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Local Throwbacks

MOUNT DORA'S SECRET HISTORY

1/9/2016

 
 Mount Dora's cup of charm no doubt runneth over.  However, there's a sad piece of history that made it all possible, yet is seldom talked about.   This tainted sliver of the past isn't immortalized with a plaque or bronze statue at a park and the tragic episode rarely gets a passing paragraph written about it in local history books. 

Many current residents of Mount Dora aren't aware that in the early 1920's, a decade after the city's incorporation, some white residents believed the city could draw wealthy tourists from the northeastern part of the U.S. and implemented the Mount Dora Redevelopment Project.  That was the sugary term for mandating the removal of  African-Americans from the downtown properties they owned and relocating them to East Town, an area that is within what is now referred to as the Northeast Community.    

 African-Americans had resided in the East Town area of Mount Dora since the 1850's.  It was here among the dense trees and lack of plantations that 'free blacks' believed they could live better lives and quietly subsist off the land.  

Reportedly, the black and white communities co-existed peacefully with very little problems.   Later in the 1800's and early 1900's, African-Americans owned properties in other areas of the city, including downtown.  The Mount Dora Redevelopment Project wasn't embraced by downtown's African-American residents, however at that time they had no recourse and the program exposed the black community's vulnerability. 

Still today, some Mount Dora residents haven't heard as much as a whisper about this part of their quaint city's not-so-forgotten history.  

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Bob Dumais
1/11/2016 08:28:43 pm

To ignore the past is to ignore the true bones of the area. We should study and acknowledge the past to insure the future that would be based on equality and tolerance. Yesteryear the inequality was directed towards the black population tomorrow inequality could be based on ethnicity as it has been in recent times. Our heads do not belong in the sand.

Brandon
1/12/2016 05:41:45 am

Lived in Mount Dora since I was eleven and never heard of this. A lot of people never heard of the massacre in Occoe either. What can we do when we're not the ones writing the book, they replace history with HISstory. The meek shall inherit the earth and what's done in the dark will always come to light. God hasn't forgotten.

Danixa
1/12/2016 08:36:23 am

Nothing new white people slaughter a whole race to get this USA. The race is greedy and never worked to get the riches they have today but stole and got them off the sweat and blood of black people. They are not ashamed at all. Lets face it race will always be an issue. Greed will always be an issue. Whites will always steal what they want at any cost!!! But the meek shall inhareit the earth. Of course they want this to stay hidden not that they would compensate. Dirty little things always come to light... I might be called a racist But so what my race has kept quiet long enough it is what it is...

Jaquan
1/12/2016 04:26:53 pm

You sound racist

Kathleen
1/11/2019 07:40:56 pm

I, For one, and deeply ashamed of all of the horrendous things my Caucasian race has done to Native Americans , African-Americans, Mexican Americans, and all the other races we have abused and used so cruelly. Everyone I know feels the same way I do and wishes we could do something to heal your 💕 .
If there is anything that I personally can do to help the situation, please let me know. I may be old age and a bit crippled but I will certainly do what I can.
God bless you and keep you healthy. And, hopefully, happy.
🙋🏻


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    • Fall Festivals & Halloween Events
    • Best Local Pumpkin Patches
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  • The Best of....
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    • Best of Mount Dora Take-out
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    • City Scenes
    • Colorful Cottages of Mount Dora
    • Holiday Lights
    • Views from Above
    • Palm Island Boardwalk
    • July 4th Americana
    • Vintage Photos
    • Donnelly House
    • Sydonie Mansion
    • The Howey Mansion
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  • Mobile App
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