Florida Black history trips can help your family turn road time into real conversations about courage, resilience, and community. These 10 destinations invite you and your children to stand where freedom seekers walked, imagine big-band music in a Fort Myers dance hall, and learn how Black communities built businesses, schools, and neighborhoods. All are reachable for weekend or school-break road trips from Collier and Lee Counties, and many can easily be combined with other nearby family fun.
How can you plan a meaningful Black history road trip with kids?
A little planning turns these sites into powerful family lessons rather than just another stop on the highway. Start with closer destinations in Fort Myers and Naples, then add longer trips as your kids get older and more curious.
- Check hours and events for each site before you go, and watch for special programs on the Neapolitan Family events calendar.
- Pair a heavy stop with downtime – plan a park, beach, or playground afterwards so kids can process big feelings.
- Talk in the car about what you saw, what felt unfair, and how people worked together for change.
What can your family see at McCollum Hall in Fort Myers?
Fort Myers Mural Society Murals at McCollum Hall
NE corner of Cranford Ave. and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Fort Myers, FL 33916
McCollum Hall was once a thriving commercial center in Fort Myers’ historic Dunbar community. On the second floor, a large dance hall with a raised stage hosted legendary performers such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. During World War II, the hall also served as a USO for African American troops stationed at Page and Buckingham Fields, and white residents and soldiers came when big bands played.
Today, the Fort Myers Mural Society has transformed the outside of the building with vibrant murals celebrating famous figures from Black history. Kids can walk around the building and spot musicians, community leaders, and scenes from the Dunbar neighborhood, painted by artists Erik Schlake, J.P. Almonacid, and Roland Ruocco.
Why visit Fort Mose Historic State Park with kids?
Fort Mose Historic State Park – “African-American Community of Freedom”
15 Fort Mose Trail, St. Augustine, FL
- Fort Mose was the southern destination of the Underground Railroad to freedom.
- It is the site of the first legally sanctioned free Black community in what is now the United States.
- It served as a safe haven for enslaved people who escaped the English colonies.
The state park includes a museum, visitor center, and interpretive exhibits throughout the grounds. As you explore, your family can learn how people risked everything to reach this community and secure their freedom, long before the Civil War.
What makes the Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Center so powerful?
Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Center and Lincolnville Historic District
Lincolnville Historic District, St. Augustine, FL
“If you haven’t been to the Lincolnville Museum, then you haven’t been to St. Augustine,” the elderly Black museum guide stated at the door of this impressive collection of artifacts and information about the history of Black Americans.
Located in the heart of the Lincolnville Historic District, which was settled by freedmen after the Civil War, the Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Center tells more than 450 years of Black history. Exhibits trace stories from the empires of West Africa and early Black presence in colonial Florida through the Civil Rights era.
Your family will see jars of sediment and soil preserved from beneath sites of lynchings of innocent Black men, an actual Woolworth’s lunch counter where a sit-in took place, and the fingerprints of Martin Luther King Jr. taken after his arrest during a peaceful protest in St. Augustine. The museum is housed in the historic Excelsior School Building, the first public Black high school in St. Johns County, opened in 1925.
- The surrounding Lincolnville Historic District was founded in 1866 by formerly enslaved people.
- It became known for Black-owned businesses created in response to segregation.
- It served as a focal point of the Civil Rights Movement in St. Augustine.
What will kids notice at Kingsley Plantation in Jacksonville?
Kingsley Plantation
12713 Fort Caroline Rd., Jacksonville, FL
Kingsley Plantation, part of the National Park Service, sits on Fort George Island and includes the plantation house, kitchen house, barn, and ruins of 25 original slave cabins. The island’s history stretches back more than 1,000 years to the Timucuan Indians, but the preserved buildings date to the plantation era.
The plantation was named for Zephaniah Kingsley, who operated it from 1813–1839. Kingsley used a “task” system, in which enslaved people were given specific daily tasks and could then work at a craft or tend their own gardens. They often kept the proceeds from selling their produce or handmade items. His wife, Anna Madgigine Jai, was purchased as a slave, freed in 1811, and became a successful businesswoman who owned property and helped manage the plantation.
When Florida became an American territory, new laws discriminated against free Blacks and placed harsh restrictions on enslaved people. Those laws eventually led Kingsley to move his family, including Anna and their children, to Haiti (now the Dominican Republic), where their descendants still live today. Walking among the cabins and buildings gives older kids a concrete sense of how people lived, worked, and resisted on this land.
How does the Wells’ Built Museum share Orlando’s Black history?
Wells’ Built Museum of African American History and Culture
511 W. South St., Orlando, FL
The Wells’ Built Museum is housed in what was once a hotel and entertainment venue for Black visitors who were not allowed in many other establishments because of segregation. It was built by one of Orlando’s first practicing Black physicians.
- Famous performers such as Bo Diddly, Ella Fitzgerald, and B.B. King stayed and performed here.
- Exhibits include Civil Rights memorabilia, art, and artifacts.
This is an especially good stop if your family enjoys music. Kids can imagine the energy of a packed nightclub while learning how Black travelers relied on safe places like this hotel.
What can you explore on DeLand’s Black Heritage Trail?
