Page 15 - 2024-2025 Travel Guide to Florida
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 FLAGLER COLLEGE - PONCE DE LEÓN HOTEL • FLORIDASHISTORICCOAST.COM/G. HASTINGS
Reed Teed founded the Koreshan Unity, a community of followers who believed the universe existed within a giant, hollow sphere. Today, the site has 11 well-maintained historical structures dating from 1882–1920 as well as landscaped grounds with exotic ornamental plants from around the world.
In Bradenton, the Gamble Plantation Historic State Park is the only remaining antebellum plantation house in South Florida. Nearby, the town of Palmetto boasts its own historical park, as well as an ancient Native American landmark, the Madira Bickel Mound State, considered Florida's first archaeological site.
Farther north in Sarasota, The Ringling, which is the state art museum of Florida, is a standing legacy to the rich history of the American circus and houses a wealth of artifacts, including the world’s largest miniature circus. Surrounding gardens feature an extensive variety of native and exotic trees and the Mable Ringling Rose Garden.
CENTRAL EAST
In 1949, Cape Canaveral became a test site for the U.S. missile program. A decade later, the
Cocoa Beach-Titusville area was the heart of the nation’s space program, including Apollo 11, the 1969 mission that carried astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon. Now, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex allows guests to experience the glory years of the U.S. space program.
Located on the U.S. Air Force Base is the historic Cape Canaveral Lighthouse; be sure to check tour information before planning your trip.
To the north, the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse & Museum guards the waterway at the southern end of the Daytona Beach area.
CENTRAL
For a survey of Central Florida’s fascinating past, visit the Orange County Regional History Center in Orlando to view exhibits such as a typical pioneer home from the 1800s.
One of Florida’s leading African Americans was Zora Neale Hurston, a prominent 20th- century author whose works influenced such writers as Toni Morrison and Ralph Ellison. A festival season in Eatonville that celebrates 35 years in 2024 showcases her life and her contributions to literature.
WEST CENTRAL
Located in Tampa’s Channelside District, the Tampa Bay History Center houses 60,000 square feet of exhibits that link the region’s modern culture with sports legends, railroad tycoons, cattle drives, pioneers, Spanish conquistadors and Florida’s first Indigenous groups. It’s a short drive to Ybor City, known as Tampa’s Latin Quarter for more than a century. Visitors can enjoy Cuban coffee and cigars and dance to Latin rhythms.
The Don CeSar Hotel, in St. Petersburg Beach, is known as “Florida’s Pink Castle” since it opened in 1928. Another Florida treasure is Tarpon Springs, where visitors can tour the historical sponge diving docks.
NORTHWEST
One of the nation’s oldest cities on the Gulf Coast, Pensacola has flourished under Spanish, French, British, Confederate and U.S. rule, and today is known as the “city of five flags.” At its heart, Historic Pensacola Village, operated by the University of West Florida, includes 28 properties, 11 of which are open to the public.
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