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, granddaugh ... view more »
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 the 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.
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