Parramore Interactive Heritage Trail

Our goal is to spread awareness of the cultural value of Orlando’s Parramore district by creating an immersive experience that presents the area as a cultural, educational, and tourist destination. To accomplish this, we are creating a mobile heritage tour of Parramore using a combination of historical markers, augmented reality, and digital storytelling. For those who are unable to physically attend the tour, Parramore-Callahan Neighborhood Project presents tour information through an easy-to-navigate map and lesson plans with extended oral histories and documentary film clips are also available. Currently, one is available to view and use, and more will be added as project development continues based on available funds and resources in a way that further extends the reach of the project from the physical spaces of Parramore to any classroom that can connect to this community’s history via a Parramore-Callahan Neighborhood Project. Connect today with Parramore and upcoming cultural events, farmer’s markets, and more through Parramore-Callahan Neighborhood Project.

Parramore’s Historic Importance,

Yesterday and Today

The Parramore District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009 and contains approximately 20 acres of historic buildings constructed between the 1800s and early 1940s that reflect the history of Orlando’s Black community. Development pressure is endangering nearby historic churches and other structures, and local residents have united to save historic structures such as the Wells’Built Hotel.

---

Hear Their Stories

In this section, you can see and hear a small sampling of the oral history and local heritage from Parramore area residents, which will be expanded upon and integrated into the mobile app-based tour and lesson plans going forward. Orlando, like the rest of the South, struggled to confront and end “Jim Crow” segregation and racial discrimination during the late 19^th to early 20^th century. Mayor Bob Carr along with city and community representatives realized that Orlando’s future rested with an emerging Sunbelt economy, that would help ease racial tensions,  and improve the economy by lowering taxation and promoting technological advancements. However, racial hostility in places like Montgomery, Alabama and Tallahassee, Florida threatened to halt progress. Learn more about how this affected the local people of Orlando.

---

---

Historical Markers And App

In this first phase of project development, in addition to the project’s Website, we have been working on the design of heritage markers and a mobile app that will allow you to take the history of the Parramore-Callahan neighborhood with you as you travel to and through downtown Orlando. To date, we have printed 3D prototypes of two historic markers and developed a design document outlining the way the mobile app will work with the other project components to create an interactive and immersive user experience.

Heritage markers for the Wells’Built and Maxey-Crooms house were printed using the UCF GaIM/NSCM Maker Space’s 3D printer (the prototyping materials are white, but the physical markers will not be this color).

These designs will be shared with community partners and humanities advisors for discussion and feedback as part of an iterative design process.