Oldest African-American city turns 130 years old

EATONVILLE, Fla. – The town that’s described as the oldest continuously-existing African-American city in the United States is celebrating its 130th birthday.

Celebrations in Eatonville, Florida, kick off Saturday with a crafts and culture festival. The city received its charter from the state of Florida in August 1887.

It was conceived as a self-governing all-black town for African Americans living in central Florida at the time.

It’s most famous resident was the author, Zora Neale Hurston. She used Eatonville as a setting of her most famous book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

Today, Eatonville has nearly 2,300 residents and U.S. Census Bureau data says 85 per cent of its residents are black.