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Lakeland, Fla. March 24, 2022 – (Breanna Rittman | Lakeland Ledger) – More than 50 years ago, Polk County had thriving Black communities such as Moorehead and Pughsville. Communities were formed as Blacks migrated for work. They were filled with doctor’s offices, grocery stores, and juke joints.
“The communities where Blacks live had their own identity,” Moorhead historian LaFrancine Burton said.
Then came desegregation, commercialization, and eminent domain causing the end to many of these communities.
Families lost their homes and land that they inherited and planned to pass down to generations after them. A financial gain for the cities became a financial burden for the members of the Black communities.
Today The Ledger looks at the rise and fall of a few historically black communities in Polk County.
Medulla
Medulla is located south of Lakeland and was developed with the construction of a depot by the Winston and Bone Valley Railroad in 1892. Medulla Phosphate Company was formed in October 1907 by C.G. Memminger. Two months later, he changed the name to Christina after his daughter.
In 1908, Black living quarters were developed so people could work in the community.
According to Pat Taylor, director of the Medulla Resource Center, families came from Georgia, Eaton Park, and Madison, Florida.
According to the Polk County History Center, the onset of World War I in 1914 and the outbreak of Spanish Influenza in 1918 caused a decrease in phosphate production. Although Medulla began to prosper again at the end of World War I, the communities could not survive the effects of the 1925 land bust and the 1929 stock market crash.
Pastor Alex Harper Sr. pastored in Medulla from 1962 to1968 at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church.
Mount Olive is one of the two main churches in Medulla. The other being St. John Primitive Baptist Church.
“In areas like Medulla, the church was the mainstay that kept people together. The church played a dominant role in keeping people together.”
Harper said Medulla was filled with people who moved to work for the local mine and railroad.
“Back then, it was a family-type community. Everybody knew each other,” Harper said.
As the mine and railroad industries changed, Medulla started to see a decline in population.
“The senior members passed away and the younger people left,” Harper said. “It caused a community to die out.”
