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State Archives of Florida

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State Archives of Florida

Florida's archival records are invaluable historical and cultural resources.

The State Archives of Florida is a program of the Division of Library and Information Services under the Florida Department of State. The State Archives has statewide responsibility to promote the economical and efficient management of public records as defined in Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, and to preserve those records having long-term or permanent historical value. The State Archives of Florida provides service and technical assistance to the general public and state, county, and local governments on management and preservation of records.

09/15/2026

Tallahassee, 1980: Two Tallahassee Junior Museum (now Tallahassee Museum) visitors hike down a shaded trail on the museum grounds.

The Tallahassee Junior Museum was established in 1957 by a group of teachers, civic groups and other community members who sought to educate children about the history of the Florida Panhandle’s Big Bend region. In 1962, the museum moved to its current location between Lake Bradford and Lake Hiawatha.

The 1980s saw significant developments for the museum including the completion of restored original historical buildings, expanded exhibition spaces, a visitor center, a cafe, enhanced amenities and accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

The Junior Museum was officially renamed the “Tallahassee Museum” in 2005. Today, it is one of the capital city’s most popular points of interest for all ages, offering a zipline, art gallery, re-creations of rural life in North Florida circa 1880, a habitat for injured native wildlife, and other exhibits exploring the natural history and culture of the region.

Discover more photos documenting the Tallahassee Museum through the years on Florida Memory.✴️

📷Department of Commerce collection. State Archives of Florida, Image DC798291.

09/14/2026

Tallahassee, 1965: Reigning Miss Florida, Dr. Carol Blum Mackauf, helps map markers during a tour of state offices.

As was customary for Miss Florida winners, Mackauf spent the year traveling the world to promote Florida’s charms at pageants, fairs and industrial expositions. The pictured visit took place before she left – it was intended to familiarize her with the state’s various programs. A story in the August 29, 1965 St. Petersburg Times reported that Mackauf shadowed a dozen state officials and the local Pepsi-Cola bottler during one of these Florida Development Commission-sponsored educational trips.

Mackauf is a polyglot and a gifted soprano. After her year as Miss Florida, she would go on to sing with the Miami Opera and Miami Philharmonic. She later earned a doctorate in clinical psychology and established a practice in New York.

Explore more promotional photos featuring Mackauf and other past Miss Florida winners on Florida Memory.✴️

📷Department of Commerce collection. State Archives of Florida, Image C006412J

09/03/2026

South Florida, ca. 1963: A flaming torch plant (Billbergia pyramidalis) blooms in this close-up view of the tropical bromeliad. Flaming torch plants, also called foolproof plants, are low-maintenance and frequently grown in temperate parts of the state. Native to South America and the Caribbean, the plant tolerates between USDA zones 10a to 12a.

Explore more vibrant 1960s plant photography from the Florida Development Commission at the State Archives of Florida.✴️

📸Department of Commerce collection. State Archives of Florida, Image DC010977.

09/01/2026

Clearwater, 1963: “Sparkling Rivals” Clearwater and Clearwater Beach face off in this opening clip from a Chamber of Commerce film comparing the mainland to the barrier island.

The promotional film premiered on October 2, 1963 at the Jack Tar Harrison Hotel during the Greater Clearwater Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet. Florida Development Commission chairman Wendell Jarrard served as the guest speaker that evening, praising the local chamber and highlighting the benefits of tourism and industry. “Sparkling Rivals” was later distributed across the country.

Located west of Tampa and north of St. Petersburg in West Central Florida, the Clearwater mainland and Clearwater Beach are divided by the Intracoastal Waterway but remain under the same municipal government. Clearwater serves as the county seat of Pinellas County, which also includes St. Pete, Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Largo, Palm Harbor, Pinellas Park, East Lake, Lealman and Seminole.

View and download the full “Sparkling Rivals” (14:46) film on Florida Memory.✴️

🎞️State Archives of Florida, Video CA051.

