Jamestown Historic Marker

Jamestown Historic Marker

Seminole County Historic Marker

Oviedo (Fla.)

African Americans--Florida

Schools

Education--Florida

Segregation--Florida

Elementary schools--United States

Seminole County Historic Marker for the Jamestown neighborhood. The marker stands outside the Historic Oviedo Colored Schools Museum, previously St. James AME Church, located at 2170 James Drive in Oviedo, Florida. The marker reads, "The name 'Jamestown' is a tribute to Benjamin and Esther James. The James' homesteaded about 1900 on 160 acres in the area known as 'The Woods' on the northern edge of the settlement of Gabriella. Mr. Ben James built a home and farm on some of his acreage in an area called 'The Woods.' The photograph was taken during a groundbreaking ceremony for the museum on February 13, 2023.

After the hurricane of 1926, in the Miami area, where four hundred people died, Mr. Ben James sold acre lots to some of the new settlers that moved into this area. 'The Woods' had no real name so the residents began calling it 'Jamestown,' after Mr. Ben James.

The first lots were sold to Bob and Flossie Wells, George and Nettie Davis, Morris J. and Margaret Williams. Other early settlers were: The Nails, Olivers, Perrys, Bryants, Evans, Brannons, Walkers, Ryans, and many more families in years to come. (Continued on other side)

(Continued from other side) Rock Hill Missionary Baptist Church was the first church built in Jamestown. The church was shared by both Baptist and Methodist members, who alternated Sundays for church services, and it was a school for the children during the week.

Mrs. Ethel Burney was the principal and teacher for the students in 1930. Ben James built St. James A.M.E. Methodist Church, named for him and his family in 1938. The school then moved to the St. James Church. Mrs. Louise Williams was the teacher until 1951-51, when the school was consolidated with Jackson Heights School in Oviedo.

Ben James placed a corner stone on the front of the Church, which says: 7-30-38, St. James A.M.E., BEN JAMES &

FAMILY, REV. J.H. HOLLINS, PASTOR, REV. A.P. POSTELL, P.E.br>

The 'JAMESTOWN' community believes that they are blessed to have had ancestors who instilled in them, The Golden Rule."

March 10, 2020. located at 2170 James Drive

In 2000, Gloria Godwin and Gracia Muller Miller began talking about a reunion for the Jackson Heights Elementary School, a colored school in Oviedo during segregation. Reunion Historian, Judith Smith, began to look for artifacts from that era and struggled to locate any pictures or other information. She put the word out amongst the former students, asking to borrow photographs or other materials related to the colored school. Immediately, items began to pour in, and the result was a book entitled: “A Written and Pictorial History of the Oviedo Area Colored Schools 1890-1967, Oviedo Elementary, Jackson Heights Elementary, Geneva, Wagner, Kolokee (Snowhill), Gabriella (Jamestown).” From there, the mission was born.

Cravero, Geoffrey

1 original color photograph: RICHES, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.

2023-02-13

2023-02-13

Historic Oviedo Colored Schools Museum Collection, Oviedo Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES.

image/jpg

5.95 MB

1 color photograph

eng

Still Image

Historic Oviedo Colored Schools Museum, Oviedo, Florida

Item Creation

History Teacher

Originally created by Geoffrey Cravero and published by RICHES.

RICHES

Cravero, Geoffrey

RICHES

Robison Jim. Around Oviedo. Charleston South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. 2012. Accessed November 4, 2022.

"1878 -1913 Black Schools in Seminole County." Parks and Preservation, Seminole County Government.” Accessed November 4, 2022.

The World Outside Reunion. “A Written and Pictorial History of the Oviedo Area Colored Schools, 1890-1967.” RICHES of Central Florida accessed November 4, 2022, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/5258.