Zora’s eatonville today

1. Zora’seatonville today Photographs by Mary Louise Wells

2. Photographer’s Note I tried to capture a flavor for the Eatonville that exists today. Many of the buildings that Hurston describes in Their Eyes Were Watching God have been lost to fire, neglect, and time. What remains is a vibrant and proud community that still bears traces of its historic and rural past while embracing the change that all Floridians have had to endure over the past century.

3. Eatonville, Florida Eatonville’s seal proclaims it to be “The Town that Freedom Built.” The town is named for Union Army Captain Josiah Eaton, a Maitland resident, who sold the African-American founders of Eatonville the land on which the town was built in 1863. Hurston called Eatonville “a city of five lakes, three croquet courts, three hundred brown skins, three hundred good swimmers, plenty guavas, two schools, and no jailhouse.”

4. Eatonville Town Hall Eatonville was founded by African-Americans after the Emancipation Proclamation and was officially incorporated in 1887, the first such town in the United States. The town’s motto is “Progress Through Understanding.”

5. Eatonville Branch Library This branch of the Orange County Library System is located across the street from the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts, in what is now called Zora Neale Hurston Square. This library is a dedicated children’s library serving children through 6th grade.

6. St. Lawrence African Methodist Episcopal Church St. Lawrence AME was founded in 1881 as the first African-American church in the area, and is Eatonville’s oldest church.

7. Taylor House, the oldest building in town This is the original St. Lawrence AME church building, located across Kennedy Boulevard from the current church. After the new church was built, this building served as a library and a private home. It is now awaiting restoration.

8. The Moseley House The Moseley House, c. 1888, is a Florida Historic Site. Home of Tillie Moseley, niece of Mayor Joe Clark and Zora Neale Hurston’s best friend, this house is typical of Eatonville homes built in the late 1800s.

9. KOHA (Keeping Our History Alive) This building was the original site of Club Eaton, a popular night spot in the 1940s and 1950s. Club Eaton hosted such acts as Duke Ellington, Sam Cooke, the Drifters, Aretha Franklin, and Tina Turner. It is still a popular nightclub.

10. KOHA Historical Mural

11. Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church Hurston’s father served as the pastor of this church after the family moved to Eatonville and before he was elected mayor. This building is located across the street from the church where the Hurstons worshiped, which was converted into a private home.

12. Eatonville Post Office Eatonville shares a ZIP code with Maitland. Catherine Clark Alexander was a longtime postmistress in Eatonville.

13. Hungerford High School Hungerford Vocational High School was founded in 1987 by Prof. and Mrs. Russell Calhoun. Over the next century, the school served African-Americans in the Eatonville, Maitland, and Winter Park communities until integration opened its doors in 1970. Now closed, it is the alma mater of football legend David “Deacon” Jones.

14. Eatonville Memory Gardens This cemetery is located along the border with Maitland; many residents for whom Eatonville’s streets have been named are buried here.

15. The Lakes You can’t go far in Central Florida without finding a lake, which explains why most of us swim very well, love fishing, and have sense enough to stay away from reedy shorelines at dusk during gator mating season.

16. Lake Eulalia A typical “sinkhole lake,” Lake Eulalia is on the border between Eatonville and Maitland.

17. Thurston Cottage Minnesota businessman Cyrus Thurston owned 160 acres of land and groves abutting Eatonville. He built this home on the shore of Lake Eulalia in 1885. It is now operated as Thurston House Bed and Breakfast.

18. Lake Catherine Surrounded by homes, Lake Catherine nestles next to Lake Eulalia and is just across the Maitland line from Eatonville. In Hurston’s time, orange trees that survived the Great Freeze of 1894-95 would have been planted all the way to the water.

19. Sabal Palm The Sabal Palm (or Palmetto) is the state tree of Florida. These trees can be harvested and eaten. You know the result as heart of palm or, more commonly in rural Florida, as “swamp cabbage.” This palm is planted on the shore of Lake Catherine.

20. Lake Shadow Lake Shadow is on the western edge of Eatonville. This field sits between an office building and the lake. As you can see, condos have been built on the other shore, which is part of the City of Maitland.

21. Goldenrain Tree These goldenrain trees are growing in the field next to Lake Shadow. No cows today, but there is a small herd of Angus that can be spotted here on occasion—probably so the owner can keep an agricultural tax exemption on the land.

22. Lake Hungerford Located on the west side of Eatonville, Lake Hungerford is surrounded by residences and office parks. Before it was torn down in 2001, the famous “Rainbow Club” occupied the now-empty field stretching between Kennedy Boulevard and Lake Hungerford.

23. Lake Sybelia “ ‘Where’s yo’ fishin’ poles? Less go set on de lake.’…It was so crazy digging worms by lamp light and setting out for Lake Sabelia after midnight that she felt like a child breaking rules. That’s what made Janie like it.” Their Eyes Were Watching God, Chapter 11

24. The Neighbors Located right next door, the histories of Maitland and Eatonville are as entwined as their shared boundaries and shorelines.

25. Audubon Center for Birds of Prey The Audubon Center, located on the Eatonville side of Lake Sybelia, is the largest raptor rehabilitation center in the Southeast. Native Florida birds treated here include ospreys (which love to build nests on telephone poles), owls, hawks, falcons, and eagles.

26. Maitland Art Center Sculptor André Smith founded the artists’ colony he called the “Research Studio” on the shore of Lake Sybelia in 1937. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the art center contains gallery space, studios, courtyards, and a chapel.

27. Maitland Art Center Museum The Maitland Art Center Museum houses an impressive small collection of André Smith’s art and that of other Florida artists.

28. Maitland Art Center Chapel This elaborate cross was sculpted by André Smith himself. Mayan and Incan motifs can be found throughout the Art Center site and have been adopted into the City of Maitland’s official seal.

29. Maitland Art Center Courtyard This courtyard is a popular place for sketching, meditating, and outdoor weddings in the spring and fall. Summer temperatures hover in the high 90s, and Central Floridians can set their watches by our daily late-afternoon thunderstorms.

30. Waterhouse Museum This example of a middle-class home of the era was built in 1884 by Maitland resident William H. Waterhouse. Located on Lake Lily in Maitland, it has been restored and furnished to appear as it would have when built.

31. Ibis This flock of ibis were feeding along the shore of Lake Lily. Ibis use their sharp, curved beaks to pull nematodes and other bugs from the ground.

32. Oak Hammock, Maitland/Eatonville Border This is a rare tract of undeveloped land. Primary trees in the oak hammock include live and water oaks, pines, and various palms. The underbrush you see is primarily saw palmetto, which grows everywhere.