Secretary Detzner Designates Lincoln Park Florida Main Street Program of the Month

TALLAHASSEE –

Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced today that Lincoln Park Main Street has been designated the Florida Main Street Community of the Month for December 2014. Communities are selected based on their developmental achievements and participation in the Florida Main Street Program. Designated a Main Street community in 2006, Lincoln Park’s rehabilitation efforts have totaled over $3.6 million, while creating 12 new businesses and over 40 jobs for the downtown area. The program has generated 2,038 hours of volunteer support.  

“The Lincoln Park area has a rich and vibrant history, associated with some of the state’s most recognized and celebrated African American artists,” said Secretary of State Ken Detzner.  “Author Zora Neale Hurston taught at the Lincoln Park Academy, and the now-famous Florida folk painters known as the Highwaymen, got their name by selling their artwork on the roadside along Lincoln Park’s Fourth Street on U.S Highway 1.”

Lincoln Park Main Street Gospel Explosion! at the Sunrise Theatre

The Executive Director of Lincoln Park Main Street, Pamela Carithers says that the program’s success this year has laid a foundation for continued progress in the year to come. “At the Annual Florida Main Street Conference in Stuart this past September, we were the recipients of three Secretary of State Awards. We hope to continue our fundraising campaign and preservation efforts so that next year we will earn more.”

Lincoln Park is located in the northern half of Fort Pierce and is among the oldest neighborhoods in the city. The historic heart of the African American community, the area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. First settled as Edgartown, north of Moore’s Creek in the early 1880s, only 64 African Americans were recorded residing in this Indian River Region, making their home with the Seminole Indians. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, local African American businesses grew and the “Avenue D District,” the historic name, became a commercial and entertainment hub of the community. With the advent of segregation Lincoln Park experienced significant disinvestment, and escalated crime. Today, with community support, social agencies, and a strong partnership with the City and Main Street Fort Pierce, Lincoln Park has gone through a period of revitalization, and is flourishing.   

For more information about Lincoln Park Main Street or the Florida Main Street program visit facebook.com/LincolnParkMainStreet,  facebook.com/FloridaMainStreet or floridamainstreet.com.

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About Florida Main Street 

Florida Main Street is a program administered by the Division of Historical Resources under the Florida Department of State, which currently oversees 45 communities throughout the state. By implementing the National Main Street Center’s Four-Point Approach®, Florida Main Street encourages economic development within the context of historic preservation through the revitalization of Florida’s downtowns – the community’s heart and soul. Since the program’s inception in 1985, the Florida Main Street programs have cumulatively created 22,885 jobs, 6,848 new businesses and produced $2.3 billion in reinvestment.