The “Spirit Houses” at the Smokey Hollow Commemoration is not just pieces of architecture. They represent an important part of local history by providing the faint memory of what once stood—a once thriving African American community in Tallahassee. Around 1890, African Americans began moving to the black settlement of Smokey Hollow. Many different factors contributed to the name of this community. Some residents said it came from the incinerator. It would “smoke all day and holler all night.” However, the incinerator was more to the community than its contribution in the name. It was also a place of exchange, where residents would inspect and acquire unwanted items from there. Others thought the outside fires used by the laundresses for the next day’s work helped contribute to the name. The women of the community usually worked as laundresses or house workers in order to take care of their families. Some said tires caused a lot of the smoke as well. The residents used tires to provide heat for the winter or repel mosquitoes in the summer. Lastly, the chimneys and the trains also helped in causing this area to have a lot of smoke. The smoke from all of these factors was seen throughout the city of Tallahassee, which is how the Smokey Hollow name stuck. Join us in voting for the Smokey Hollow Commemoration for the AIA Florida Peoples Choice here: ow.ly/z0p3k! #ThrowbackThursday
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 15:42:37 +0000