Union Bank, 219 Apalachee Parkway
This is the oldest bank building in the state of Florida. Organized by white planters, the Union Bank received its charter in 1833 and began operating out of the building in 1841. However, due to overextended investments in failed crops and the ongoing struggle against the Seminole Indians, the Union Bank ceased its operations in 1843.

In an ironic twist, the defunct Union Bank became the home of the Freedman's Saving and Trust Company in 1869. Charted in 1866 by philanthropists, the Freedmen's Bank established thirty-seven branches in seventeen states and Washington, D.C.; two branches were located in Florida, one in Tallahassee and another in Jacksonville. The success of the Freedmen's Bank emerged out of the realization that self-determination was tied to the freedmen's ability to save their earnings and accumulate wealth. The institution eventually closed due to mismanagement, but during its six years in operation, the Freedmen's Bank of Tallahassee enrolled more than 1,400 depositors, nearly all of whom were African Americans.

In following years, the Union Bank building housed a number of businesses and organizations, including a church, a bakery, a feed store, a newspaper office, and a beauty parlor. In 1927 Willis Jiles, a local African American, operated a cobbler shop in the facility. Originally located on Adams Street, the bank was moved to its current location at Apalachee Parkway and Calhoun Street in 1971. The building is now utilized as the downtown branch of the Florida A&M University Black Archives, Research Center and Museum.

Carnegie Library, Florida A&M University
In 1903, a Carnegie Library grant was offered, but the library's directors refused it due to its simple requirement of integration. Andrew Carnegie's $10,000 donation, for a building, was subsequently given to the State Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes (now FAMU). The Carnegie Library has housed the Black Archives, Research Center and Museum since 1977.

The Knott House, 301 East Park Avenue
George Proctor, a free man of color who was a master carpenter and builder, constructed this house in 1843. The Knott House holds a very distinct place in Tallahassee's Civil War history. On May 20, 1865, Union General Edward M. McCook of the occupying Union Army read the Emancipation Proclamation from the steps of the house.
This officially notified blacks and whites of President Lincoln's fateful decree, marking the end of the South's struggle and the beginning of a long-awaited jubilee for the newly freed slaves. Each year people gather at the Knott House to commemorate the event with an annual reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. The house now serves as one of four sites operated by the Museum of Florida History, documenting the lives of William V. Knott, a Florida politician, and his wife Luella.

Lincoln Academy (Lincoln High School), 438 West Brevard Street
Having been denied access to education during slavery, former slaves eagerly sought education for themselves and their children after emancipation. They viewed learning as the key to altering their economic and social status. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the "Great Emancipator," the academic body that became Lincoln Academy was first organized in 1869.
After the first school at Lafayette and Copeland burned, a new structure was built at Copeland and Park Avenue (currently part of Florida State University's campus). In 1906 Lincoln Academy moved into a frame building on Brevard Street in Frenchtown; in 1926 the wooden structure was replaced by one of brick. The Lincoln Academy became the heart of the community, not only as the neighborhood education center but also as a gathering place for dances and social events. These circumstances changed with the Civil Rights movement and the push for integration. In a fashion repeated throughout the nation, all-black Lincoln High School was administratively closed in 1967. It operated at the Griffin School site on Alabama Street until final closure in 1972. Although African Americans gained equal access to previously segregated education systems, it cost them their autonomy; as a result, many black administrators and educators lost their jobs. The Lincoln school building, the third school structure, now serves as a community center.

The Old City Cemetery, Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Park Avenue
This was Tallahassee's first public cemetery and as early as 1829 served as the place of interment for both black and white Tallahasseans. The practice of segregation continued after death, due to laws that required blacks to be buried in the western half of the cemetery. Among the blacks interred here are slaves and more than 70 Union soldiers believed to have been killed at the Battle of Natural Bridge (located in nearby St. Marks) on March 5, 1865.
Additionally, many of Tallahassee's prominent African Americans are buried in the Old City Cemetery. Among them are Thomas Van Ressalaer Gibbs, Reconstruction legislator and educator; William Gunn (1855-1922), one of the first African American physicians in the state of Florida; John G. Riley, noted educator and community leader; James Page, a former slave and founder of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church; and John Proctor, educator and politician during Reconstruction and son of famous builder George Proctor. A city ordinance passed in 1936 prevented the sale of burial plots to blacks in the city cemetery. Those owning spaces were permitted to continue burials, though they were not encouraged. In protest, seven African Americans led by J. R. D. Laster, Tallahassee's first black funeral director, purchased sixteen acres on Old Bainbridge Road, and established Greenwood Cemetery. After 1937, most African Americans were buried in Greenwood.