One of Florida's oldest African American Communities
Recognized by the Florida State Historical Marker Program
COMMUNITY OF ROYAL ON TV! Florida’s Black Heritage Trail : The Central Florida Region features the Community Of Royal. The documentary is archived on their website; to view Florida’s Black Heritage Trail: The Central Florida Region visit http://thefloridachannel.org/programs-coverage/florida-crossroads
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40 Acres & A Mule Experience Tour, book a tour, today.
Email: youngartists@aol.com
352-748-0260. Click here. Photo story below
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Featuring local exhibits i.e. :
Late Mother Polly Patterson Wideman, 109 years old, (pictured right), was Royal's second oldest resident.
For more information about our dear 'Big Mama', click here.
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Mrs. Peggy Olivia 'Auntie' Davis (pictured left), Royal's third oldest resident celebrated 102 years on October 3, 2015.
Mrs. Davis' life in photos, click here. For more information about our dear Mrs. Peggy, click here.
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And, National Exhibits i.e.:
The Late Great Allan Rohan Crite- African American Boston Artist Artworks donated to the Alonzo A. Young, Sr. Enrichment & Historical Center. For newspaper article: click page1, page2, page3
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New found research reveals that Royal has an African Royalty heritage. Were our early ancestors Africans? Were they of African royalty? Were they African Kings and Queens? Was it called Royal before 1835? Yes, yes, yes and yes. The story reads: "Before the War Between the States, the Long Hammock settlement of Blacks that had first been quietly known as “Royalville” had become known as “Picketsville”. After the war, residents quietly changed its name back to “Royal”, and documented it by 1880. It was done so future generations of all races would always know some of the first Blacks at least, were of African Royalty"as told by Hulon Nichols in the book entitled 'Long Hammock Memories'.
Click here for written presentation and/or here for PowerPoint.
Founded
in 1865, the Community of Royal was originally known as Picketsville which was named
for the white picket fences that marked its 40-acre homesteads. A post
office was established on June 26, 1891, and the community was called
Royal by the late 1880's. The community's first settlers were former
slaves from the Old Green Plantation located on the Withlacoochee
River. The first settling families were the Harleys, the Andersons and
the Pickets. They built log cabins for houses and dug wells for water.
The community's first industries were farming, logging, and naval
stores. Pictured below: Mother Polly Patterson Wideman's childhood home and Memorial pictures of Rev. Mathew Beard & Mother Wideman, permanent collection at the Alonzo A. Young, Sr. Enrichment & Historical Center.
In 1874, the Reverend Alfred Brown built the community's first school, a
one-room schoolhouse. Because the school was centrally located,
children, staff and teachers were able to walk to school. Later, a
three-room school constructed of wooden planks and board windows was
built. Perman E. Williams, the school's first officially appointed
principal, served during the 1937-38 school year. Men from the
community, along with Principal Williams, served as trustees for the
school. During the 1930s, the trustees requested and received approval
from the Sumter County School Board to build a new Royal School.
The last and largest Royal School was built following an agreement that
Sumter County would furnish the materials and the Royal community would
provide the labor to construct the new school. Richard Smith donated
the land for the school and workers from the Depression-era Works
Progress Administration (WPA) joined a group of local volunteers to
build the facility. The ten-room school was constructed of wooden
planks and accommodated 108 students. In 1947, Alonzo A. Young, Sr.
began his tenure as the school's last principal. In 1954, the Supreme
Court's landmark ruling in the Brown vs. Board of Education case ended
years of organized segregation in public education. At the time there
were eight black schools in Sumter County. However, the county did not
embrace integration until mandated by law during the 1970-71 school
year. Following integration, students from the Royal School transferred
to the Wildwood Elementary, Middle and High Schools. In 1984, the
Royal School was torn down and a community Center and a fire station
were built on the site.
The school's 1945
cafeteria, a seperate building, was retained and still stands at its
original location. In 2007, the cafeteria building was donated to Young
Performing Artists (YPAs), Inc. in collaboration with the Royal Library
Association (RLA) and named a Governor's Point of Light Project. In
2009, the building was renovated via collaboration between the Sumter
Board of County Commissioners, Carlos Beruff, President, Sumter, LLC
and Terry Yoder, President, T & D Concrete.
Alonzo A. Young, Sr. Enrichment & Historical Center
(Governor's Point Of Light Project)
9569 County Road 235
Wildwood (Royal), FL 34785
352-748-0260
For more information: youngartists@aol.com
