Come take a trip into the past at Pioneer Day & Old Gospel Sing at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village.
Event goers can enjoy music, check out traditional craft demonstrations, grab a bite to eat, and watch the reenactment of the Bradley Massacre, a dramatization of a Seminole raid, said Jessica Budin, front office manager for the museum.
(Courtesy of Pioneer Florida Museum & Village)
Music will play throughout the day, and the Seminole raid reenactment will be presented at 11:15 a.m., and 2 p.m., Budin said.
Visitors will be able to observe living history exhibits, check out vendor booths, and enjoy gospel music by local performers. The event also features plant sales, children’s games, a petting zoo and other activities.
Food available for purchase will include barbecue pulled pork sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, sweets and drinks.
For those who are planning to come, it’s a good idea to bring cash because there aren’t ATMs, and the vendors typically do not accept credit cards, Budin said. It’s also a good idea to check the weather reports and bring an umbrella if rain is expected, because the event will go on rain or shine, and many of the activities are outdoors.
A Seminole raid reenactment will give onlookers a chance to observe the dramatization of the Bradley Massacre, which occurred during the Third Seminole War. The massacre took place on May 14, 1856, in the tiny outpost of Darby.
A small band of Seminoles crept undetected toward the house of Capt. Robert Bradley and opened fire, killing two people during the raid.
Bradley’s Massacre has been recorded as the last attack by a Native American tribe on a settler’s homestead east of the Mississippi River.
Other attractions include a chance to:
• Visit the Old Lacoochee School
• Experience life as the Overstreets lived at the John Overstreet House
• Drop in at the C.C. Smith General Store and see what a retail store would have been like during the late 1800s to early 1900s
• Climb aboard the 1913 Porter steam engine housed in the Trilby Depot
• Observe the collection of early farm equipment, vintage buggies and carriages in the Mable Jordan Barn
• Take a look at a 1946 Chevy fire truck and a 1921 LaFrance fire truck
• Explore the museum’s main building, shop at the gift shop, and look at the museum’s collections
Admission to the museum is included in the price of admission to Pioneer Day, Budin said.
The event tends to get a nice turnout, she said, estimating between 1,000 to 1,500 people. The annual event has been at the museum since 1975.
If you go
WHAT: Pioneer Day & Old Time Gospel Sing
WHEN: Aug. 30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
WHERE: Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, 15602 Pioneer Museum Road in Dade City
COST: Adults $8; senior citizens 55 and older, and children, $6; kids younger than 5 and museum members, free. Parking also is free.
INFO: Call (352) 567-0262, or email
Published August 27, 2014
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