Parramore

past and present

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STARK’S FUNERAL services

Circa 1940
stark's funeral home A family-owned funeral and ambulatory parlor at 410 N. Westmoreland Dr., started in 1950 by Maximillian Starks Sr. The chapel doors were left unlocked and available 24 hours a day to grieving family and friends. Upstairs was the living quarters of the Starks family, Mr. and Mrs. Starks and son Maxie. The well-known establishment and its landmark clock were demolished in 1998.
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Orlando fire station #2

Circa 1966
Pride of Parramore Orlando Fire Station #2 at the corners of Parramore and Central was a safe haven in the Parramore community. The black firefighters served as role models for the community. Kids loved playing at the station’s basketball court. The fire station provided quick service for the neighborhood in a time of need. A new “Pride of Parramore” opened in 2017 at 1215 West Robinson Street, when the Soccer Stadium came to Parramore.
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Orlando Armory

Circa 1938
DAVIS NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY Located in the former Central Florida Fairgrounds in Callahan, The Armory was originally built to house the National Guard, later served as a training facility for the US Naval Reserve, Recreation Center, and the Orlando Downtown Recreation Complex. The Armory was named and dedicated to Lt. Col. Robert C. Davis the first Orlando man to die in World War II. During the 1960 and segregation, The Armory was used as a neutral site for basketball games played between Jones High School and its white high school opponents.

Nathaniel G. Staggers

Reverend
Community Leader and Civil Rights Activist
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Carver Theater

Circa 1949
701 West Church Street Known as the “For Colored People Only” theater featured a large extravagant lighted marquee. The stage featured screen curtains. Carver Theater was named after George Washington Carver, an African American scientist and inventor. In the early years Carver featured live minstrel shows. In the 50’s and 60’s children movie admission was 9 cents. Western, karate and black movies became the popular movie types shown. With the smell of fresh popcorn, French fries and hotdogs, the concession stand included an outdoor walk-up window which opened before the theater doors. At one point in history, Realtor Herndon Harrison, Attorneys Perkins and Collier and Nettie Lambert, Piano Studio occupied the upstairs offices. The theater closed in the late 1960’s. The building was demolished in 2005.
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palmer feed store

Established 1947
912 W Church Street, Palmer Feed Store is a third-generation family owned and operated business. An institution of the Parramore Community and the City of Orlando, Palmer’s has been providing customers with products for home, garden, pets, construction, and pest control. Through the years, residents visit Palmers for collard green seeds and vegetable plants for their backyard gardens. Kids welcomed Easter with pet bunnies and chicks sold at Palmers. Local fishmen amateur and professionals stocked up on worms and fishing necessities for an afternoon fishing on the lake. The original store caught fire in 2011, and rebuilt to resemble what it looked like, when the store first opened in 1947.
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Nikki's Place

Circa 1949 - Formerly Roser
Owned and operated by Ms. Roser Mae Jones, 742 Carter Street. Roser’s Restaurant was purchased in 1999 by Chef Nick Jr. and Inez Elaine Aiken, Roser’s Restaurant was renamed to NIKKI’S PLACE SOUTHERN CUISINE (after Chef Nick’s daughter “Nikki”). This family-owned business continued the Roser’s Restaurant tradition of being “The Best Soul Food Restaurant on Our-side” into a “Soul Food Landmark within Parramore and the World.” The most popular plate(s) for dine in or take-out; ranges from smothered pork chops, rib tips, oxtail, chitterlings, catfish, collard greens, black-eyes peas, mac and cheese and potato salad topped off with a side of apple, peach cobbler, red velvet cake or banana pudding. Nikki’s Place has been honored with the Sentinel’s Annual Foodie Awards. Due to a fire and a two-year hiatus, Nikki’s Place reopened in 2017.

Albert Cobb

First Treasurer of the Callahan Neighborhood Association, First AA Locksmith
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Well's Built Museum

Circa 2009
511 West South Street. The Well’s Built Museum was once a historic hotel and landmark in the center of Parramore. As early as 1930, Dr. William Monroe Wells built the hotel and the South Street Casino to meet the lodging and entertainment needs of black travelers visiting Orlando. As a museum, the former hotel now houses memorabilia and artifacts of Parramore’s and Orlando’s rich history.
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Orlando Union Rescue Mission

Circa 1948
140 West Central Boulevard. The Orlando Union Rescue Mission is one of Central Florida's oldest and largest homeless service providers. Its mission statement is bringing the hungry, hurting, and homeless to a new life, new goals, and a new future in Christ. The Mission provides counseling, food, clothing, and shelter. In 2020 the Mission moved to West 3300 Colonial Drive to make room for the new Amway Entertainment Complex.
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Hearlie's Flower Box

Circa 1971
323 South Parramore Avenue. Hearlie Mae Donaldson grew up having an artistic flair that led her to a trade that enabled her to become a florist for a lifetime and start her own business. Before starting her business, Hearlie worked in Singelton’s Flower Shop on Church Street where she was trained by Willie Mae Washington, and then she worked for Tinker Bell Florist for a few years where she continued to hone her skills. Hearlie’s is in the former “Hankins Building.” The “Hankins Building” housed the office of Councilman “Pappy” Kennedy, Attorney Norris Wolfork legal practice, Dr. Hankins’ medical practice, The Orange County NAACP Office and Dr. Hunt’s dentist practice.

vencina cannady

Former President of the Carter Street Neighborhood Association
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Orlando municipal auditorium