🔗https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/253518

Amplify Clearwater Clearwater Beach, Florida

08/31/2026

In August 1961, NASA announced the purchase of 125 square miles of land in Brevard County, to be used as the launch site for the Apollo missions. Cape Canaveral was one of 8 locations NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration considered, and several factors contributed to the site being chosen including being on the flight path for existing tracking stations. Today, Cape Canaveral serves as America’s gateway to the stars, hosting NASA missions, as well as private operator launches. To learn more about the origins of Cape Canaveral, check out this exhibit from Florida Memory and the State Archives of Florida here: https://www.floridamemory.com/learn/exhibits/apollo/launch/

08/28/2026

Marco Island, 1972-1975: Marco Beach Hotel & Villas guests pose near the Southwest Florida barrier island’s first resort, which opened in 1965.

Prominent architect Herb Savage designed the hotel, drawing on forms and details from Balinese architecture he observed during his travels in the early 1960s. Savage and architect Jim Vensel were responsible for planning a significant number of Marco Island’s modern buildings for the Deltona Corporation and its owners the Mackle brothers, including the original yacht club and a variety of affordable home models built in a similar style.

A sales campaign brought nearly 25,000 visitors to the island’s grand opening to see its development in 1965. An airstrip followed, and the Mackle brothers soon launched Marco Island Airways to address the growing market for air transport from Miami.

The Marco Beach Hotel was first built while the island had minimal infrastructure, but it expanded along with its development. By 1971, the popular hotel was up to 400 rooms, and Governor Reubin Askew attended a grand re-opening of the renovation. The hotel was purchased by Marriott in 1979 and in May 2026, it was acquired by Sculptor Real Estate and Trinity Investments.

Before the major developments of the twentieth century, Marco Island was only sparsely populated. Its earliest known inhabitants were the Calusa people. By the 17th century, the Calusa population had collapsed from diseases spread by Spanish contact.

Visit Florida Memory for more photos and videos featuring Marco Island.✴️

1. Beach goers on Marco Island, 1975. (C682975)
2. Marco Beach Hotel & Villas interior lobby, 1973. (C680467)
3. Bird’s-eye view of the hotel swimming pool, 1975. (C683043)
4. Tennis players on the court, 1975. (C683064)
5. A man walking the hotel grounds near Quinn’s restaurant, 1973. (C680466)
6. People feeding sea gulls, 1975. (C682967)
7. People eating outside the hotel, 1975. (C683076)
8. Hotel and parking lot, 1975. (C683038)
9. Visitors walking on the beach, 1975. (C682976)
10. Hotel postcards, 1972 and ca. 1975. (PC17410 and PC2049)

08/27/2026

Florida Folklife Collection photos taken between 1979-2003

Created by Florida folklorists, the Folklife Collection consists of 88 individual series of records that document performances by, interviews with, and fieldwork surveys of folk musicians, artisans, storytellers, folklife interpreters and other Florida peoples and their traditions. Nearly 50,000 photographic images and 5,000 audio recordings are cataloged.

Search the database on Florida Memory for more photographs and audio recordings from the Florida Folklife Collection.✴️

🔗https://www.floridamemory.com/learn/exhibits/florida-folklife/

1. Jim Goddard inside his roadside stand in Jacksonville, where he sold the lead fishing sinkers he made, 1988. 📸Gregory Hansen. (Duval County Folk Arts in Education Project, Image FS91556)

2. Blues musician “Diamond Teeth” Mary McClain (1902-2000) at home with her husband, ca. 1981. (Traveling Entertainment, Image FS8219)

3. Participants in a tomato picking contest in Florida City, 1986. The contest occurred at Benito Juarez Park. The celebration is called El Grito. 📸Nancy Nusz. (Metro-Dade Folk Arts Survey, Image FS864887)

4. Mural for the Cafe Cubano in Little Havana, Miami, ca. 1979. (Little Havana: Folklife in Miami Slide/Tape Program, Image FS8059A)

5. Capoeira dancers in Orlando, 2003. 📸Robert L. Stone. (FS66317B)

6. Woman selling leis and hatbands in Celebration, near Orlando, 2002. 📸Robert L. Stone. (FS02845)

7. Customized motorcycle “Harleywood” in the 29th annual Rats Hole Custom Bike Show during Bike Week in Daytona Beach, 2001. 📸Robert L. Stone. (2001-2002 Surveys, Space Coast Eastern Mediterranean, Image FS01361)

