As families gather at Legacy Park to take in the city of Alachua’s annual July 4 fireworks display, a neighboring family will be celebrating a special milestone of their own.
On Nov. 2, 1925, Allen and Maggie Lumpkins purchased a 6-acre plot of land for $500 that abuts where Legacy Park now sits. Their descendants have long spent the July 4 holiday on the property as a reunion of sorts, so they decided this year’s gathering would honor the achievement of keeping the land in the family for a full century.
“Way back in 1925, they [Allen and Maggie] had the courage to get the property, to farm on the property, and to maintain it for their children and their only grandchild,” said Tatanya Peterson, the great-great-granddaughter of the Lumpkinses. “Property ownership was something to be proud of… because their parents were enslaved.”…