7th Annual Freemanville Day Ceremony    
Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, 941 N. Orange Avenue, Port Orange

February 9, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.

Port Orange, FL  - On February 9, 2010, in honor of our community’s African-American heritage, the City of Port Orange will host the 7th Annual Freemanville Day Ceremony.  Hosted in partnership with the Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, the ceremony begins at 4:00 p.m. and will be held at the church, 941 N. Orange Avenue.  The public is welcome to attend.

This annual event recognizes the beginnings of Port Orange, which is connected to 500 freed slaves who came to the area in 1867 to work for the Florida Land and Lumber Company.  Included on the ceremony’s program will be a performance by the Mt. Moriah Youth Dance Group, recollections from Harold Cardwell of the Port Orange Historical Trust, and stories from Alberta McLeod on living and raising children in Freemanville.

The U.S. Postal Service officially recognized Port Orange as a community at 12 Noon on April 26, 1867.  Dr. John Milton Hawks, a Union Army surgeon, and his fellow Union Army officers established Port Orange after the U.S. Civil War.   Initially, 500 former slaves settled near the shores of the Halifax River on public lands secured with the help of the US Freedman Bureau in 1866.  They came to Port Orange to work for the Florida Land & Lumber Company, which Dr. Hawks and his partners formed.  An additional 1,000 freed slaves made Port Orange their home six months later. 

After falling on hard times, the settlement, the company, and the integrated school disbanded in 1869.  A majority of the settlers returned to their home states or headed for area citrus groves looking for work.  Over time, the few families and individuals who stayed made up the pioneering African-American neighborhood of Port Orange known as Freemanville.

For information on the ceremony, contact Kent E. Donahue, Special Assistant to the City Manager, at 386-506-5501 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .