Pioneer Florida Museum and Village

 

    I retired at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, after thirty years of teaching history, and we moved to Pasco County, Florida, just north of Tampa. Pasco County is in transition. The population is surging as northerners move south. I've heard it often said that 1,000 people move to Florida each day on average, and I am tempted to believe it. Parts of Pasco County are very suburban Tampa; New Tampa is a new term being used for the region.  A new community of 5,000 homes is currently being built a couple of miles from us. However, there are still lots of open spaces and cow pastures, for now. In fact, we have a cow pasture at our back door.

    In 1961, a forward thinking citizen of Pasco County donated 37 pieces of farm equipment to the Pasco County Fair Association. Eventually, the Pioneer Florida Museum Association built the Pioneer Florida Farm Museum and Village on 16 acres near Dade City, the county seat of Pasco County. In the organization's own words, its hope is that the farm "recalls the basic, simple values of our forebears, asserts the dignity of labor, and emphasizes the value of craftsmanship."  (Website:   https://www.pioneerfloridamuseum.org/ )

    Structures from all over central Florida have been brought to the farm and set up as a historic village. There are a school, a railroad depot and locomotive, a farm house, a general store, and various other farm structures for visitors to explore. And, if you're lucky, there are costumed interpreters to educate and answer questions. The farm also hosts numerous events during the year, including festivals, concerts, and events like cane grinding. (Yes, you can buy sugar cane syrup produced on site.) For researchers, there is also a History Center which houses a lot of county records and other documents from the late 1800s to about 1940.

        Overall, it's a great place to visit, whether, like me, your ancestors were farmers and sharecroppers in south Georgia, or know nothing about farm life. Check it out if you're ever in the area, or see if you can find a similar site near your home.