Florida Porch

History and culture

History and culture

Florida places, landmarks, foodways, roads, buildings, water stories, and the local details that make a place make sense.

Showing 72 of 187 Florida notes in this topic.

Hendry County

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum keeps Seminole history told from home

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation gives visitors a Seminole-led place to learn, remember, and slow down.

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Miami-Dade County

Ancient Spanish Monastery makes North Miami Beach feel older

The Ancient Spanish Monastery gives North Miami Beach a stone-by-stone story that started in medieval Spain before landing in Florida.

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Volusia County

Barberville Pioneer Settlement keeps rural Volusia hands-on

Barberville Pioneer Settlement gives Volusia County a hands-on village of older buildings, crafts, music, tools, and rural Florida memory.

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Broward County

Bonnet House keeps Fort Lauderdale close to its old coastal art side

Bonnet House gives Fort Lauderdale a rare old-coast mix of art, gardens, family history, and preserved beachside land.

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Franklin County

Carrabelle keeps a phone-booth-sized police story

Carrabelle's world's-smallest-police-station story turns a phone booth, a quiet fishing village, and local problem-solving into a roadside stop.

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Lake County

Clermont Citrus Tower keeps the grove view in memory

The Citrus Tower in Clermont opened in 1956 to show off Lake County's citrus landscape, then watched the view change around it.

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Hillsborough County

Columbia Restaurant keeps Ybor City at the table

Columbia Restaurant began in Tampa's Ybor City in 1905 and keeps a Spanish-Cuban dining story tied to one city block.

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Manatee County

Cortez keeps Manatee County's working-water memory

Cortez is a small Manatee County fishing village where boats, a former schoolhouse, maritime exhibits, and local seafood history still sit close together.

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Duval County

Cummer Museum keeps Jacksonville's river gardens in view

The Cummer Museum ties Jacksonville's art collection, riverfront gardens, and Ninah Cummer's civic legacy into one Riverside stop.

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Miami-Dade County

Curtiss Mansion keeps Miami Springs close to aviation history

Curtiss Mansion ties Miami Springs to Glenn Curtiss, early aviation, Pueblo Revival design, and a community-led restoration story.

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Volusia County

Daytona Speedway moved beach racing inland

Daytona International Speedway helps explain how Daytona's beach-racing fame became a permanent inland motorsports landmark.

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Marion County

Don Garlits Museum keeps Ocala's drag-racing story loud

The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing gives Ocala a fast, mechanical, very Florida car-culture stop with national racing memory.

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Volusia County

Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens mixes old mill walls, flowers, and roadside fun

Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens in Port Orange blends a 19th-century mill site, volunteer gardens, and concrete dinosaurs from an old attraction.

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Marion County

Dunnellon's phosphate marker tells a boom-town story

Dunnellon's hard-rock phosphate story explains why this quiet river town once sat near the center of a Florida mining boom.

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Miami-Dade County

Fairchild Garden keeps Coral Gables close to the tropical plant world

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden gives Coral Gables a major tropical plant story tied to Robert Montgomery, David Fairchild, and Miami's growing climate.

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St. Johns County

Flagler College keeps St. Augustine's grand hotel in daily use

Flagler College keeps the old Hotel Ponce de Leon at the center of St. Augustine life, turning a Gilded Age resort into an active campus.

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Broward County

Flamingo Gardens keeps Davie's grove and wildlife story in one place

Flamingo Gardens began as a South Florida citrus grove and now ties Davie to plants, Everglades history, and native wildlife care.

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Escambia County

Flora-Bama keeps Escambia's state-line music story loud

Flora-Bama gives Perdido Key and Escambia County a state-line beach bar, music, and Gulf Coast gathering story that reaches back to 1964.

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Monroe County

Florida Keys Wild Bird Center keeps Tavernier's rescue story close

Florida Keys Wild Bird Center gives Tavernier a wildlife-rescue and sanctuary story tied to injured birds, education, and Keys habitats.

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Duval County

Florida Theatre keeps Jacksonville's movie palace on Forsyth Street

The Florida Theatre gives downtown Jacksonville a 1927 movie palace that survived hard years and still anchors live shows, films, and civic memory.

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Orange County

Fort Christmas makes the town name feel literal

Fort Christmas Historical Park gives Christmas, Florida, a real fort story, pioneer homes, and a quieter look at Central Florida history.

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Okaloosa County

Fort Walton Beach Heritage Park puts the mound at the center

Fort Walton Beach Heritage Park ties the Indian Temple Mound Museum, historic buildings, and local history into one walkable cultural stop.

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Miami-Dade County

Fruit and Spice Park makes Homestead's tropical side easy to taste

Fruit and Spice Park near Homestead gives Miami-Dade a public garden built around tropical fruit, spices, herbs, nuts, and farm-country curiosity.

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Orange County

Gatorland keeps Orlando's roadside wildlife story alive

Gatorland gives Orlando an older roadside-attraction story, from Owen Godwin's 1949 wildlife idea to the famous gator-mouth entrance.

