Fort Pierce, on Florida’s so-called Treasure Coast, is the home of a group of 26 African American artists. They were known for their fast painting style of realistic Florida landscapes. If you scratch almost any surface around the state, owners of Highwaymen paintings rise to the top. They were very prolific.

In 2004, their lifework as landscape artists was recognized by the state of Florida and the late Alfred Hair and the Florida Highwaymen were inducted in the Florida Artist Hall of Fame (https://dos.fl.gov/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/alfred-hair-and-the-florida-highwaymen/). In 2020 the Original Hall of Fame Florida Highwaymen were awarded the Florida Folk Heritage award by the Florida Folklife Program (https://dos.fl.gov/cultural/programs/florida-folklife-program/folk-heritage-awards/list-of-past-recipients/the-florida-highwaymen/).

At that last event, I crossed paths with Alfred’s widow, Miss Doretha Hair Truesdell, president of the Original Florida Hall of Fame Highwaymen. Under Doretha’s leadership, a museum to honor the work of this much beloved group of no-longer unsung artists was finally being created. She was in search of a museum professional to assist them in their journey and there I was. We’ve been on the same road ever since.

Along the way, as I learned more and more about the Highwaymen, I’ve also learned about Fort Pierce. It seems that many people that I’ve met have some sort of connection to the town. I don’t know why, that’s just the way it is. And now I have my connection as well.

To promote this group of artists, the city has assembled a Highwayman Heritage Trail (https://www.cityoffortpierce.com/534/About-the-Highwaymen-Heritage-Trail)* that takes drivers to many of the locations in town associated with them. The sites on the trail are marked with historic markers with text and images.

*The renowned author, folklorist, and anthropologist, Zora Neal Hurston, is a Fort Pierce daughter. I have yet to follow the trail that traces her life in the city (https://www.cityoffortpierce.com/386/Zora-Neale-Hurston-Dust-Tracks-Heritage-).

The following are some notable stops on the Highwaymen Heritage Trail along with other sites I enjoy when I’m in town.

Several of the painters have been laid to rest at the The Pine Grove Cemetery at the intersection of Avenue I and North 10th Street. The Pine Grove Cemetery was founded as even at death, black and whites were segregated until after the Jim Crow era. Before the road there was paved and signage put up, the cemetery was reached via a so-called “pig trail.”

Mosaics by local artist Anita Prentice mark the graves and represent the artwork of the painters buried there including Alfred Hair, Livingston ‘Castro’ Roberts, Johnny ‘Hook’ Daniels, Carnell Smith, Sr., Willie Brown Daniels, and Mary Ann Carroll (https://www.anitaprenticeart.com/#home),

Mary Ann Carroll is the only “Highwaywoman” – the lone female of the original 26 artists. Born in 1940, her family of sharecroppers moved to Fort Pierce when she was 8. Mentored by Highwayman Harold Newton, Mary Ann sold her first painting at 18.

Prentice’s mosaic work can be found on benches at Moore’s Creek Linear Park, the neighborhood at Avenue B and 10th Street that was home to artists Harold Newton and Mary Ann Carroll.

A huge mosaic of a colorful Royal Poinciana tree, the image painted by many of the Highwaymen artists, is at the Intermodal Transit Facility at 725 Avenue D. All 26 artists are honored with individual brass plaques here, the end of the Trail.

Lincoln Park, one of Fort Pierce’s oldest neighborhoods, was the center of St. Lucie County’s African-American community during the 1950s and 1960s. In 2006, Lincoln Park was designated as a Florida Main Street community. The Trail takes drivers along the Avenue D corridor which was its historic commercial center. This area had been alive with lots of activity. During the day on Saturdays, kids went to the movies. Saturday night was time for the clubs, juke joints, and night life. Life along Avenue D waned from the 70s til the hurricanes of 2004 that damaged many of the buildings.

Baker’s Flamingo Bar & Grill was established by Levie Baker late in 1923. It was the primary chitlin circuit venue in Lincoln Park (https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/keeping-the-memory-of-the-chitlin-circuit-alive/). During its heyday, the property included a rooming house where the bands who were not allowed in local white-owned hotels stayed overnight. Despite legalized desegregation, performers such as James Brown and the Famous Flames and Billie Holiday still attracted integrated crowds.

Another notable juke joint was Eddie’s Place where several Florida Highwaymen met regularly. Alfred Hair was shot and killed here on August 9, 1970, in a bar fight at the age of 29.

The Trail passes the Lincoln Park Academy, at 1806 Avenue I. The school’s roots date to 1921 when it became the area’s first four-year black high school. When it was accredited in 1928, it one of the only four accredited black high schools in Florida. Zora Neil Hurston taught here for last two years.

Many of the Highwaymen attended Lincoln Park Academy. They had early art lessons from Zanobia Jefferson. She introduced Alfred Hair to A.E. ‘Bean’ Backus, the locally known artist who mentored many aspiring artists.

The Dunbar House is the home of Alfred and Doretha Hair and their four children. Alfred’s studio was in back of house. It was a popular gathering place for several Highwaymen artists and their helpers. Hair often painted twenty or more Florida scenes in a day here.

The 1946 Caynon Building on Avenue D served as a rooming house upstairs, pool hall downstairs, and housed Lincoln Park Main Street. Starting in 2009, it has been restored to be the City of Fort Pierce Highwaymen Museum, opening sometime in the near future.

Several artworks form streetscapes in Lincoln Park. The Highwaymen Trail Obelisk, Avenue D and 15th Street, is a 20-foot grant-funded obelisk created features mosaic duplicates of Highwaymen paintings by noted Florida artist Stephanie Jaffe Werner (https://stephaniejaffeart.com/).

Then there are the mysterious mini-pyramids of painted rocks on a two-block stretch of Avenue D.

Other notable venues in Fort Pierce include:

The Historic Arcade Building (1926), built in Spanish Colonial Revival style, is in the heart of downtown Fort Pierce. It was once the largest commercial building in Fort Pierce and served as the shopping mecca for the entire region. The Arcade Building survived several fires that shut it down from the 1980’s until 2002 when the “new” Arcade Building reopened. It housed a huge store selling African goods; a few months ago I noticed that it was gone, lock stock and barrel.

Murals depicting the heyday of the Arcade Building wrap the outside of the building. They include Canaday’s Drugs, Ranchland Clothing Store, the military presence in Fort Pierce and much more.

Another mural is the Night Train Mural painted by Blue Sky in 1995 on a building dating to the 1890s adjacent to the Florida East Coast Railway tracks. Since 1911, Henry Flagler’s railroad gave local growers and fisherman access to northern markets. The original mural had a real light that lit up the night. It was removed, however, because it was too realistic and scared drivers who thought a real train was arriving.

The Peacock Arts District is on the Orange Avenue district, parallel to Avenue D.   The center of the area is an ornate enamel tiled building, that served as a travel agency. The owner introduced the peacocks and it took off from there. Colorful murals now join the colorful birds.

I’m sure in the coming months, as I continue to monthly trek to Fort Pierce that I’ll be adding photos and blogs about this area. Of course, we all anxiously await the opening of the Highwaymen Museum.