Brownie the Town Dog Grave & Memorial - Florida's Most Historic Dog

12/01/2023

Hot off the presses! Click Orlando did a nice piece on Brownie. I’m described as a local historian!

"Brownie the Town Dog" had no owner — and he didn't need one. He was the mascot of Daytona Beach.

11/23/2023

The city has done a lot of work on Brownie's memorial in Riverfront Park. Here are some recent pics that were shared on Google. Taken by Travels with Dog. I'm not in love with how the grave stone was cemented in, but it does make it easier to keep up with the grass.

10/31/2023

Brownie died 69 years ago today. Yes, he died on Halloween! The park where Brownie is buried (Riverfront Park) has been redeveloped and Brownie's grave is still there. A Halloween visit might be a great way to celebrate.

On October 31, 1954 after a long illness, Brownie the Town Dog of Daytona Beach died. The next day his obituary appeared in the Daytona Beach News Journal. The headline: Brownie Dies; He’ll B…

11/01/2021

Brownie died on Halloween 1954. 67 years ago today, his obituary appeared in the News Journal.

On October 31, 1954 after a long illness, Brownie the Town Dog of Daytona Beach died. The next day his obituary appeared in the Daytona Beach News Journal. The headline: Brownie Dies; He’ll B…

10/13/2021

RIP Cody!

08/20/2021

King Statler, who was the world's oldest bat in captivity, has sadly passed away at the age of 34. RIP.

Bat celebrates 34th birthday with cake and massagesFollow this sanctuary on Instagram: http://instagram.com/batworldsanctuary **********...

02/14/2021

I have heard from a few people who have attempted to visit Brownie that the entire memorial has been torn apart. The statue was taken down and the grave appears to have been touched.

I no longer live in Daytona Beach, so I’m not sure what the status of the memorial is currently. I do know that I’ve been told by members of the Riverfront Park board that Brownie will be in great shape when the new park is unveiled later in 2021 or early 2022.

I am going to reach out to a few people next week to see what is happening and if there are any changes in plan. The last drawings of the new park that I saw showed Brownie in the same spot. I know they are currently renovating the sea wall and raising the ground in the entire park to reduce flooding. Both of those projects could impact Brownie since his area often flooded in bad storms and his grave is right next to the sea wall.

If you have any pics of the current state of Brownie, send them my way.

Thanks!

Work has been underway for five months on the complete remake of Daytona Beach's Riverfront Park. The park is getting new trees, gardens and ponds.

12/20/2020

Happy Birthday Wellington!

The Rockhopper penguin, who has lived in the aquarium for nearly all his life since moving to Chicago in 1991, turned 33 on Friday.

11/03/2020

In Leesburg, FL, near the library, there is a statue of Annie Oakley and her dog Dave the Wonder Dog.

Dave was a precocious black and white setter that had stolen the hearts of its owners, the famous female sharpshooter Annie Oakley and her husband, Frank Butler.

Apparently, the celebrated canine was beloved wherever he went. Dave received celebrity status and was allowed to stay in hotel rooms with Annie and Frank, even in Leesburg, when they stayed at the Lakeview Hotel. Despite his celebrity status, Dave was denied a final resting place in Lone Oak Cemetery after being killed by an automobile in front of the hotel.

“We were told that Annie was quite angry because she was not allowed to bury the dog in the human cemetery,” wrote Norma Hendricks in her Jan. 4, 1986, column in the Daily Commercial.

Where Dave was laid to rest has been disputed over the years.

A book written by Walter Havighurst in 1954 called “Annie Oakley of the Wild West” stated that Dave was buried in the pine woods behind the Lakeview Hotel.

But Hendricks heard a different story. During Sunday afternoon strolls to Lone Oak Cemetery, a small slab of concrete in the woods off Center Street was pointed out to the children as Dave’s grave. Later, Hendricks heard that another little slab of concrete marked Dave’s grave in the yard of a home off Montclair Road.

11/01/2020

On this day, 66 years ago, Brownie the Town Dog of Daytona Beach died. He lived on Beach Street for over 15 years. His grave stone is still there in Riverfront Park. In 2017, a statue was erected and a plaza created to honor his contribution to Daytona Beach. He was a very good dog.

10/28/2020

It's coming up on the 66th anniversary of Brownie's death. On October 5, 1954, Brownie was sick and the people of Daytona were planning on what they would do after he passed. Much of what they dreamed came to pass.

This update on Brownie appeared in the Daytona Beach News Journal in early October 1954. At the time, there was a plan to move Brownie from the busy corner at Beach and Orange to inside a pen in Ri…