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401 W Livingston Street. Formerly Bob Carr Performing Arts Center, now named the Bob Carr Theater is currently owned by the City of Orlando and is managed by the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Originally, the auditorium was a large space venue for the Central Florida Fair. With the growth of the artistic community in Orlando, the auditorium was renovated into a state of the arts theater and concert hall in 1974.
The building is named after former mayor, Robert “Bob” Spencer Carr (1956 to 1967). Through the years, The Bob Carr hosted high school graduations and served home to the Orlando Ballet, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Festival of Orchestras and Broadway Across America. In 2015, the site was integrated into the Creative Village Development plan for future digital and alternative arts endeavors.

creative village

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600 West Amelia Street. Living, working, learning, and playing are the catalysts that drive the Creative Village. Built on the site of the former Amway Arena, TD Waterhouse Centre and the Center Florida Fairgrounds, the Creative Village is a place where businesses can expand, a place where quality housing for all income levels is a possibility, a pathway to ideas and creative opportunities into the rich heritage of the Parramore community.
The Creative Village offers higher education, K-8 education mixed-income residential, student housing, office space/creative studios, retail/commercial, hotel and parks with open spaces. The Creative Village is the home of the UCF, Valencia and Orlando Tech downtown campuses, EA Sports, Marriot Hotel, Orange County Public Schools Headquarter and Central Park.

Orlando Police Department hq

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1250 South Street. The state-of-the-art facility was designed to assist the Orlando Police Department operations incorporating technology while providing new ways for officers to protect the community. The facility houses approximately 260 OPD staff and represents growth and inclusion into the rich history of the Parramore community. The site was once home to the Lynx bus transit maintenance shop and Holden Street Elementary, the former OPD location on Hughey Avenue was demolished to make way for the Amway Entertainment complex.

Daisy Lynum

Commissioner
Orlando City Commissioner for 16 years, District 5
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Parramore News

over the years

1970's

article title
date
reporter

Group wants to hear Commissioner Keith

Mar. 8th, 1978
Marcia Evans
"After their first attempt failed, Callahan neighborhood Association members are taking another shot at getting their city commissioner to address their monthly meeting...."
Callahan group questions site plans
May 3, 1978
Marcia Evans
"Misunderstandings between city administrators and city residents about the hows and whys of the proposed arena-convention center may have begun – in a small way...."
Callahan group receives answers for more
May 3, 1978
Unknown
"The Orlando recreation Department building, 649 W. Livingston St., was filled with almost 30 Callahan residents Monday night who invited Commissioner Bob Keith…"
Callahan Neighborhood Association criticizes incumbent
Sept. 27, 1978
Patricia Newton
"Members of the Callahan Neighborhood Association got their chance Monday night to question incumbent Commissioner Robert C. “Bob” Keith…"
Dusty summer forecast for Callahan residents
April 4, 1979
Patricia Newton
"It’s going to be a long dusty summer for the community west of downtown Orlando..."

1980's

Architect describes plan to save Callahan school
Dec. 29, 1982
Robert A. Liff
"Orlando’s closed and crumbling Callahan Elementary School which served as Orange County’s only black high school when schools were legally segregated…"
Callahan: Monument to struggle
May 25, 198?
Jim Runnels
"For Orlando Mayor Bill Frederick, Saturday’s dedication of the Callahan Neighborhood Center is a “milestone,” but for Ron Starke it means his kids don’t have to play in the streets anymore…"
Drug trafficking put neighborhood under siege
Aug. 18, 1986
Bob Levenson
"Mary Alice Drew likes talking about old times in west Orlando’s Callahan neighborhood…"
Can we save the inner cities?
Dec. 18, 1988
Marvin Dunn
"If I were a gambling man, I would have a lot. I would never have guessed that Florida’s ghettos would be sitting on some of the most valuable real estate in the state…"
Neighborhood keeps activist’s memory alive
Nov. 30, 1989
Sara Tippit
"Children whizzed their bikes over clean sidewalks and street in the amber sunset Wednesday, through patches of grass just passed a b rick community center at Parramore and Washington…"

1990's

1 million may await good ideas
Sept. 20, 1994
Dan Tracey
"Orlando wants to talk about using matching money to assist a number of neighborhoods with their projects…"
Hood: City won’t abandon Parramore to developers
Jan. 27, 1998
Marvin Dunn
"The Orlando mayor addressed concerns about properties being brought up in the community…"
City fights decay of Parramore
Oct. 15, 1998
Dan Tracey
"Poverty, crime and drugs plague the area, Orlando’s mayor wants more homeowners and pride to move in…"
Hood: $40 million has not helped Parramore
Oct. 28, 1998
Dan Tracey
"Orlando’s mayor asked a 14-member panel to seek new ways to aid the troubled area because past efforts have failed…"
Callahan holds head proud
Nov. 1, 1998
M. Graham
"Thousands of people will becoming a part of history this month when they flock to Orlando’s new 15,000-seat arena for the grand opening and initial performance by comedian Bill Cosby…"

2000's

Restoring Parramore
Jan. 21, 2000
Unknown
"Fixing the blighted neighborhood is not an impossible task, but it will require intense participation from the community…"
Pioneering church praises long, proud past today
July 30, 2000
Marcia Evans
Life for Orange County’s black residents in 1880 was not remarkably different from how it had been when slavery ended with the close of the Civil War just 15 years earlier…"
Building begins in Parramore
Dec. 8, 2004
Rich McKay
“This won’t get better overnight, but we have hope..."
Parramore Connections
Jun. 4, 2006
Jeff Kunerth
“I can see what we’ve lost: the unity...”
A place called Parramore
Dec. 14, 2008
K. Brewington
"As wrecking balls swing and new buildings rise residents fear being squeezed out…"
All articles are from the Orlando Sentinel paper prints. Digital copies may be found at https://orlandosentinel.newspapers.com
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