The site is the location in which 674 bodies of African Americans or those of an unknown race were buried following the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, while most of the white victims of the storm received a proper burial at Woodlawn Cemetery due to segregation laws.

The Hurricane of 1928 African-American Mass Burial Site is located in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the southwest corner of the intersection of 25th Street and Tamarind Avenue.

[2] The bodies were buried in two layers in a now completely fence-enclosed 40 by 80 feet (12 by 24 m) area, which is located near the northeast corner of the pauper's cemetery, close to 25th Street and about 145 ft (44 m) west of Tamarind Avenue.

Due to racial segregation at the time, the coffins provided were used for the white victims, most of whom received a proper burial at Woodlawn Cemetery in West Palm Beach.

Some were burned in funeral pyres, while many were placed into mass graves,[4] including about 1,600 in Port Mayaca, 674 at the pauper's cemetery in West Palm Beach, at least 22 in Miami Locks (now known as Lake Harbor), 28 in Ortona, and 22 in Sebring.

After the burials were complete, then-Mayor of West Palm Beach Vincent Oaksmith proclaimed an hour of mourning on October 1 for those who died during the storm.

[1] Those buried were largely forgotten, despite reports of human remains resurfacing over the years, including during the rerouting of 25th Street in the 1950s, which resulted in the unearthing of several bodies.

After some deed restrictions were lifted in 1985,[1] the church sold the land to Palm Beach Exterminating owner Bernard Kolkana, who was planning the construction of a warehouse on the property.

The complex was originally intended to include an educational center and a museum about African-American pioneers and migrant farm workers, at a cost of approximately $6.1 million.

[1] City Commissioner Alfred Zucaro urged then-West Palm Beach mayor Joel T. Daves III in September 2000 to reacquire the land using eminent domain.

On September 11, four of the five city commissioners – Jim Exline, Ike Robinson, Bill Moss, and Zucaro – voted in approval of eminent domain after failures to negotiate with Kolkana and accusations of racism.