The Seminole Hotel was built in 1886 on Lake Osceola in Winter Park, Florida and many people referred to it as the grand resort of Florida. In its early years, the hotel was able to attract many wealthy northerners using luxuries such as gaslights and steam heating. The hotel featured a beautiful formal dining room that could seat hundreds, sumptuous covered porches, a bowling alley, and 200 guest rooms. Along with neighboring Rollins College, the hotel and college brought luxury to the edge of the Florida frontier. The college’s opening offered many job opportunities around the Orlando area. For African-Americans living on the west side of Winter Park, this was crucial. Many young African-Americans were able to find jobs at the Seminole Hotel and earn decent wages.
The hotel is now known as the Park Plaza Hotel.
Tourists who visited Winter Park usually came via the South Florida Railroad. This train, which ran right through the center of Winter Park, made it easy for the hotel to attract visitors from more affluent regions in the north. When a family or someone with money arrived in Winter Park, the concierge would bring the guests to the hotel by a mule-drawn carriage, driven by one of their African-American employees.
The Seminole offered African-Americans many such service jobs. Women could find work at the hotel as maids or cooks, while African-American men were hired as bellhops or baggage carriers.
Many of the employees of the Seminole Hotel who lived in Winter Park year-round acquired other jobs through their connections at the hotel. The majority of the hotel’s business came during the winter months, leaving most employees free to seek other jobs during the summer months. Through their association with affluent white hotel guests, local African-Americans procured off-season jobs maintaining gardens and orange crops for the wealthy people who returned north for the summer, leaving their Florida properties in need of maintenance. This was highly beneficial for the African-American families in Winter Park, because with the right connections this guaranteed work all year round.