African American Museum of the Arts and DeLand Black Heritage Trail
325 South Clara Ave., DeLand, FL
The African American Museum of the Arts in DeLand holds more than 150 African-related artifacts and a rotating exhibition space for Black artists. It’s a small museum with a big impact, especially for children seeing familiar and new stories told through art.
Outside the museum, the DeLand Black Heritage Trail offers self-guided cycling or walking routes connecting local Black heritage sites. Highlights include the museum’s own Dr. Noble “Thin Man” Watts amphitheater and the Moses Sun mural celebrating the joy of jazz. The mural was painted by Moses Sun, artist-in-residence with Stetson University’s Creative Arts Department.
- Check ahead before visiting – thanks to a $1 million renovation grant, exhibits and access may change.
- Older teens interested in the arts may want to explore internship opportunities at the museum.
How does the Riley Museum and Smokey Hollow honor a lost community?
John G. Riley Center & Museum for African American History and Smokey Hollow Commemorative Site
419 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301
www.rileymuseum.org
The Riley House was built around 1890 on the edge of a thriving Black neighborhood called Smokey Hollow. Its owner, John Gilmore Riley, was formerly enslaved and later became a respected educator, civic leader, and one of the few African Americans in Tallahassee to own property at the turn of the century.
Riley acquired seven major downtown parcels, including the land where he built his home. Today, the Riley House stands as a legacy of the growing Black middle class of his time. Next door, the Smokey Hollow Commemorative Site tells the story of the surrounding community of Black-owned homes, whose residents were forced to relocate in the 1950s when the Apalachee Parkway was built.
- The park features three “Spirit Homes” – frames of shotgun-style houses typical of Smokey Hollow – each with maps, photos, and history.
- There is a community garden, remembrance fountain, and fruit and vegetable trees.
- Tours of Smokey Hollow are included with Riley Museum admission.
Through tours, events, and history trails across Tallahassee, the Riley Center & Museum guides visitors from the antebellum period through Reconstruction and the Civil Rights era from the often untold perspective of African Americans.
Should families visit Rosewood today?
Rosewood, Florida
Near Cedar Key, less than an hour west of Gainesville, FL
In 1923, Rosewood was the site of a devastating racial massacre. After a white woman accused a Black man of attacking her, white residents and others formed a mob that hunted Black residents, lynched several people, and drove survivors to flee to nearby towns. The town, including all Black-owned homes and businesses, was burned and destroyed.
The land was later unlawfully sold or given to remaining white families. Today, almost nothing remains of Rosewood except a sign marking the historical site, erected more than 70 years after the massacre. This stop is best for older teens who are ready to discuss hard truths and the lasting impact of racial violence.
Can a college visit to FAMU be a history lesson?
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU)
1601 S. Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Tallahassee, FL 32307
www.famu.edu
FAMU is a public, historically Black university founded on October 3, 1887, and has been rated the #1 HBCU by U.S. News & World Report for four years in a row, out of 103 HBCUs. A campus visit can double as both a history lesson and an early college tour for teens.
What sets FAMU apart is its legacy of providing access to high-quality, affordable education. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. In addition to the main Tallahassee campus, FAMU has a College of Law in Orlando and pharmacy and public health programs with sites in cities including Crestview, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Miami.
Walking the campus, your family can talk about how education has opened doors for generations of Black students – and how your child’s own goals might fit into that story.
What will the Naples Depot Black History Baggage Car offer local families?
Naples Depot Museum and the Naples Depot Black History Baggage Car
Naples Depot Museum, Collier County Museums
1051 5th Ave S, Naples, FL 34102
www.colliermuseums.com/Locations/Naples-Depot-Museum
The Naples Depot baggage car was built in the 1920s and once carried mail, suitcases, and trunks on southern train routes. It was purchased from the Atlantic Coast Line by Southern Railway and later donated to Southwest Heritage, Inc. After a careful refurbishment, the Depot became a popular local venue and, in 2004, was turned over to Collier County to become part of the museum system. The Naples Depot Museum opened on January 7, 2011, in the restored Seaboard Air Line Railway passenger station.
Today the museum welcomes about 16,000 visitors each year, telling the story of how generations of Southwest Floridians used transportation and technology to build communities in what was once a remote frontier. It is also the perfect home for Collier County’s first space dedicated specifically to its Black history.
The Tenth Street/Goodlette Road corridor near the Depot has traditionally been home to Naples’ early Black communities, and the railroads were a significant employer and source of social mobility for African Americans locally and across the country. The new Black History Baggage Car will share stories of the African Americans whose contributions were essential to the development of Collier County, in the very neighborhood many Black residents have called home for more than a century.
For more background on this project, you can also read our feature on the Naples Depot Black History Baggage Car.
How can Collier and Lee County families keep the conversation going?
These Florida Black history trips are just a starting point. Keep stories alive at home with books, activities, and local experiences that highlight Black leaders and communities year-round, not only in February.
- Choose age-appropriate reads from 25 books for kids that celebrate diversity and Black History Month.
- Try hands-on learning from STEM activities for kids inspired by Black innovators to connect history with science.
- Plan more local adventures using our best day trips for families in Collier and Lee Counties guide.
Whether you start with a quick drive to Fort Myers or a longer journey to St. Augustine, each stop gives your child another piece of Florida’s full story – and a deeper understanding of how Black history shapes the world they live in today.