Historical Museums

The Department of State's Museums and Historic Sites showcase Florida's rich history and culture and showcase the story of this great state.

Together, The Grove Museum, Knott House Museum, Mission San Luis, and Museum of Florida History offer a multifaceted view of how Florida's people lived, worked and played throughout the state's development from prehistory to the present.

Explore pivotal moments in Florida’s history—times of war and of peace, of financial depression and of great economic growth. Discover how Florida’s people lived, worked, and played throughout the state’s development. Native peoples and settlers, soldiers and statesmen, explorers, artisans, homemakers—the rich and diverse lives of Floridians are showcased, interpreted, and placed in historical context.

Four unique sites, one amazing state’s history.

Museum of Florida History

At the Museum of Florida History, be inspired by Florida’s past as you stand next to the skeleton of a giant mastodon, navigate through Spanish maritime history, explore the citrus industry and Tin Can Tourist camps, travel aboard an early 1900s Florida riverboat, dress up in Grandma’s Attic, or share the experiences of Florida’s World War II soldiers and families on the homefront. You’ll find all this and more as you stroll through interactive exhibits about Florida history.

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Open Monday-Friday: 9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Saturday: 10:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Sunday and holidays: Noon–4:30 p.m.
Free admission
500 South Bronough Street, 850.245.6400
museumoffloridahistory.com

Mission San Luis

A visit to Mission San Luis transports visitors back to San Luis de Talimali, a community where Apalachee Indians and Spanish colonists lived together.

The historical interpreters at this living history museum (the only reconstructed Spanish mission in Florida) are devoted to sharing the stories of its former Apalachee Indian and Spanish colonial residents.

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Open Tuesday–Sunday 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Admission: Adults–$5.00, Seniors (65 and over)–$3.00, Children (6 -17)–$2.00 Children under 6, Active Duty Military, and friends Members–Free
2100 West Tennessee Street, 850.245.6406
missionsanluis.org

Knott House Museum

The Knott House offers visitors a look at Tallahassee life in the 1930s. Decorated in Victorian splendor, the 1840s home features original furnishings used by the Knott family during their 1928 to 1941 period of residence in the home.

In 1865, after the end of the Civil War, Union Brigadier General Edward M. McCook stayed briefly in the house when he formally announced President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on May 20, effectively ending slavery in the state.

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The Knott House Museum is currently closed while we work to preserve the historic interior, improve the visitor experience, and create new exhibits to engage the public about the Knott family and Tallahassee history.

The Grove Museum

Built by enslaved craftspeople, the ca. 1840 Call-Collins House at The Grove is one of the best preserved antebellum residences in Florida. Home to several generations of the Call and Collins families, most recently LeRoy and Mary Call Collins, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The house and 10.5-acre grounds underwent an award-winning rehabilitation under the leadership of the Florida Department of State and opened to the public in 2017 as The Grove Museum.

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House tours offered on the hour Wednesday to Friday 1:00–3:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. Grounds open Wednesday to Saturday 10:00–4:00 p.m.
Free admission
902 N. Monroe Street, 850.577.0228
thegrovemuseum.com