When the self-guided Black Cultural Heritage Trail initiative began earlier this year in Palm Beach County, it wasn’t just about placing plaques or naming streets — leaders told WLRN it was about lifting up stories long overlooked, often left in the footnotes of history.
The tour and map helps reimagine how locals and visitors see Palm Beach County today.
As Juneteenth approaches, this first-of-its-kind interactive tour highlights the deep-rooted impact and presence of the multi-ethnic Black communities across eight cities, spanning the northern, central, western, and southern regions of the county.
Charlene Farrington, Executive Director of the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray Beach, helped spearhead the project alongside several multicultural organizations.
“ Now is the time for us to share the personal stories that are not written down... that are real of the experiences people had here in Palm Beach County,” Farrington told WLRN. “And share them in ways that people who come to visit, people who are interested in living here, people who have lived here their whole lives in a way for them to really get a good understanding of the impacts that Black people have made to South Florida, specifically to Palm Beach County.”
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The tour spotlights stories such as the impact of education in the Glades area or the infamous 1928 Okeechobee hurricane that devastated Black communities near Lake Okeechobee and Riviera Beach — a story Farrington knows all too well, as her family was directly involved. The tour includes a burial ground in West Palm Beach on Tamarind Ave & 25th St.
Additional sites and landmarks include areas in the northern part of the county, such as the Loxahatchee River Battlefield Park, which marks the last major battle of the Second Seminole War, a key to Black Seminole history.
In the central region, Roosevelt Junior-Senior High replaced the county’s first Black high school in 1950. In the west, St. John Baptist Church was founded in 1927 and relocated after a 1930s hurricane.
Alexandra Alfred, Associate Vice President of Community Engagement & Advancement at the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County, told WLRN the trail is a timely and powerful reminder that spotlighting historic Black contributions in places like Pearl City, the historic, self-sufficient Black neighborhood in Boca Raton, opens portals to layered histories of resilience, unity, and "cultural richness."
“The Cultural Council wants to make sure that we include all communities in the work that we do. And so this trail is doing just that,” Alfred told WLRN. “"When we look at the huge impact that Black people in Palm Beach County have had, the historical impact, we feel like it's important to stand with these communities and amplify their voices,” she added.
The interactive project took shape through a collaboration with the Palm Beach County Historical Society, Cultural Council, local historical societies, and groups like the African-American Research Library and Center.
Brian Knowles, educator and founder of Power Builders Curriculum and Pedagogies, an education consultancy firm, said the tour guide goes through “the post slavery era to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond,” highlighting contributions from the Black community that “have been instrumental in the region’s social, cultural, and economic development,” he said in a statement.
Farrington emphasized the urgency to gather oral histories from elders because the heritage trail, which features new digital features like QR codes and audio guides, is "just getting started" — new stops and stories are added regularly.
“We are still identifying but we started with what we knew. We started with those sites and entities and organizations that have already been established and recognized as. Black history sites,” Farrington noted.
“And from there we started reaching out to people in the community and we're still doing this and asking them what site around the county is important to you and why.”
