Dozens of Limestone Creek residents joined with elected
officials, county representatives, and volunteers to unveil the L.M. Davis
Elementary School Florida State Historic Marker on Saturday, April 30 in Palm
Beach County's Limestone Creek Park, located at 18301 Limestone Creek Road west
of Jupiter.
Speaking to the group were U.S. Congressman Patrick Murphy,
Palm Beach County Vice-Mayor Hal Valeche, Former L.M. Davis Elementary Teacher
Mrs. Dorothy Bendross Walker, Edna W. Runner Tutorial Center Executive Director
Edna Runner, Limestone Creek Community Advocates President Darlene Hatcher,
community representative Stephen Hunter, Loxahatchee River Historical Society
President & CEO Jamie Stuve, and Palm Beach County Parks & Recreation
Director Eric Call.
"The marker is a part of an ongoing initiative to
recognize the untold stories and significant contributions made by the Limestone
Creek community to the history of Jupiter and northern Palm Beach County," said
Stuve.
Education was a high priority for the African-American community
in Limestone Creek. Denied access to Jupiter's public schools by the laws of
segregation, they opened a school of their own. The first "Jupiter Colored
School" was located in the local African Methodist Episcopal Church.
When
the 1928 hurricane destroyed the church, community member L.M. Davis donated an
acre of his homestead for the construction of a new school. The community pooled
their limited resources and even built a school bus for their children. Matching
funds from the Rosenwald Fund, created by Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears,
Roebuck and Co, enabled the community to construct a two-room school with a
kitchen, and to hire two teachers for grades 1 through 8.
The graduating
class of 1941 raised funds to construct a sidewalk over the drainage ditch at
the entrance to the school and, along with their principal, autographed the
remaining concrete. In 1956, the school was renamed the L.M. Davis Elementary
School in honor of the man who donated the land and drove the school bus. High
school students were transported 20 miles south to attend Industrial High in
Riviera Beach until Jupiter public schools began to be desegregated in
1967.
"It is our responsibility to be good stewards of the historical
property we manage," said Call. "Preserving our county's unique history for this
and future generations is essential."
The Loxahatchee River Historical
Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in 1972 by local pioneer
families, including John and Bessie DuBois, to preserve the "History Shaped by
Nature" of the Loxahatchee River region.
Governed by a Board of Directors and administered by the
President & CEO and staff, the Society operates the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse
& Museum.
Limestone Creek Park is operated by the Palm Beach County
Parks and Recreation Department. The department operates more than 80 regional,
district, community, beach, and neighborhood parks, spanning several thousand
acres. Visit www.pbcparks.com to learn about
opportunities for healthy, happy living.