Eatonville, Florida

Eatonville is a town located in Orange County, Florida, six miles north of Orlando. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 2,432. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 2,387 . It was one of the first all-black towns to be formed after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and, on August 15, 1887, was the first such town to be incorporated. Zora Neale Hurston grew up there. Every winter, Eatonville stages its annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities and the Zora Neal Hurston Library (note unusual spelling) opened in January 2004. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan07.html, http://www.flausa.com/interests/article.php/articleId=22915/section=historyculture/superSection=Interests/page=5,

Related Topics:
Orange County, Florida - Orlando - 2000 - 2004 - U.S. Census Bureau - Emancipation Proclamation - August 15 - 1887 - Zora Neale Hurston

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http://www.townofeatonville.org/history_pg2.html

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Eatonville was also the hometown of former professional football player David Deacon Jones. Artist Jules Andre Smith did a series of paintings depicting life in Eatonville during the 1930s and 1940s. Twelve of these works are at the Maitland Art Center in Eatonville. http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2055/Eatonville_Florida_a_FUBU_Black_town

Related Topics:
David Deacon Jones - Jules Andre Smith - 1930s - 1940s

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While sources seem to disagree on the exact date and even the year of the town's incorporation, the town's own official site http://www.townofeatonville.org/history_pg2.html provides a detailed account of the process and the dates. According to that official source, the town is named after Josiah E. Eaton, one of a small group of white landowners who were willing to sell sufficient land to African Americans to create a large enough tract of land to incorporate a black town.

Related Topics:
Josiah E. Eaton - African American

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