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Lake County

GeorgeFest keeps Eustis on a small-town birthday calendar

GeorgeFest gives Eustis a long-running George Washington birthday celebration with a parade, carnival, races, music, and downtown energy.

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Okaloosa County

Gulfarium keeps Fort Walton's 1955 marine-park story alive

Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park gives Fort Walton Beach an older Gulf-side attraction story that reaches back to 1955.

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Monroe County

Hemingway Home keeps Key West's literary side close

The Hemingway Home in Key West keeps the writer's island years close, with the old house, studio, pool, garden, and famous cats.

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Martin County

House of Refuge keeps Stuart's shipwreck shelter story

The House of Refuge at Gilbert's Bar keeps Martin County's coastal rescue history close to the rocks, reefs, and Atlantic weather.

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Volusia County

Jackie Robinson Ballpark keeps Daytona's civil-rights baseball story

Jackie Robinson Ballpark keeps Daytona Beach tied to a 1946 spring-training game that helped move baseball history forward.

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Duval County

Jacksonville's Cowford name starts at the river crossing

Before Jacksonville took its current name, the St. Johns River crossing known as Cowford helped explain why the settlement formed where it did.

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Miami-Dade County

Joe's Stone Crab keeps Miami Beach's seafood story old-school

Joe's Stone Crab gives Miami Beach a seafood story that began with Joe Weiss, a small lunch counter, and a city that was not a city yet.

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Alachua County

Kanapaha Gardens gives Gainesville a slow plant walk

Kanapaha Botanical Gardens gives Gainesville a nonprofit garden with broad plant collections, a long paved walk, and a North Florida garden story.

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Monroe County

Key West Cemetery makes island history a walking map

Key West Cemetery turns island history into a walk, with hurricane memory, high ground, family plots, old markers, and a city-run cemetery still in use.

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Hillsborough County

La Segunda keeps Ybor's Cuban bread story warm

La Segunda ties Tampa's Ybor City to Cuban bread, immigrant work, bakery trucks, palmetto leaves, and a family business that began in 1915.

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Lake County

Lakeside Inn keeps Mount Dora on the lakefront hotel map

Lakeside Inn gives Mount Dora a long-running lakefront hotel story, from the Alexander House to a National Register landmark.

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Orange County

Leu Gardens gives Orlando a shaded old estate story

Leu Gardens gives Orlando fifty acres of plants, paths, and an old house story that started long before the modern tourist map.

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St. Johns County

Lightner Museum keeps St. Augustine's Hotel Alcazar in use

The Lightner Museum gives St. Augustine another Flagler-era hotel story, turning the old Hotel Alcazar into a museum with a curious collection.

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Palm Beach County

Lion Country Safari keeps western Palm Beach's drive-through zoo story

Lion Country Safari near Loxahatchee keeps a 1960s drive-through animal park story alive in western Palm Beach County.

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Flagler County

Marineland keeps A1A's oceanarium story old and new

Marineland gives the A1A coast an older oceanarium story that still shapes the small town between St. Augustine and Flagler Beach.

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Indian River County

McKee Botanical Garden keeps Vero's jungle-garden memory

McKee Botanical Garden keeps part of Vero Beach's old roadside-attraction era alive with tropical plants, water lilies, and rescued garden paths.

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Miami-Dade County

Merrick House keeps Coral Gables close to its family start

Merrick House gives Coral Gables a founder-family landmark with a wraparound porch, garden grounds, and weekend tours.

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Miami-Dade County

Miami Freedom Tower carries a newspaper and refugee story

Freedom Tower began as a Miami newspaper building, then became a major Cuban Assistance Center and one of downtown Miami's most meaningful landmarks.

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Miami-Dade County

Monkey Jungle keeps South Miami-Dade's old animal-park story

Monkey Jungle keeps a South Miami-Dade animal-park story that began with Joseph DuMond, Java monkeys, and a subtropical forest.

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Palm Beach County

Mounts Botanical Garden gives West Palm a growing classroom

Mounts Botanical Garden gives West Palm Beach a public garden tied to county learning, tropical plants, and everyday South Florida yards.

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St. Lucie County

Navy SEAL Museum keeps Fort Pierce's beach training story visible

The Navy SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce preserves the beach training story of Navy frogmen, Underwater Demolition Teams, and later SEAL history.

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Monroe County

Pigeon Key keeps the Seven Mile Bridge story close

Pigeon Key near Marathon keeps the Overseas Railroad and Seven Mile Bridge story tied to real island buildings, workers, water, and weather.

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Hillsborough County

Plant Museum keeps Tampa's railroad hotel story grand

The Henry B. Plant Museum keeps Tampa close to the grand Tampa Bay Hotel, railroad growth, Moorish Revival design, and Spanish-American War history.

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Sarasota County

Ringling puts art and circus on one Sarasota campus

The Ringling in Sarasota ties John and Mable Ringling's legacy to art, circus history, Ca' d'Zan, public stewardship, and a major Florida museum campus.

