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== Liberia and Sudan in Ormond Beach ==

In the period between the 1880's and 1900's, the African-American community in Ormond Beach, Florida, located in the vicinity of Tomoka Road and White Street, was called Liberia, after the first independent country established in Africa in 1821 by freed American slaves. After The Civil War, a group from the country of Liberia settled there. Another area reaching north to now Dix Avenue, west to Seldon Avenue and east to Lincoln Ave, was granted the name of Sudan, after the African country. Both countries are strong u.s. allies, and today, Granada Blvd marks the border-line between those founding communities. Since that early period, African-American residents continue the tradition to affectionately refer to their communities with the historical, Liberia and Sudan namesakes, often without knowledge of the true meaning behind those names until recent day.

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Liberia and Sudan have been in Ormond Beach since the late 1800s. Now they'll have signs to let folks know.

Former Michael Gibson said Liberia and Sudan have gone unrecognized by the broader community for too long.

"The information and history records for black people in Ormond at the time, not many records were kept," he said. "We worked hard to uncover bits and pieces of information."

In Ormond Beach, Liberia and Sudan do not refer to the two African countries, but to historically black working-class neighborhoods along Granada Boulevard and Washington Street. The north side is traditionally known as Sudan, and the south side, Liberia.

The latter was founded by freed American slaves in the 1840s. They got help from the American Colonization Society, which believed freed slaves would prefer to be back in Africa, where they'd also have a better chance to retain their freedom and thrive as a people. Mr. Gibson said the country was a powerful inspiration to American blacks before and after the Civil War.

"Liberia was the first independent country in Africa," he said. "It was founded by former American slaves. The capital was Monrovia, after President (James) Monroe."

Back in Ormond Beach, freed slaves started settling in the area after the Civil War, along with people who traveled from Liberia. That's according to Mr. Gibson's research. Some of the freed slaves' families heading to Ormond Beach kept alive the knowledge that they came from Sudan.

"Even in slavery, they didn't lose their memory," Mr. Gibson said. "Through all the brutality of slavery, someone had the wherewithal to say, 'Wherever I am in this land, I know where I'm from and we're going to keep that namesake in our heart.'"

As time wore on, according to Mr. Gibson, the two Ormond Beach communities largely forgot how their neighborhoods got their names. He hopes the signs will help them remember.

According to city spokeswoman Loretta Moisio, the city commission recently approved making and erecting the signs. She said city workers will make the signs along with other projects, so there's no way to calculate their cost. However, she said it's negligible.

"They're in production by the city sign shop and should be up by June," she said in a phone interview after the commission approved them. "They're going to be standard 2 by 2 aluminum signs that are brown with white lettering."

The signs will note the historic neighborhoods' names, and urge readers to find out more about their history by visiting the city's website: www.ormondbeach.org.

Mr. Gibson, who organizes the annual "I am Ormond Beach" community reunion, now lives in Southfield, Mich., his wife's hometown. The couple plan to relocate to Ormond Beach in coming years. Mr. Gibson said Mayor Ed Kelly was largely responsible for getting local interest in the signs.

The mayor said that he'd been unaware that neighborhoods in his city were named after African countries. He enjoyed finding out about it, and how it came to be. Mayor Kelly said it made him more proud of the men and women who'd settled Ormond Beach.

"I'm kind of a history buff," he said. "Anything we can do to connect the present with the past gives the community a different sense."

This will be the fifth year of the Ormond Beach Reunion on July 12 to 15. A ceremony to celebrate the new signs will kick off the festivities.

"We're going to do a public ribbon cutting on (July 12) as well," he said. "That'll be 2 p.m."

The signs will be placed at the corners of Granada Boulevard and Washington Street.

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