National Register of Historic Places

Taylor House

Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida
Listed
April 5, 2015
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
15000127

About this property

The Taylor House is a historic home in the Frenchtown neighborhood of Tallahassee, Florida. The home was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 6, 2015. The Taylor House Museum, located at 442 West Georgia Street, was also added to the Tallahassee-Leon County Register of Historic Places on October 26, 2011. On July 27, 2012, the Florida Department of State designated the home a Florida Heritage Site. The Taylor House, a historical landmark in the Tallahassee Community, was built in 1894 by Lewis Washington Taylor and Lucretia McPherson Taylor, and is a historical museum and research facility for Leon County, Florida. L.W. Taylor (1865-1931), was a well-known educator, businessman and community leader. He taught at Centerville School, Old Lincoln High School (Tallahassee, Florida) and Bel Air, a one-room, rural schoolhouse on ground which had once been an ante-bellum plantation. Taylor broke barriers for African-Americans in Leon County, as he taught and tutored White children from well-to-do families for 10 cents. Self-employed as a proprietor of a jewelry store, Taylor made his jewelry out of gold wire which he kept in an upstairs bedroom of the Taylor home. Lucretia Taylor descended from the Edwards, a pioneer Leon County family. She was a master cook and seamstress. Taylor was born a slave on May 19, 1865 in Tallahassee, a day before the Emancipation Proclamation was read downtown at the Knott House by General Edward M. McCook. She cooked for the family of Lewis M. Lively for whom the Lively Technical Center, located on the campus of Tallahassee Community College is named. Married on Dec. 17, 1887, the Taylors were parents to 13 children, who all spent time in front of a classroom. The home remained in the Taylor family until it was abandoned in 1978. In 1995, the Taylor House had come within a week of being demolished by the city until Aquilina Howell, granddaughter of the Taylors and a legendary community leader who went on to become the first woman assistant school superintendent in Leon County, turned to the Tallahassee Urban League, Inc. The Urban League purchased and restored the two-story structure to its original appearance; completing rehabilitation in 2001. Today, the home serves as the Taylor House Museum of Historic Frenchtown, owned and operated by the Tallahassee Urban League, Inc.

Location

442 W. Georgia St.
Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida
30.44816, -84.28741

Categories

EDUCATIONARCHITECTURE
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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The Land
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Geology
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LiDAR Terrain
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Conflict & War
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The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
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Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
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Rivers & Rail
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Notable People
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Finds & Access
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Questions about this property

When was Taylor House listed on the National Register?

Taylor House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 5, 2015.

What type of historic resource is Taylor House?

Taylor House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Taylor House?

The period of significance for Taylor House is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Taylor House?

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