ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando has a Central Avenue that intersects with what was once called Division Avenue. It has been described by some as a dividing lane between cultures and also a nod to a painful period in U.S. history.
More than a century after Division "Avenue," as it's now called, it remains, and so does the community that was born from division: Parramore.
It was originally named after Orlando’s 14th mayor, who was a white former Confederate captain named James Parramore. The name remains to this day.
In the early 1920s, Parramore was a Black community. What is the Wells’ Built Museum these days, was the Wells' Built Hotel, where entertainers like B.B. King, Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles — just to name a few — stayed during segregation. It is located at 511 West South Street in Orlando. Next door was the South Street Casino.
At the Orange County Regional History Center, the exhibit, "How Distant Seems our Starting Place," displays photos and maps that tells the history of Parramore, which was also a vibrant, thriving area for Black teachers, bankers, lawyers, doctors, and other professionals to live, work and raise their families.
