes in the area. Dr. Jerry B. Callahan, a leading black citizen, was the first black physician to practice at the Orlando General Hospital. Callahan died on February 28, 1947.
This $34,000 building was erected here in 1921-22 and was named Jones High School. The land was donated by the family of L.C. Jones, who had been principal since 1912. The building was designed by Howard M. Reynolds and built by C.C. Hanner. Grades six through ten began in 1921, and the first high school commencement was held in 1931.
In 1952, Jones High School moved to its present location on Rio Grande Ave. and this building became Callahan Elementary School. It closed in 1971, and was sold to the city. In 1984, the front wall was preserved as part of a community center used for meetings, after-school programs, and cultural festivals.
This building opened as the Community Betterment Center for Negroes in 1949. It was constructed at the urging of members of the Mt. Olive AME Church of Orlando, who wanted it as a home for the Youth for Christ organization. This was also the home of the Good Neighbors Home Service Training School in the 1950s.
Nathan Beasley of Georgia came to Orlando in 1865 and settled at this location, which is now the site of Fire Station No. 2. His son, Hiram, served as a bailiff in the courthouse for 37 years.
At this site was the home of Wesley and Amanda Cosby, ex-slaves who moved here from Georgia. They operated a saloon on Church St. just east of the railroad tracks. They also founded an ice delivery business.
In 1924, J.W. Hill and F.A. Chamberlin formed a laundry business. Two years later, they moved it into a new $100,000 building located here.
The Progressive Laundry was established here in 1886. Forty years later, it was sold to E.S. Taylor of Chicago for $100,000.
The West Central School opened here in 1917. It was taken over by the County Welfare Department in 1956, and was razed following a major 1973 fire.
This was the site of a church organized by H.W. Greetham in 1885-1890.
The congregation's first wooden church building was erected in 1872 at this intersection. This brick building was erected in the 1920s, and in 1971 the congregation moved to the corner of Goldwin Ave. and Monte Carlo Tr. This building later housed the Greater Refuge Church of Our Lord.
Pinkie Price was a teacher in the Orlando public schools for 20 years. She also operated Price's School of Sewing and Tailoring in a building at this location.
A black movie theater opened here in 1930. Another had been built near this site in 1923 by William Beardall and Emil Metzinger. Down the street, at the corner of Church St. and Parramore Ave., the Carver Theatre opened in the 1940s.
The Royal Palm Elks Lodge No. 439 (male) and 890 (female) was organized here in 1959.
Located here was a building which housed a clothing store known as Riley's Men's Shop, a dry cleaning establishment and a beauty school. The building and businesses were owned by Z.L. Riley, who built it in 1946. Upstairs was the headquarters of the Negro Chamber of Commerce, with Riley as its president.
John F. Douglass came here from South Carolina in 1880. His son, Joseph, started the Douglass Company and had a furniture store here. It was later the site of the OK Discount Store.
There was a black movie theater operating here during the 1940s.
Since black residents were not allowed in the main library at the corner of Central Blvd. and Rosalind Ave., the city in 1924 opened a branch to the west and named it after Booker T. Washington. It was first housed in the former rectory of St. John's Episcopal Church on Terry Ave. In 1954, it moved into this new building and remained here for the next 30 years.
This congregation was organized in 1899 by Rev. A. Arnett. Its first building was erected in 1903 a block away at the corner of Bryan Ave., and the first pews came from Ocoee, after a race riot in 1920 burned down the black church there. The church here was demolished for new construction and was rebuilt in 1923 by J.W. Burkhartte. The present building was erected in 1980.
This building was owned by Dr. Isaiah Sylvester Hankins Jr. He began practicing medicine in the mid-1920s and continued for over 50 years. His medical office was located in this building.
This was the first black stone church in Orlando. It was founded in 1919 by Rev. J.H. Armstead, and first met in a rough shed. This building was erected in the 1920s. The congregation later moved to another building at the corner of Bruton and Prince Hall Blvds.
This building was renovated in 1993 to be used by the Church of Power, Praise and Deliverance.
Dr. James R. Smith graduated from Northwestern University Medical School, moved to Orlando in 1940 and opened a medical office here. He organized the Orlando Lying In Hospital to provide safe and sanitary surroundings where babies could be delivered. He also organized a day nursery in 1966 and was a founder of the Washington Shores Savings and Loan Association.
These homes were recommended for special recognition on the ground that they were the home of the first black postman in Orlando. Despite some uncertainty of the accuracy of that claim, they were granted historic landmark status in 1989. They were likely built by Max Isen in the early 1920s.
In the 1940s, the casino located here was managed by Marion Price. It was badly damaged by fire, the casino operation moved into the hotel next door, and it was torn down in 1989. On the site now is the former home of Dr. William Monroe Wells.
This was built by Dr. William Monroe Wells, one of Orlando's first black doctors, in 1929 as a hotel to accommodate blacks who visited this city and were excluded from other establishments. It lies just west of Division Ave., thought to have been named to be the dividing line between white and black Orlando.
It its glory Days which extended into the 1940s, it hosted many famous black individuals, including Count Basie, Lucky Millinder, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. Next door to the west stood the South Street Casino, and Dr. Wells' home was moved to the site in 2002. The hotel later deteriorated, became a flophouse, and closed in about 1970.
The building was acquired in 1997 by the Association to Preserve African-American Society, History and Tradition, which began restoration in December of 1998. The Wellsbuilt was restored as a museum dedicated to black history, opening in 2000. The first floor lobby and retail space have been turned into exhibition galleries, and the second floor is now offices. Included in the exhibits are African artifacts, including a large mahogany sculpture from Senegal.
