Heritage Village

Heritage Village Voted "Best Park in Pinellas County"
21-Acre Living History Museum Free Admission! - Donations Welcome
(752)

Explore 33 historic structures and attractions, museum exhibits, interactive activities, and hands-on features within this 21-acre living history museum!

📚✨ Storytime + Kindness with Author John Miles! ✨💛Join us on September 12th for a special Storytime featuring author Joh...
09/05/2026

📚✨ Storytime + Kindness with Author John Miles! ✨💛

Join us on September 12th for a special Storytime featuring author John R. Miles and his heartwarming children’s book, You Matter, Luma — a story about kindness, belonging, and helping others feel seen and valued.

John is a bestselling author, Navy veteran, former business executive, and host of the award-winning Passion Struck podcast. His mission is simple: to remind us that everyone matters — and that small acts of kindness can make a big difference.

🌟 Meet John and hear him share his story
đź“– Enjoy a special reading of You Matter, Luma
đź’› Take part in fun kindness activities
🤝 Discover simple ways to help others feel like they matter

Come ready to read, connect, create, and spread a little kindness!

Want to learn more about John and his message? Check out the You Matter, Luma Website here: https://youmatterluma.com/

This event is free and geared toward families of children ages 4-10, but all are welcome! Registration recommended: https://www.explore.pinellas.gov/pinellas/programs?programId=3791fb60-9953-4977-ad35-06d39a2b21cc

Welcome to Separation Saturdays, a limited series in which we explore why and how Pinellas County separated from Hillsbo...
09/05/2026

Welcome to Separation Saturdays, a limited series in which we explore why and how Pinellas County separated from Hillsborough County. This week, we’ll explore the significance of the “Pinellas Declaration of Independence” in swaying the Pinellas public to support separation.

Though there were several prominent figures on the Pinellas peninsula who advocated for separation from Hillsborough, including Arthur Campbell Turner (father of Alfred Cleveland Turner, owner of Heritage Village’s Turner Bungalow), S.S. Coachman (second owner of the McMullen-Coachman Log Cabin), and John S. Taylor (owner of the historic homestead at Eagle Lake Park), perhaps the most influential individual promoter for separation was the editor and publisher of the St. Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times), William Lincoln Straub.

W.L. Straub, the namesake of downtown St. Petersburg’s Straub Park, published in the Times on February 23, 1907, a letter to the people of West Hillsborough titled “Pinellas County,” which later became known as the “Pinellas Declaration of Independence.” In this letter, Straub enumerates concerns about division he has heard from West Hillsborough residents and assures them that they are unfounded. Straub claims his research shows that residents need not fear that division is impossible under current political conditions, that their taxes would go up, that the county would be too small to advocate for itself at the state level, or that it could not afford to build its own courthouse. He then promotes numerous benefits that autonomy could convey, including quicker access to the seat of government, not having to cover the “big city” expenses of Tampa, and being able to direct tax dollars entirely to the peninsula’s interests. As a St. Petersburg resident, he also concedes that Clearwater would be the natural county seat for the new Pinellas County to entice that city to the cause.

The Pinellas Declaration of Independence served as a catalyst to set in motion legal steps to separation we will explore in next week’s post.

Photograph: Portrait of W.L. Straub, circa 1911; from the Heritage Village Archives & Library Collection.

🔥 **The Blacksmiths Are Back!** 🔥Our blacksmiths are back at Heritage Village this September! ⚒️ Come watch history come...
09/03/2026

🔥 **The Blacksmiths Are Back!** 🔥

Our blacksmiths are back at Heritage Village this September! ⚒️ Come watch history come to life as they demonstrate traditional blacksmithing techniques and share this important historic craft.

And be sure to catch them at our **Constitution Day event on September 19!** 🇺🇸

Come see the sparks fly! 🔥

Happy Throwback Thursdays! Please enjoy this week's postcard from the Heritage Village Archives & Library, showing a uni...
09/03/2026

Happy Throwback Thursdays!

