Rosewood, FL

1870-1923

Our Rosewood Tank honors the economic accomplishments of the Black Wall Street of Rosewood, a city in Levy County, FL. If loose lips sink ships, then it was forbidden forays that ravaged Rosewood. Upon its conception in the 1800s Rosewood, Florida was a town built around the train depot and timber based industries such sawmills, pencil manufacturers, and turpentine mills. Once occupied by both blacks and whites, the town split when the cedar trees began to dwindle down and the pencil manufacturers left town. The neighboring county of Sumner began to export cotton and citrus products and as a result, many white left town, allowing Rosewood to thrive as a predominately black economy and community. The Goins and Carrier families were two of the most influential in the area. In the years preceding the attacks that Rosewood suffered, The Goins family actually were the originators of the local turpentine market and were the second largest landowners in all of Levy County, FL. Sources (http://www.rosewoodflorida.com, thegrio.com, http://www.blackpast.org, wikipedia.com)