The Rosewood massacre was a racially motivated massacre of black people and the destruction of a black town that took place during the first week of January 1923 in rural Levy County, Florida, United States. At least six black people were killed, but eyewitness accounts suggested a higher death toll of 27 to 150. In addition, two white people were killed in self-defense by one of the victims. The town of Rosewood was destroyed in what contemporary news reports characterized as a race riot. Florida had an especially high number of lynchings of black men in the years before the massacre, including the lynching of Charles Strong and the Perry massacre in 1922.
The remains of Sarah Carrier's house, where two black and two white people were killed in Rosewood, Florida in January 1923
This pencil mill in Cedar Key was an integral part of local industry.
Black turpentine workers were encouraged to stay in Florida only after they became scarce.
Sarah Carrier (left), Sylvester Carrier (standing) and his sister Willie Carrier (right), taken around 1910
Levy County is a county located on the Gulf coast in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,915. Its county seat is Bronson.
Levy County Courthouse
Levy County Courthouse, in Bronson