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Community Description
Short Description: Eatonville is located a few miles north of Orlando via I-4. Exit at Lee Road, turn right and follow it to Orlando Avenue, then left to another left at Kennedy Boulevard, the town's main street. Artist Jules Andre Smith did a series of paintings depicting life in Eatonville during the 1930s-1940s.
Eatonville is a significant community for African-American history in Florida. The oldest surviving incorporated black municipality of the more than one hundred black towns founded between 1865 and 1900, fewer than twelve remain today.
Following the Civil War, "free" Africans settling in the area worked primarily as farm hands clearing land. J.E. Clark and Allen Rickett, came to Florida to establish an independent black community. They found the community of Maitland more tolerant than most. Maitland itself was founded by three Caucasian veterans of the Union army, one of whom was Captain Josiah Eaton. The townsite was purchased from Eaton in 1887 and named in his honor. Two years after the town's inception, the Eatonville Speaker ran the following headline: "Colored People of the United States: Solve the Great Race Problem by Securing a Home in Eatonville, Florida, a Negro City Governed by Negroes."
Each January, Eatonville hosts the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities as the home of folklorist, anthropologist and Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston. Zora was important in the Harlem Renaissance that included friends like Langston Hughes, Wallace Thurman and Jessie Fauset. Zora is probably best known as the author of THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD (1937). In addition to Zora Neale Hurston, other notable residents of Eatonville include Hall of Fame football player, Deacon Jones and Dr. Benjamin Perry, president of Florida A&M University.
Today, over 200 acres in Eatonville has become a spectacular downtown center supported by an office park, entertainment complex, cultural center and library.
Population: 2,432
Year of Incorporation: 1887
Location: Central Florida
Median Home Price: $112,530
Tax Rate:: 6.9040
Taxes Levied (per capita): $383.75
Total Area: 1.02 square miles
City Hall: Town of Eatonville
307 East Kennedy Blvd, PO Box 2163
Eatonville, FL 32751
407.623.1313; 407.623.1319 Fax
Email Contact
Chamber of Commerce: Maitland Area Chamber
110 N Maitland Ave, Maitland FL 32751-5516
407.644.0741; 407.539.2529 Fax Email Contact
Library: Zora Neal Hurston Library
200 E Kennedy Blvd, Eatonville, FL 32751 407.835.7323
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Eatonville Inquiry:
| Q. | Which Orlando vicinity (example: Kissimmee to the south of Orlando) offers the most economical homes or apartments for buying? | | A. | While most of Orlando has increased in valuation, in many cases up to 35 percent in some areas there are still a few areas which have not appreciated at the same rate as others. You might like to look at areas such as: Eatonville, Pine Hills, Oak Ridge, Fairview Shores, Lockhart, Azalea Park and Pine Castle. All communities are in Orange County, but only Eatonville is an incorporated city.
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