Parramore and I-4: built for servants, then cut off by an expressway (Orlando, 1880s–1962)

SUMMARYParramore and I-4: built for servants, then cut off by an expressway (Orlando, 1880s–1962) [Connections: Tallahassee & Orlando, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDParramore was developed in the 1880s by Mayor James B. Parramore, a Confederate veteran, "to house the blacks employed in the households of white Orlandoans" (Wikipedia). In 1927 the city's zoning code classified most Black areas as industrial. When I-4 came through in 1962 it "cut through Parramore, removing part of Division Street, part of Griffin Park, and the eastern ends of most Parramore east-west streets," and the raised expressway "permanently closed some streets," isolating Parramore (Porter, 2016). In 2015 the neighborhood had 23.8% unemployment and a median household income of $15,493 (Orlando Sentinel)

PATTERNZoning, then an interstate, set the walls around Orlando's Black district

LENS (WW9)The highway did what Division Street never legally did: it drew the line in concrete

OPENNumber of homes and people removed for I-4 needs FDOT and city records

SOURCEOrlando's Division Street (Tana Mosier Porter, Reflections, Winter 2016); Parramore (Wikipedia).