SARASOTA, Fla. — After 15 years of community efforts, Sarasota's historically Black community of Newtown is now nationally recognized.
The city of Sarasota was recently notified that the National Register of Historic Places has officially listed The Newtown Historic District.
And for many residents who spent time attending meetings and curating personal historic collections, this is a big deal.
A bright vibrant sign welcomes visitors to Newtown, now the newest and single largest historic district within Sarasota and the largest Black historic district in Florida.
"Yay! It's the largest designation of an African-American community and so we're just so excited, you know, to know that we are being valued," Mary Butler, a Newtown community leader and president of the Amaryllis Park Residents Association said.
Around 731 contributing historic resources, including residential buildings, churches and sites are found within the district boundaries. This includes the areas near Myrtle Street to the north, 19th Street to the south, Seminole Gulf Railway tracks to the west, and U.S. 301 to the east.
The Galilee Cemetery, one of Sarasota's two black cemeteries built in 1932 during the Jim Crow era, is also included.
"Our history really does matter you know. Our ancestors, they knew it and we continued to fight, to fight, to fight, and today, we are just so proud," Butler added.
The district listing for Newtown applies to structures whose design and location have been retained for at least 50 years including the Greater Hurst Chapel AME Church on Links Avenue built in 1928.
"The Civil Rights Movement was very much a part of Newtown and our churches were the place that a lot of the residents go to hear information to learn what to do as we worked around the Civil Rights Movement," she said.
"It just certifies that you have something that has value historically. Your story has value historically. It means something to not just the city, the state of Florida, but the nation," Clifford Smith, a senior planner of historic preservation with the city, said.
The designation provides homeowners incentives to help maintain or restore a property.
"Historic districts appreciate in value faster than competing neighborhoods because people like to know that they're a historic neighborhood," Smith said.
"You know we had another historical Black community which we call Overtown which is now Rosemary District and it got regentrified and we didn't want that to happen to our community," Butler said.
One of the historic buildings in the district is the Leonard Reid house which is now a cultural center and museum. You can learn more about Newtown and the history of the civil rights movement there at an ongoing exhibition titled "Beaches, Benches and Boycotts."