Fort Mose

In 1693, King Charles II of Spain decreed that runaway slaves would be given sanctuary in his colonies. Many fugitives subsequently made their way to St. Augustine and helped defend the colony against British attacks. In 1728, the Spanish governor ...

First Christmas- Tallahassee

Sixteenth Century Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto and his army spent years exploring the American South, but their presence has been positively identified only in Tallahassee. While investigating the grounds of the historic home of former Governor John Martin in ...

Circus History

FOR SEVEN DECADES, SARASOTA COUNTY WAS

THE “HOME OF THE AMERICAN CIRCUS.” IN MARCH

1927, JOHN AND CHARLES RINGLING OF RINGLING

BROTHERS AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS ANNOUNCED

THAT SARASOTA, WHERE THEY OWNED OVER SIXTY

THOUSAND ACRES, WOULD BE THEIR WINTER QUARTERS.

MANY LEADING CIRCUS PERFORMERS ...

White Springs

TRAVELERS FROM FAR AND WIDE VISIT

FLORIDA’S BEACHES EACH YEAR, BUT ONE OF THE

STATE’S EARLIEST TOURIST ATTRACTIONS WAS LOCATED

AT A SITE NEAR THE SUWANNEE RIVER.

LONG REVERED FOR ITS HEALING POWERS,

WHITE SPRINGS EMERGED AS A TOURIST DESTINATION

SHORTLY AFTER BRYANT AND ELIZABETH ...

First Thanksgiving-St. Augustine

52 years after Juan Ponce de Leon walked ashore on Florida’s east coast -- and over five decades before the Pilgrims founded Plymouth Colony -- Pedro Menendez de Aviles (Ah-vee-lays) stepped onshore at what would become the city of St. ...

Norman Studios

In the early 20th century when New York - not California, was the home of the silent film industry, Jacksonville, Florida, was known as the “World’s Winter Movie Capital.”

By 1917, some 30 studios had produced over 300 movies there. ...

Ybor City

Although fine cigars are synonymous with Cuba, for a few decades in the early twentieth century, Tampa Bay’s Ybor City surpassed Havana as the cigar capital of the world.

Manufacturers moved to Key West in the late 1860s to avoid paying ...

Cathedral of Leon

The Cathedral of Leon in Nicaragua is one of the biggest cathedrals in Central America and the most prominent building in Leon. It is in the center of the city, next to the Central Park. During construction, wealthy citizens in ...

National Chavez Center

The 187-acre National Chavez Center is located in the Tehachapi Mountains, overlooking the San Joaquin Valley. The site known as Nuestra Senora Reina de La Paz is the final resting place for agricultural workers’ rights activist Cesar Chavez. Perhaps most ...

Ruby Diamond/ Jewish Heritage

During Jewish-American Heritage Month, we’d like to recognize the legacy of Ruby Diamond. Miss Ruby, as she came to be known, was a lifelong citizen of Tallahassee and a 1905 graduate of what is now Florida State University. Perhaps best ...