Pleasant Street Historic Society pays tribute to homes and former businesses in area

The history of a local Black community was presented during a walking tour of the area that featured photos of homes and buildings in the Pleasant Street area of northwest Gainesville.

The photo tour was the main attraction of the Pleasant Street Exhibition of Artifacts and Pictures hosted by the Pleasant Street Historic Society on Sunday at the Thomas Center.

Dozens of people attended to enjoy music by trumpeter Lanard Perry and to have the opportunity to take a step back in time by viewing the homes and businesses of the historic Pleasant Street District, which is located between Northwest Main to Fifth streets (east to west) and from Eighth to University avenues (north to south). The district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Dale Harris, president of the Pleasant Street Historic Society, said the organization could not gather for two years due to the pandemic. Now, with pandemic restrictions being lifted, Harris said, “I felt like it was time to host an event. The homes in the district are disappearing fast due to apartments and duplexes.”

Over 30 pictures were displayed in wooden frames on tall, gray dividers for attendees to walk through. Harris said the pictures were in Donna Drake’s possession, one of the charter members of the society that was founded in 1984.

“It takes pride to see what the old neighborhood looked like,” Harris said. “We had doctors, dentists, educators and teachers. It was a neighborhood of wealth. Growing up, we had images to look up to.”

Harris said the society will continue its efforts in raising funds to make the Claronelle Smith Griffin home a Historic Pleasant Street District museum. The home at 321 NW Eighth Ave. was willed to the society by Griffin before she died in 2003.

“We would like to continue raising funds again to move our vision into completion,” Harris said.

The society meets once a month at the A. Quinn Jones Museum and Cultural Center on the third Thursday at 5 p.m.

Harris said the society is looking for volunteers, tradesmen, social media managers and grant writers.

“Our people perish for a lack of knowledge,” Harris said. “I am one of the last generations to know what the neighborhood used to be. It is important that we bottle up the history through books, storytelling and museums.”

The historic district has been a racially divided neighborhood since its beginning following the Civil War. Black pioneers brought carpenters, bakers, barbers, blacksmiths, ministers, musicians and tailors as well as draymen (people who deliver beer for a brewery), doctors, shoe cobblers and hackmen to forge out a new beginning for their families. They built a residential and business community along with an educational center and entertainment areas within the area and became relatively sufficient from their outside world, according to the PSHS.

The distinct line that divided the community along racial lines into the late 20th century has worn thin into the 21st century, Harris said.

The organization shared how the area has lost close to 40 contributing houses since the national registered designation and some are still threatened. The society hopes that its preservation efforts will bring attention to the plight of the district and that as a result it will continue to be appreciated and enjoyed by the community for many years to come, Harris said.

The homes and places that were featured are: Union Academy, which is also known as the Rosa B. Williams Recreational Center, the Green-Castleberry House, the Chapin House, the Crouch House, the Holder-Parker House, the Wallace House, the Wittstock Rental House, the Wittstock House, the Schaffer House, the Baird Rental House, the Saunders-Fay House, the Kite-Whitener Rental House, the Parker-Cosby House, the Hendley House, the St. Augustine Day School, the Williams-Riggins House, the Joyner House, the Debose House, the Wingate House, the Webb Rental House, the Hayes-Butler Rental House, the Garrison House, the Cook House, the Dunbar Hotel, the Smith House, the Scrivens House, the Rawls House, the Hodge House, the Allen House, Friendship Baptist Church, the Stafford House and Office, Most Pleasant United Methodist Church, the Murrell-Hayes House, the Metts House, and the White Building.

Carolyn Cosby Edwards, a descendant of the Parker-Cosby home in Pleasant Street, shared the history behind their home. Edwards said she moved into the home in October after the home burnt down and was renovated again.

Her grandfather, Julius A. Parker, lived in the home along with her grandmother where they raised seven children.

“It brings back a lot of memories and how the neighborhood used to be,” Edwards said. “A lot has gone and the neighborhood has changed quite a bit. It’s nice to be reminded of the houses and people who lived in the homes. It is nostalgic in a nice way.”

Her father, E.A. Cosby, was a dentist and his name as well as C.W. Banks, a doctor, names are on the Youth Empowerment Center building at 635 NW Sixth St. just south of Gainesville Police Department.

“I’m glad to be back to work with them to see the community and residents get together to do more in the neighborhood,” Edwards said. “The Pleasant Street Historic Society reaffirms African American neighborhoods.”

Rubin Davis Sr. reminisced about what it was like growing up in the neighborhood.

“I love this event,” Davis said. “I get to see people I knew from that era. It was a wonderful neighborhood. I talk to kids about it, but they have no recollection of it.”

Davis said he remembers the community being excited on the days leading up to football games.

“When we got ready for football games, it was like the president was coming,” he said as he laughed. “Barbershops and salons would be full. I hope the organization keeps this going. I don’t want this to be thrown away.”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Photo tour of Pleasant Street Exhibition of Artifacts and Pictures