Florida’s 1885 Constitution mandated segregated public education for black and white students. In 1891, the American Missionary Association opened the private Orange Park Normal and Industrial School at this site to educate black students, with several buildings housing classrooms, dormitories, and workshops. Because of the school’s success, white children began to attend, drawing the attention of Florida Superintendent of Public Instruction William Sheats, a staunch segregationist. He pressed the state legislature to pass a 1895 law forbidding any Florida school, public or private, from teaching black and white students together. At that time, Orange Park Normal School was the only racially integrated school in the state. The American Missionary Association challenged the law in court, where Judge R.M. Call ruled against the State of Florida. Although the association won the case, opposition to the school among whites grew, and by 1917 the American Missionary Association closed it. Though segregation continued in Florida for another 50 years, the school stood as a pioneering example of integration in education.