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Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Historic Freemanville honored
By Erica L. Anderson | News-Journal Staff Writer
Maxine Cullen watched with tears of joy as the city honored the black people who pioneered the area more than a century ago.
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Not just historic |
Mayor Dorothy Hukill unveiled the Freemanville Settlement Historic Marker on Tuesday, commemorating the freed slaves who settled in the Port Orange area shortly after the Civil War.
Cullen, a descendant of former slaves, said the historical area where she grew up is now deserted. However, she is proud the marker will stand forever in memory of Freemanville.
The marker, located on the east side of U.S. Highway 1 near the Riverside Pavilion at 3431 Ridgewood Ave, is the city's first state historic marker.
Erecting the marker at this time coincides with Black History Month and the city's 135-year anniversary celebration last year, Hukill said.
"I'm very excited for the opportunity to commemorate the legacy of some of Florida's trailblazers," Hukill added. "I feel this recognition is long past due."
The U.S. government gave land to freedmen under the Homestead Act of 1866. More than 1,000 freed slaves settled in the Port Orange area of Freemanville, which was founded in 1867 by Dr. John Milton Hawks, a physician and abolitionist.
Freedmen moved to Port Orange for better lives; instead they struggled for survival on the settlement where many had moved to work for the Florida Land & Lumber Co.
Henry Tolliver, a prosperous freedman, established a homestead that became the nucleus of Freemanville in 1870. By the 1920s, the area included homes on both sides of U.S. 1 and a school.
Today, only two structures remain from Freemanville, a historical house and Mount Moriah Baptist Church, which was built in 1911.
James Barker, a freedman descendant who lived in Freemanville from 1946-1955, said the marker is beautiful.
"I'm glad they recognized us," he said. "I never in my wildest dreams imagined they would do this."
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