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Largo »
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You Are Here: Home » Discover Us » History » In Touch With The Past »
By Lawrence Hollyfield
Step out of the vehicle at Heritage Village and immediately understand why Pinellas was dubbed “point of pines” by Panfilo de Narvaez almost 500 years ago. Scores of pine trees spike into the air above palmettos and other low plants that cover much of the grounds. A thick cover of pine needles blankets what the plants do not, giving a tiny taste of what 19th-century Florida was like.
The main course in this meal is all around. Heritage Village is a 21-acre, open-air museum in Largo’s Pinewood Cultural Park that has preserved more than two dozen structures to let visitors sample Florida the way it was.
The pines are about three times the height of the building that houses the Pinellas Room. Inside, check out case after case of mementos from state history. One of the oldest items is awe-inspiring, both for what it is – a Spanish sword circa 1580 – and for how it was found – someone chanced upon it in the Manatee River before it was purchased by Pinellas County and restored for this exhibit.
After trying to decide whether it would have been more fascinating to be the Spaniard explorer or the person who found the sword centuries later, investigate the United States soldier winter blue uniforms that were used during the Second Seminole War (1835-42). Try your hand at a “what is it” exhibit that offers 10 mystery items then inspect a folding chair that was used in the Civil War.
Move on to fans – of the paper, forearm-powered variety – that were so necessary in pre-air-conditioning Florida. A Pinellas County auto tag from 1914-15 is followed by a photo of the Gandy Bridge that proclaims it as the longest automobile bridge in the world for a few years in the early 1920s.
The body of water known as Tampa Bay also inspired the world’s first scheduled airline flights, a regular trek from St. Petersburg to Tampa and back.
Greatness also is on display. One item honors Clearwater engineer Donald Roebling, who was awarded the medal of merit by President Harry Truman for his contribution to the war effort for developing the amphibious alligator vehicle. A few feet away, get Super Bowl goose bumps from the newspaper photo of Buccaneers celebrating a National Football League championship.
Now step outside and enjoy. With ample shade in common areas and along trails, Heritage Village is accessible all year long.
No need to merely read about a World War I barracks-turned-classroom – walk into it and investigate the wooden desks and floor, three smallish chalkboards and white bookcase. Study photos on display and read documents that relay the story of how the building was built around 1916 then used as a portable classroom, cafeteria and home economics room during segregation, first at an all-white school then at an all-black school. The wrongs have been corrected, but the lessons, as they should, live on.
Evidence of the agricultural lifestyle abounds outside the schoolhouse. Within a few dozen yards sit a smokehouse, a sugar cane mill and a boiling shed (in the late 1800s and early 1900s, sugarcane was a supplemental cash crop). Move on to scythes, feed bags and an ice saw, stored in the Lowe Barn.
The Lowe House, built in the 19th century, has been moved three times. For its second trip, to St. Petersburg in 1951, it was dismantled and the boards numbered. Workers reassembled the home the next year. It has been at Heritage Village since 1991; on your way up the stairs, look right for boards 116, 117 and 118.
Perhaps the most imagination-churning building is the McMullen-Coachman cabin. The homestead of James P. and Elizabeth Campbell McMullen is the oldest log cabin in Pinellas, built in 1852. It is testament to the hardiness of early Floridians. Though sturdy, it would not have had the ability to shut out drenching rains or ravenous insects (thank goodness for the dragonflies, which eat their share of mosquitoes). Like many modern homes in this area, it boasts a sweeping porch. Good ideas never go out of style.
There is so much more, including a windmill, water tower and train depot. The House of Seven Gables beckons not far from the Williams Park Bandstand, which was built with dramatically vertical architecture.
Heritage Village, 11909 125th St. N. in Largo, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is free; donations are accepted. For more information, visit www.pinellascounty.org/heritage or call 582-2123.
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Copyright ©2007 St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. All rights reserved.