Museum News

Floral City Heritage Museum will be CLOSED until further notice

At this time there is no schedule or plan for re-opening the Museum building.

• As of now, we continue monitoring COVID-19 data in the Floral City area.
• Check activities and Covid Risk at mycovidrisk.app (Museum zip code: 34436)
• The Museum Director and Team are taking steps to re-open the Museum following CDC and OSHA guidelines.
• A space for online sales of Country Store items is under development.

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Local FCHC Projects that allow for Social Distancing

• The corner of Florida Highway (SR 41) and Orange Ave (SR48) in Floral City is one spot of our village that most travelers see.
• A mural of the Avenue of Oaks decorates the exposed wall on the SE corner of the intersection, beckoning passersby.
• How lovely to have a rest area on that corner!
• FCHC is working on it . . . 
• Read more about it in the minutes of the last Steering Committee Meeting.

Assist with Local Cemeteries Maintenance

• List of Citrus County Cemeteries 
• April 2019 Snippet on Cemeteries from Florida Public Archaeology Network
• FPAN Heritage Monitoring Scouts 
• Recovering and Preserving African American Cemeteries
• Florida Historic Cemeteries

We are also looking for the stories behind the stones at the Floral City cemeteries (public and private). A list of the Citrus County cemeteries is linked to the FCHC website. We are collecting any stories you may know of people named on the stones in our local cemeteries. Send them to me through the CONTACT page on the FCHC website.

Local cemeteries

 

The Frazier/Williams Cemetery (or the Floral City Community Cemetery) on Great Oaks Blvd is a famous entry in the Black History Trail as the oldest African American Cemetery in Florida. 

Floral City Heritage Council partners with Inverness Heritage Council on the care and upkeep of the Dampier Cemetery where Marie Duval is buried.

Floral City has more than 17 cemeteries that have been identified but not yet cataloged. The Hills of Rest Cemetery is right on the edge of town.

Times to Remember

2019 Summer at the Museum

In June, the Director and Museum volunteers had a great time with approximately 20 students in cooperation with the Floral City Branch of the Citrus County Library System daytime summer program. The hands-on experiential activities in which the children engaged were specifically designed to build background knowledge with first through fifth-grade students.

Reviews of Our Previous Exhibit

• NatureCoaster.com  - (https://www.naturecoaster.com/another-day-another-dollar-historic-exhibit-gala-jan-19-floral-city/)
• Cycle Scene in Floral City – (https://www.yoursun.com/arcadia/news/cycle-scene-floral-city-citrus-county-s-quaint-visit-avenue/article_2ddd1a72-8ead-11e9-abb8-e79a1eb53f4f.html)  (Arcadian Article)

Coming Soon:

MUSEUM STORE PAGE / SHOPPING CART
Serving a special niche in the county, the Museum's “Country Store” offers items relating directly to Floral City, Citrus County. Other items seldom found at the modern chain stores can be found here: feather dusters, wooden-handled corn brooms, glass wasp catchers, antique tin signs, wooden toys and hand fans.

More Museum Projects planned for the future:

• Jan-March New Exhibit on Duval House completed.
• Develop new exhibits - Suggested Topics include The Floral City Firehouse, Black History in Floral City, Avenue of Oaks, Local Schools, E-Nini-Hassee
• Organize and Inventory our exhibits, maps, photos, and files
• Clean and maintain Museum, kitchen, and storage areas 

Items of Note (2019)

• April 2019, Floral City Heritage Council Museum Projects Team is led by the new  Museum Director, Bill Metcalfe.
• The first Museum Project was to build a new display case for the canoe recovered in Floral City area waters.
• The rooms behind the Museum exhibits were cleaned and organized, and some cleared storage areas have been designated as office space.
• Thanks to the assistance of Brent Zaniewski, the Museum now has a phone and WiFi for guests and museum volunteers to stay connected.
• The team is also reviewing all the items kindly loaned to the Heritage Museum for more exhibits and organizing historical documents related to council activities.
• The Museum has a new television in the media/meeting room to show the videos.
• The museum updated the climate control systems. Operating the Museum's Climate Controls