Welcome to the Palm Beach County Black Cultural Heritage Trail. Here you’ll find the 5 locations on the trail specific to the northern portion of Palm Beach County. Please visit the Palm Beach County Black Cultural Heritage Trail home page to find destinations in the western, central, and southern portions of the county along with a full interactive map of the trail.

This post was written by Brian Knowles of Power Builders. All photography by Daniel Fortune.

Riverbend Park: Powell’s Battle Marker and Jesup’s Battle Marker
9060 W. Indiantown Road, Jupiter

The Loxahatchee River Battlefield Park in Jupiter, Florida, is linked to the final major confrontation of the Second Seminole War, occurring on January 24, 1838. This conflict played a crucial role in the history of Black Seminoles, a community of African Americans who escaped the shackles of slavery and sought sanctuary with the Seminole Nation. This community represents the earliest officially documented presence of African Americans in what is currently acknowledged as Palm Beach County.

Riverbend Park, in its present designation, served as the location for two notable battles linked to a sequence of military conflicts frequently categorized as a widespread slave insurrection.

In January 1838, Lieutenant Levin Powell led forces in the Battle of the Loxahatchee River, deemed a Seminole victory. Following this, Major General Thomas Jesup commanded a substantial force of 1,500 men, constituting the largest army of the Second Seminole War, compelling the Seminoles to retreat.

Additional sites and landmarks nearby include:

Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church & Cemetery
6823 Church Street, Jupiter

Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church, a pivotal institution in Jupiter’s African American community, was established in 1902 by Reverend J. A. Wannamaker and pioneer families such as Simmons, Campbell, Ford, Bush, and Davis. Settlers from North Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina homesteaded along Limestone Creek and the Loxahatchee River. The church’s leaders, including deacons and deaconesses, supported the once-segregated volunteer fire department, schools, and civic organizations. The original wooden church, built in 1902, was relocated to its current site in 1915, donated by Glover Sapp. Despite rebuilding efforts after hurricanes in 1926 and 1928, the current structure was constructed in 1953 and expanded in 1979 and 1997. The church’s cemetery, the sole African American burial ground in northern Palm Beach County affiliated with a church, houses over 500 graves, some unmarked, reflecting the community’s social history and enduring spiritual values.

L.M. Davis Elementary School Historical Marker
18301 Limestone Creek Road, Jupiter

In Limestone Creek, the African American community faced challenges in education due to segregation laws. Denied access to nearby public schools, they established their own school in 1905, initially located in the local AME church. The school moved to the Louis Moseley Davis homestead in 1915, and after the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane, a new school was built on donated land. Funding came from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation and residents. The two-room school with a kitchen served grades 1-8. The graduating class 1941 financed a sidewalk, and a preserved piece with their autographs is in the park. Davis transported older students to the Industrial High School. In 1956, the elementary school was renamed after Davis.

Cinquez Park
2183 West Indiantown Road, Jupiter

Cinquez Park in Palm Beach County commemorates the resilient history of Limestone Creek, one of the oldest African American settlements in the region. Established in 1904 by more than 15 families from north Florida and South Carolina, the community thrived despite Jim Crow laws. Residents built businesses, churches, schools, baseball fields, and a volunteer fire station, contributing labor to various local industries. In the 1940s, African American real estate developer Peter Yancy subdivided 54 acres, naming the development and its roads after prominent Black historical figures, including Joseph Cinquez, famous for leading a rebellion on the Spanish slave ship La Amistad in 1839. The central green in the park once served as a gathering space for this close-knit community.

Sugarhill Memorial Park
1200 W. 30th Street, Riviera Beach

Initially known as Kelsey City Colored Cemetery, this burial ground exclusively served as the final resting place for African Americans in the region from 1920 to 1965. Alleneta “Robie” Robinson Mortin’s family, survivors of the 1923 Rosewood Massacre in Levy County, Florida, relocated to what is now Riviera Beach. Proudly embracing her role as a resident of the city, she vigorously advocated for the preservation of the site now recognized as Sugarhill Cemetery. Interred within its grounds are additional survivors of the tragic incident. Unfortunately, over the years, the burial site remained largely unnoticed and deteriorated. In 2006, the city commenced significant renovations to revitalize the property to a more dignified state.