On November 14, 1914, a public lynching was held at the corner of Old 9th Street South and 2nd Avenue South. John Evans, accused of killing his boss and assaulting his boss’ wife, was hanged from a light post. "They drug him from the jail which was over on Central Avenue to this spot and they hung him," Gwendolyn Reese, who co-chairs Pinellas Remembers, said. As 1,500 people gathered to watch him hang from the light post on the southwest corner, something happened that turned this lynching into a slaughter.
Pinellas Remembers is working to install a historical marker bearing witness to the horrors of lynchings at a significant site in our community. We believe that publicly confronting the devastating history of racial terror lynching in our own community is an essential step towards recovery, healing and racial reconciliation needed to create a more just society. We believe that deep traumatic and psychological wounds of racial terror lynching continue to impact the Black community, and that truth and reconci
Pinellas Remembers is proud to partner with our community. See all of our partners »