The John Gilmore Riley Center & Museum for African American History & Culture is Tallahassee’s oldest African American historic site. Located in downtown Tallahassee at the corner of Meridian and Jefferson Streets, the Riley House was built in approximately 1890 by John G. Riley, an emancipated slave who became a noted educator and civic leader in Tallahassee’s African American community.

The former Riley family home was the residence of Mr. Riley and his family from its construction until 1950. Mr. Riley was the principal of Lincoln Academy from 1892-1926, a leader in Tallahassee’s African American community, and a prominent downtown property owner, a rare status for a black man in that era.

In 1996, the Riley House officially opened its doors as the John Gilmore Riley Center & Museum for African American History & Culture, a museum that “preserves, interprets and makes available African American history through exhibits, research, oral histories, educational programs and special events so that all people will understand its vital role in American history.”