Cedar Key Museum State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cedar Key Museum State Park |
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 Cedar Key Museum State Park
Location in Florida
Cedar Key Museum State Park
Location in the United States
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| Location | Levy County, Florida, United States |
| Nearest city | Cedar Key, Florida |
| Governing body | Florida Department of Environmental Protection |
The Cedar Key State Museum is a cool place to visit in Cedar Key, Florida. It's part of an 18-acre Florida State Park. This museum shows off amazing things collected by a local person named Saint Clair Whitman.
Saint Clair Whitman started the first museum right in his own home! He gathered all sorts of interesting items. These included beautiful sea shells and ancient Native American artifacts. Today, the museum displays these treasures. You can also see dioramas, which are like 3D models that show what life was like around Cedar Key long ago. The museum also has lots of historical information about the area.
A really special part of the museum is the Saint Clair Whitman House. This house was built way back in the 1880s. Whitman bought it in the 1920s. It has been carefully fixed up to look just like it did in the 1920s or 1930s. The house was moved to the museum site in 1991. Now, everyone can visit it and see how people lived back then. A special brick path called the Memory Walk connects the house to the main museum building.
Besides the museum, there's also a short nature trail to explore. On the trail and around the museum grounds, you might spot some cool wildlife. Look for gray squirrels, doves, mockingbirds, blue jays, woodpeckers, and even green tree frogs. You can also see many different kinds of native plants growing there.
What Can You See Inside the Whitman House?
The Saint Clair Whitman House lets you step back in time. It's set up to show how a family lived in Cedar Key around 1920-1930. You can see old furniture, kitchen tools, and everyday items from that period. It's like a time capsule!
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A look inside the Whitman House
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The dining area in the Whitman House
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A bedroom from the 1920s
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The kitchen with old cooking tools
Who Was John Muir and Why Did He Visit Cedar Key?
Have you heard of John Muir? He was a famous naturalist. A naturalist is someone who studies nature and the outdoors. In 1867, John Muir took a long walk all the way from Kentucky to Florida. During this amazing journey, he visited Cedar Key.
When he arrived, he was so excited to see the ocean for the first time! He wrote about it, saying:
For nineteen years my vision was bounded by forests, but today, emerging from a multitude of tropical plants, I beheld the Gulf of Mexico stretching away unbounded, except by the sky. What dreams and speculative matter for thought arose as I stood on the strand, gazing out on the burnished, treeless plain!
This quote shows how much he loved nature and exploring new places. To remember his visit, a special historic marker was placed on the museum grounds in 1983.