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Miami-Dade County

Robert Is Here keeps Homestead's fruit stand story personal

Robert Is Here gives Homestead and the Redland a family fruit-stand story that grew from cucumbers, a hand-painted sign, local farms, and Everglades-bound traffic.

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Sarasota County

Sarasota Jungle Gardens keeps old Florida close to the flamingos

Sarasota Jungle Gardens gives the city an old Florida attraction with tropical trails, animal shows, flamingos, and a public story dating to 1939.

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Walton County

Seaside made a walkable town part of Walton's beach story

Seaside in Walton County tied beach cottages, walkable streets, porches, shops, and town planning into one of 30A's best-known places.

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Sarasota County

Selby Gardens keeps Sarasota's bayfront plant story rooted

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens ties Sarasota's bayfront to orchids, air plants, a family property gift, and public garden life.

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Osceola County

Silver Spurs Rodeo keeps Kissimmee's ranch side visible

Silver Spurs Rodeo keeps Kissimmee tied to Osceola County ranching, volunteer work, wartime fundraising, and Central Florida rodeo tradition.

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Collier County

Smallwood Store keeps Chokoloskee's trading-post edge

Smallwood Store on Chokoloskee keeps the Ten Thousand Islands frontier story close to the water, the dock, and the old trading counter.

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Hardee County

Solomon's Castle makes Ona feel handmade

Solomon's Castle gives rural Hardee County a shiny handmade landmark built around Howard Solomon's home, galleries, workshop, and recycled-metal imagination.

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Wakulla County

Sopchoppy worm gruntin' turns a forest skill into a town party

Sopchoppy's worm gruntin' tradition turns an old bait-gathering skill into one of Wakulla County's most memorable local festivals.

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St. Johns County

St. Augustine Alligator Farm keeps Anastasia Island's reptile story growing

The St. Augustine Alligator Farm began as a late-1800s reptile attraction and grew into a modern zoo with a long Anastasia Island story.

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St. Johns County

St. Augustine Lighthouse keeps the coast in view

St. Augustine Lighthouse gives the old city a tall coastal landmark tied to ship traffic, shore change, local workers, and maritime history.

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St. Johns County

St. Augustine's datil pepper keeps local heat on the table

The datil pepper gives St. Augustine and St. Johns County a food story with local farms, family recipes, uncertain origins, and serious heat.

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Pinellas County

St. Pete Shuffleboard keeps Mirror Lake playful

The St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club gives Mirror Lake a century-old game story, from two courts to a landmark club with Friday night play.

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Volusia County

Stetson Mansion keeps DeLand's Gilded Age side visible

Stetson Mansion gives DeLand a bold Gilded Age story tied to John B. Stetson, unusual design, winter society, and early electric work.

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Pinellas County

Sunken Gardens keeps St. Pete's old roadside garden alive

Sunken Gardens gives St. Petersburg a living garden story from the old roadside-attraction era, with tropical plants, birds, and a restored history center.

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Hillsborough County

Tampa Theatre keeps downtown's night sky indoors

Tampa Theatre gives downtown Tampa a 1926 movie palace with stars overhead, a rescued landmark story, and a working stage.

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Pinellas County

The Don CeSar keeps St. Pete Beach's pink palace story

The Don CeSar gives St. Pete Beach a 1920s Gulf hotel landmark with a pink skyline, old resort ambition, and a long public memory.

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DeSoto County + 2 more

The Florida Cracker Trail keeps cattle-road memory on modern routes

The Florida Cracker Trail remembers cross-state cattle routes, open range work, old supply stops, and the dry path between Fort Pierce and the Gulf side.

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Leon County

The Grove Museum keeps Tallahassee's Call-Collins story open

The Grove Museum in Tallahassee keeps a Call-Collins family house open for a careful look at power, slavery, public service, and civil rights.

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Miami-Dade County

The Kampong keeps Coconut Grove close to a plant explorer's home

The Kampong in Coconut Grove keeps Miami close to David Fairchild's plant world, with tropical gardens, old grounds, and reserved visits.

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Monroe County

Theater of the Sea keeps Islamorada's old quarry story swimming

Theater of the Sea in Islamorada turns an old Keys quarry setting into a long-running marine park with family, railroad, and island history.

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Palm Beach County

Whitehall shows how Palm Beach became a season

Whitehall, Henry Flagler's Palm Beach mansion, shows how railroads, winter wealth, and Gilded Age design helped shape the island's image.

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Franklin County

Apalachicola starts the cooling story with John Gorrie

John Gorrie's ice-making work in Apalachicola gives Florida a small-town link to refrigeration and air conditioning history.

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DeSoto County

Arcadia rodeo keeps DeSoto cow country visible

Arcadia's rodeo tradition keeps DeSoto County's ranching and cattle identity close to downtown instead of tucked away in the past.

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Calhoun County

Blountstown Pioneer Settlement holds Panhandle daily life

The Panhandle Pioneer Settlement in Blountstown gathers buildings, tools, and exhibits that show everyday life in Calhoun County and the wider Panhandle.

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