Please enjoy this week's postcard from the Heritage Village Archives & Library, showing a unique view of the Clearwater Memorial Causeway connecting downtown Clearwater to Clearwater Beach, circa 1940s.

Welcome to the second week of Separation Saturdays, a limited series in which we explore why and how Pinellas County (fo...
08/29/2026

Welcome to the second week of Separation Saturdays, a limited series in which we explore why and how Pinellas County (formerly known as West Hillsborough) separated from Hillsborough County. This week’s post will detail the reasons many West Hillsborough residents felt that remaining part of Hillsborough County wasn’t in their best interest.

West Hillsborough residents’ primary incentives to break away from the rest of the county were about proximity, representation, and tax benefit distribution. Before the Gandy Bridge opened in 1924, the only way for Pinellas residents to get to the Hillsborough County seat in Tampa was by boat, which could be dangerous in inclement weather, or over poorly maintained, dirt roads all the way back up the peninsula and then back down the other side. For a St. Petersburg resident, riding or driving to Tampa to conduct vital business was a 45-mile trip and a multi-day commitment. West Hillsborough residents paid 23% of Hillsborough County’s tax revenue despite only representing 17% of the population, due to greater average property values. Despite paying a disproportionate amount of taxes, Pinellas residents felt like they were always the last to benefit from those taxes, with public infrastructure improvements disproportionately favoring Tampa as the county’s seat and population center. In 1911, a bridge was finally installed crossing Long Bayou, at the site of the present-day Seminole Bridge in the Bay Pines area, after years of lobbying by West Hillsborough residents. When the bridge was finally opened, it was so shoddily constructed that it quickly collapsed. For many in Pinellas, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Photograph credit: Political cartoon from Tampa Bay Times, February 28, 1911.

Welcome to Throwback Thursday!This week's postcard from the Heritage Village Archives & Library collection shows a mid-t...
08/27/2026

Welcome to Throwback Thursday!

This week's postcard from the Heritage Village Archives & Library collection shows a mid-twentieth century view of the downtown Clearwater waterfront, taken from the rooftop garden of the Ft. Harrison Hotel. Which historic buildings and features do you recognize from this postcard?

The United States acquired Florida from Spain through the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819, and the area became a U.S. Territor...
08/22/2026

The United States acquired Florida from Spain through the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819, and the area became a U.S. Territory in 1822. When the Florida Territory was first organized, it consisted of two counties: Escambia County covered all land west of the Suwannee River, while St. Johns County covered all land east of the river.

Florida would continue to divide up into more and more counties both before and after it became a state in 1845. Hillsborough County, named for Wills Hill, the Earl of Hillsborough, became Florida’s 19th county on January 25, 1834, out of parts of Alachua and Monroe Counties. The original boundaries of Hillsborough were massive compared to today, including what would become Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Manatee, Polk, Pinellas, Sarasota, and parts of Glades and Lee County. Pinellas County, once known as West Hillsborough, was the last of these counties to gain independence.

Over the next few weeks during the lead up to our We the People of Pinellas: Constitution Connection Event on Saturday, September 19th, we will be posting a brand new series, Separation Saturdays, exploring the whys and hows of Pinellas County independence, as well as the prominent people who made it happen.

Photograph credit: Territorial Florida, 1834; State Library of Florida, Florida Map Collection.

Happy Throwback Thursday!Please enjoy this week's postcard from the Heritage Village Archives & Library, showing an aeri...
08/20/2026

Happy Throwback Thursday!

Please enjoy this week's postcard from the Heritage Village Archives & Library, showing an aerial view of Clearwater Calvary Baptist Church in downtown Clearwater, circa 1940s.

Welcome to Throwback Thursday! This week's postcard from the Heritage Village Archives & Library collection shows a boar...
08/13/2026

Welcome to Throwback Thursday!

This week's postcard from the Heritage Village Archives & Library collection shows a boardwalk connecting to a picnic shelter on Clearwater Beach, from the early 20th century.

Address

11909 125th Street N
Largo, FL
33774

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 1pm - 4pm

Telephone

(727) 582-2123

Website

,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Heritage Village posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category