Teresa Sargeant
Key Points
- The Florida Historical Marker Council approved the Mead’s Bottom marker on Oct. 2 to recognize one of Apopka's oldest Black settlements after a three-year effort.
- Sarah Mead was born into slavery in South Carolina in 1836, arrived in Apopka around 1870, and the settlement's residents helped build its early industries.
- The marker project follows a book and mural about Sarah Mead, with installation planned next to the mural and funded by the Apopka Community Redevelopment Agency.
Sarah Mead’s story has been preserved in a book and painted into an Apopka mural. Now, the community associated with her will be recognized with a state historical marker.
The Florida Historical Marker Council approved the Mead’s Bottom marker Oct. 2, following a three-year effort by the Apopka & Northwest Orange County Historical Society to recognize one of the area’s oldest Black settlements, according to society President Maribel Brinkle.
“This marker is preservation, and it is also economic development,” Brinkle said in an Oct. 22 statement emailed to The Apopka Chief. “Historical markers bring visitors, traffic, and tourism. They bring pride to a city and to a community.”
Mead was born into slavery in South Carolina in 1836 and later sold to a plantation owner in Georgia, according to the finalized marker text provided by Brinkle. She arrived in Apopka around 1870.
The settlement’s significance extends beyond Mead’s own life. Its residents helped build the citrus, lumber and turpentine industries that supported Apopka’s early growth, the society said. Recognizing Mead’s Bottom preserves the contributions of Black families whose work helped shape northwest Orange County’s economy.
Addressing the council remotely, Brinkle described research that involved examining records and speaking with elders and descendants.
“It is the story of Black families whose labor built the citrus industry that built Northwest Orange County,” Brinkle told the council.
She said she supported the staff’s proposed marker text because it presented that history with dignity.
Council members’ discussion focused on small editorial changes rather than objections to the application. They called for consistent capitalization of “Black” and consistent spelling and punctuation of the name Mead’s Bottom throughout the text.
“Pretty straightforward marker that tells a story in a pretty clear way,” Jeremy Heiker, the state historical marker coordinator, said during the review.
The council then approved the marker by voice vote and thanked Brinkle for her work.
The approval follows earlier efforts to make the settlement’s history accessible to the public.
The society’s project included the book “Celebrating Legends of Apopka” and a mural commissioned from artist German Lemus depicting Sarah Mead and other figures from Apopka’s history.
Brinkle’s statement described the marker as the project’s third chapter, following the book and mural.
Other markers approved during the meeting included Historic Port Orange Elementary School, Howard Academy and a marker about Tom Petty and Elvis Presley.
The marker’s text has been finalized, and ordering is underway, Brinkle said in an Oct. 23 email. She said Apopka Community Redevelopment Agency funds will pay for the project, with installation planned next to the mural at Sixth and McGee streets.
In an Oct. 2 email forwarded by Brinkle on Oct. 23, Heiker quoted a marker price of $3,145 if ordered before Dec. 31. Sewah Studios will manufacture it, with manufacture and delivery generally taking six to seven months, he wrote.
Brinkle did not provide a total project cost, including installation, and said no installation or unveiling date has been established.
“This belongs to the whole community,” Brinkle said in her statement.