Bob Riddle produced his "Eola Brand" of coffee here during the 1930s. On each label was the skyline of Orlando around Lake Eola. Next door to the west was the Orlando Poultry Co.
George E. Macy of Tennessee came here in 1875 and opened a blacksmith and wagon shop at this location. South St. was opened from here to Orange Ave. in 1883. By 1886, his factory covered 12,640 square feet of floor space and made 16 different sizes of one-horse wagons, fine carriages, buggies and surreys.
Macy St. was named after him, and was destroyed by later highway construction.
George Macy built a two-story house here. In April of 1922, the Kiwanis club bought it for use as the Orlando Day Nursery.
To avoid demolition as a result of the Interstate 4 routing, the home was moved to Irvine St. on the old Boone family homestead.
Charles T. Meiner opened his grocery store here in 1917.
During World War II, this was the site of a club where black soldiers could relax and socialize, as they weren't permitted in the main white USO establishment.
The Hotel Missouri was located there and claimed to have reasonable rates. In 1932, it charged $3.50 a week for s single room, $5.00 for a double.
Next door at 316-318 W. Church St. was the Old Tangerine Hotel, owned by Clara Fuller. It was designated as a local historic landmark in 1978.
A brick office building was erected at this corner in 1922 by Dr. J.B. Callahan. He had his medical office here until he died in 1947. The mather Brothers bought the Wagoner Furniture Store which stood near this corner in 1928 for $45,000, and operated the business as the Mather-Wagoner Co.
This block is now the Church Street Garage, built in 1989.
Several buildings were eliminated when the interstate highway was built. Three Friends Furniture Company was located at 241 W. Church St. in the 1930s. In 1948, G.W. Austin opened his 5 and 10 Cent Store at 225-229. Across the street, where there is now a dirt and concrete embankment, was the Roxy Theatre at 220, popular in the 1950s. In the 1940s, George Carter owned the Thorpe Furniture Store which stood at 221.
In 1919, the curb market was established here by the city. It was moved three years later to the corner of Magnolia Ave. and Central Blvd., and back to this location in 1923.
On Saturdays, it is again an open air market on the south side of what would be the extension of Pine St. through the parking lot.
The police department moved into these new quarters in January of 1972, moving from the old high school building on the southwest corner of Jackson St. and Orange Ave.
The Price-Collins Motors, Inc. auto dealership at 234 was the successor to D. Varner, selling Studebakers. The Service Grocery Company opened at 214 in 1926. The Christian Missionary Alliance Church was built at 203 in 1924.
Parking under the interstate began in November of 1961. It cost five cents to park for 1 1/2 hours.
Harry P. Leu was born in Orlando in 1884. His family then lived on Orange Ave., and later moved to this location. Mid-Florida Lighting later located on the site until it was demolished in 1997.
Located here in 1910 was the Chapman House, a boarding house run by Mina Pugh. In 1925, a factory was built here for the Potter Candy Company run by Clark and Charles Potter. It produced all types of candy under the "Orlando Maid" brand and sold it throughout the state. The company dissolved in 1936.
A large hotel located here closed its operation as a full-service hotel in 1964. It later served as transient lodging and was torn down in 1997.
A hotel opened here in the 1940s. It has since been converted into the Orlando Union Rescue Mission. It was designated as an Orlando Historic Landmark in 2002.
This company was organized in 1926 as a distributor of Oakland autos. It also sold Pontiacs and was the first Orlando dealership to sell the "Chief of the Sixes" model.
The Orlando Post newspaper began publication in the west end of what is now the Badcock building on April 4, 1948. Thomas B. Casey was its editor and it came out every Thursday.
This U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building was built in 1974-76 and later named after Judge George C. Young. In front is the 1978 sculpture Artifact by Geoffrey Naylor.
The north building of this state office complex is named after Zora Neale Hurston, a famous citizen of Eatonville, located north of Orlando. It was constructed in 1977.
In 1905, Samuel J. Sligh of Ocala established his citrus packing house here after freezes wiped out his crops of citrus and tomatoes in Ocala.
A zoo opened here in 1935, and soon closed in 1938. It was small, occupying a plot of only 300 feet by 290 feet. The zoo's birds were relocated to Mead Gardens and the property was used as a plant house.
In 1912, George Barr built a home here in Concord Park, and took an active role in promoting the area for development. That same year, the residents of this neighborhood landscaped the lakeshore, installed benches and built a pavillion seating 50. Barr's home, called "Dot Cottage", was purchased by the Salvation Army in 1973 and was torn down to make room for the present welfare building and $4.3 million highrise apartments.
The Salvation Army's new citadel opened here in 1969. Previously, the organization's headquarters were located at 115 E. Central Blvd., the present site of the Orlando Public Library.
Black Florida, by Kevin M. McCarthy (Hippocrene Books 1995)
Flashbacks: The Story of Central Florida's Past, by Jim Robison and Mark Andrews (The Orlando Sentinel 1995)
Guide to Orlando's Afro American Heritage, (Central Florida Society of Afro American Heritage, Inc. 1991)
History of Orlando, by E.H. Gore (1951)
Orlando: A Centennial History, by Eve Bacon (The Mickler House 1975)
Orlando History in Architecture, (Orlando Historic Preservation Board 1984)
Orlando: The City Beautiful, by Jerrell H. Shofner (Continental Heritage Press 1984)
Click here for a copy of the trail rules.