Yesteryear Village is located on 9 acres on the Florida Fairgrounds property in West Palm Beach. The village showcases life, buildings and artifacts from 1895 to 1945. It hosts a large collection of early, original and replicated buildings including an old school, cracker houses, an old dental office, a blacksmith shop, a general store and an old church. It is also home to the only big band museum in the United States, the Sally Bennett Big Band Hall of Fame Museum. Hours of operation are Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. $10 Entrance and only $7.00 for seniors.
This building gave me a toothache just being inside it. I definitely remember the seat and the drill from my earliest days as a kid. My dentist had that same porcelain spit sink.
The Red Level Baptist Church was built in 1893 for 1,000 bucks and served the congregation until 1953 when they built a new one. It was then moved a mile away and used on a private farm for hay storage. In 1990, the South Florida Historical Director noticed the church and it was purchased for $1,000 and moved to the fairgrounds.
They even brought the old iron Cemetery gates.
The most impressive exhibition for me was the Loxahatchee Schoolhouse which was built in 1935 by farmers in the area for their children. It opened in 1936 with 13 children and one teacher and continued in operation until 1965. The floor was gorgeous Dade County Pine, the hardiest of floors. Just beautiful! This was the first building to be relocated to Yesteryear Village in 1990.
This Jailhouse is a replica and was built on site using lumber from the Yesteryear Village Sawmill. This is called a Jailhouse Calaboose of the 1890's and was typically built on runners with a slatted floor. This would facilitate the moving of the building when the smell demanded it, which was often. Used mostly for public drunkeness and could hold one or two prisoners at a time. Yikes!
The boathouse was pretty cool with some really old outboard engines and some pretty neat old lures.
This was an old wood frame home, known as "The Painted Lady" and was built for the Superintendent of Woodlawn Cemetery by Henry Flager. Sadly, the door was locked and I was unable to check it out.
So that explains those expressions!! Anyhow, stop in and enjoy the walk around the village. It was fun to see all the old Florida way of life. There was a gift shop and restrooms. Enjoy!!
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