Some Sensational Sights to See in Tallahassee (and Locally)

With the Florida Legislative Session coming up soon and while visiting our capital city recently, I had the opportunity to tour some places in Tallahassee that I wouldn’t have normally toured but these locations were so interesting they should be shared with our readers. Especially because visiting these capital locations might spur learning for the entire family.

The Museum of Florida History is a gem. Located at 500 South Bronough Street in downtown Tallahassee in the basement of the R. A. Grey building (named after Robert Andrew Grey), it is just down the street from the Capitol building. The Museum of Florida History covers many, many square feet, acres in fact, over several floors and reveals the history and prehistory of Florida via a timeline that takes you from one room to another. The displays are meticulously designed and captivating.

Before I go further with additional information about the museum, I have to detour for a bit to the fantastic local museum we have right in close proximity, the Marco Island Historical Museum. Just because the square footage can’t compare with the square footage in the museum in Tallahassee, our local gem is rated a whopping 5.0 stars. It’s no secret that the MIHM has the Original Key Marco Cat on exhibit right now, a discovery that was one of the most renowned in North American archeology. 

Our local museum recreates the lifestyles of the local Calusa Indians and portrays the settlements from pioneer habitation to today. It’s also FREE, although donations are appreciated to further their mission to share local history. It’s a time to relax and refresh your mind with historical perspectives that depict early civilization to pioneer roots and all the way to the 1960’s and explosive building and development. The exhibit – Paradise Found: 6,000 Years of People on Marco Island.

Our local museum has won awards and been recognized far and wide. In its applications for the return of the Key Marco Cat from the Smithsonian Institution, it was originally approved for 2019 through 2021. It was then renewed for five years until 2026, which makes this the ONLY museum that has qualified for display of the priceless Key Marco Cat, other than the original displays at Smithsonian and the University of Pennsylvania. If you haven’t visited this gem of a museum in person, please take the time to appreciate its magnificence and learn about local history.

In all fairness, the Museum of Florida History has an exhibit of the Key Marco Cat, but it lacks the authenticity of the truly discovered Key Marco Cat, which is under constant surveillance because of its value on Marco Island. Nonetheless, the museum in Tallahassee has many spectacular exhibits and a wide variety of historical representations that are particularly spectacular. Here are some of my favorites.

There is a massive exhibit depicting the citrus business with authentic apparatuses for sorting, culling the oranges and packing. Some local orange groves tried to over-pack many oranges in a crate to entice the public to buy their product, (we give you more oranges for your money!) Never mind that the packed crates often ruined the very fruit they were trying to sell. 

Traded materials were often found as a result of sunken shipments and there were examples of amazing items, including silver plates and goblets, precious coins and gems set in bracelets and necklaces, beautiful carvings, weapons and an extremely heavy cannon that weighed several tons. You have to wonder how they originally found the cannon, brought it up from the depths of the ocean and transferred it to their ship to be transported.

Speaking of ships, they have created a model of a ship that might have transported slaves to America which is floor to ceiling size and seems to be very accurate. Our tour guide shared some information about crowding, health issues, and the lack of fresh food and water.

If you’re infatuated by prehistoric life, you’ll love the replica of the wooly mammoth that dominates one room from floor to ceiling. I wasn’t happy with the photo I took, but you can get some idea of the size. Their size ranged from seven feet to ten feet and they could weigh up to six tons. Luckily, they had molars that were adequate to eat grass. I’m not quite sure why the skeleton of the wooly mammoth was in the Florida museum - according to my research they existed 8,000 years ago in Alaska.

If Tallahassee is on your bucket list, you won’t be disappointed with this museum, just be sure to allocate a few hours to tour it and assimilate all that information!