08/24/2026
Discovering Historical Bookertown Park —
4640 Richard Allen St, Sanford, FL 32771
Another stop on our mission to visit all of Seminole County’s parks!
Bookertown Park is a neighborhood recreation area with a playground, baseball/softball field, basketball facilities, open space, restrooms and a pavilion.
We visited Bookertown Park in Sanford, a small neighborhood park located within a community with a remarkable history.
The name Bookertown has a story of its own. The community was named in honor of Booker T. Washington. Because so many communities were already named Washington, the name “Bookertown” was chosen instead.
Bookertown’s story dates back to 1885, when African Americans came to the area as laborers for two railroads — the Orange Belt Railway and the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railroad. Some of these workers helped construct the railroad bridge across the St. Johns River, helping create a continuous rail connection between Tampa and Jacksonville.
By the 1890s, African American farm and turpentine workers were settling in the area. In 1898, the community’s first Black school opened, serving 18 children of farm workers.
In 1906, Michael Mackenzie Smith purchased a large tract of pine land that included what would become Bookertown. He began selling lots to african american farm workers. By 1910, six homes were owned by african americans in an area then known as “Monroe’s Colored Section.”
In 1926, the Sanford Development Company laid out streets and lots specifically for an african american community. The streets were named after prominent figures in african american history — names we can still see today, including Richard Allen, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
There is also a historical marker inside Bookertown Park commemorating this history.
What we love about this park project is discovering that sometimes a park is about much more than what’s inside its boundaries.
Bookertown Park is a place where recreation and history come together — and the story of the community surrounding it is worth remembering.
