Remembering Suwannee: Black history in Suwannee County, Part 7

This week, we continue our discussion of African American history in Suwannee County during the trying Reconstruction era (1865-1877). Religion and politics were not the only things on the minds of African Americans in Suwannee County during these turbulent years. Suwannee County’s original Douglass High School, named for famed African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, was established in 1868. The school was first located on Houston Street and was open from June through September. In 1927, a newer structure was built nearby on the same street. In the early 1950s, the “new” Douglass High School was built off Ontario Avenue. It was used as such until 1969, when dese