Zora Neale Hurston’s Final Home Protected

We’re proud to share that The Conservation Fund has helped protect the final home of legendary author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, ensuring that her legacy will live on for future generations.

Located in Fort Pierce, Florida — just blocks from Hurston’s gravesite — this modest home was at risk of being lost to development. It was here that she spent the final years of her life writing for a local Black newspaper and engaging with her community.

Working quickly to intervene before the property hit the open market, The Conservation Fund purchased the home with plans to transfer it to the Zora Neale Hurston Florida Education Foundation, who will restore it and create a public visitor and education center.

“Despite being a National Historic Landmark, this home could have been forgotten or demolished, like so many African American historic sites across the country,” said Lauren Day, Florida Director for The Conservation Fund. “We’re honored to help safeguard Zora’s legacy in Fort Pierce.”

Hurston is best known for her powerful storytelling and her role in the Harlem Renaissance. Her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is a cornerstone of American literature. Her Fort Pierce home sits in Lincoln Park, a historically Black neighborhood shaped by segregation and resilience.

This effort is part of The Conservation Fund’s Legacy Places Initiative, which works to protect African American cultural and historic landmarks nationwide — sites that are too often overlooked or undervalued. From the Chattahoochee Brick Company Memorial Park in Georgia to formerly segregated beaches in Maryland, we’re working to ensure these places are not only preserved but uplifted.

“Zora’s home was her refuge — and it deserves to be part of her enduring legacy,” said Marvin Hobson, president of the Zora Neale Hurston Florida Education Foundation. “Together, we’re making sure her story remains rooted in the place she last called home.”

We’re currently fundraising to support the purchase and restoration of the home. Once complete, the center will become a vital part of the Dust Tracks Heritage Trail, which celebrates key locations from Hurston’s life and career in Fort Pierce.

This is more than a home — it’s a chance to honor a voice that helped shape American culture.

Zora Neale Hurston’s Final Home Protected

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