8. Athens Street showing Angel’s Coffee House in Tarpon Springs, 2003. 📸Robert L. Stone. (FS03432)

9. Alligator wrestler Richard Bowers in Hollywood, 1983. Bowers, an alligator wrestler at Native Village near Hollywood Reservation, was born in Fort Lauderdale in 1955. 📸Doris J. Dyen. (Library Folklife Project, Image FS832600)

10. Truck in the annual parade from Florida City to Benito Juarez Park for Mexican Independence Day in Florida City, 1986. 📸Nancy Nusz. (Metro-Dade Folk Arts Survey, Image FS864908)

11. Mrs. Cheek selecting facial expressions to put on her doll in Miami, 1979. 📸Marilyn Gottlieb-Roberts. (Senior Citizens Center-Miami, Image FS7936)

12. Don Latimer's decorative iron work on screen door in Miami, 1985. 📸Tina Bucuvalas. (Metro-Dade Folk Arts Survey, Image FS865046)

08/25/2026

Tallahassee, 1971: Florida Welcome Station attendants model new Key lime-green uniforms near the state’s historic old Capitol. The polyester pantsuits, designed by resort wear icon Suzie Zuzek and created exclusively by Key West Hand Print Fabrics, featured an “all-Florida” print of fish, roseate spoonbills, sand-dollars, shrimp baskets, conch shells, oranges, ferns and flowers.

Notably absent in the skyline is the new Capitol tower, which wouldn’t be completed until 1977.

Florida’s Welcome Stations were first built during the midcentury roadside boom, when motorists took refuge (and a complimentary cup of Florida orange juice) at the visitors centers along state roads, conveniently located on the way to popular themed attractions, historic monuments and natural preserves such as Castillo de San Marcos, Cypress Gardens, Weeki Wachee Springs, Miami Serpentarium and Florida state parks.

While the original Welcome Stations eventually closed or were rebuilt following the introduction of the U.S. interstate highway system, today, four newer stops (plus a kiosk in the new Capitol) are waiting for visitors near the state line with brochures, certified travel assistants, Wi-Fi and the iconic cup of complimentary orange juice. A new I-95 VISIT FLORIDA Welcome Center designed by Architects Lewis + Whitlock is currently under way just north of Jacksonville.

Explore more photography documenting historic architecture and the evolution of Welcome Station uniforms at the State Archives of Florida, online on Florida Memory.✴️

📷Department of Commerce collection. State Archives of Florida, Images DC768362 & DC768357.

Florida Historic Capitol Museum Suzie Zuzek

08/24/2026

Boca Grande, 1956-1971: Two color slides featuring the historic Gasparilla Inn, captured by Florida Commerce photographers Jim Stokes and Francis P. “Johnny” Johnson.

The wood-frame Gasparilla Inn opened in 1913 and quickly gained favor with wintering industry barons such as J.P. Morgan, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. A Queen Anne-style expansion helped it keep up with growing demand among the rich and famous. The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 as the Gasparilla Inn & Club.

Boca Grande lies off Florida’s southwest Gulf Coast between Fort Myers and Sarasota, at the southern end of Gasparilla Island. In addition to the centerpiece inn, the island is home to Gasparilla Island State Park, Gasparilla Island Lighthouse and the Boca Grande Bike Path – a 5-mile stretch that served the Charlotte Harbor & Northern Railroad from 1907 to 1979 before being developed into a rail trail in 1985.

Explore more of Florida’s classic early-20th-century winter lodging and resort towns in the State Archives of Florida’s Photographic Collection.✴️

📷Department of Commerce collection. State Archives of Florida, Images DC001573 & DC768227.

08/21/2026

Tallahassee’s Maclay Gardens, 1969-1978: A bronze century plant (Agave americana) fountain stands at the center of the encircling Italianate Walled Garden at the Florida state park north of Interstate 10.

Commissioned by Louise Maclay, the life-size bronze fountain sculpture was crafted by Alexander Stoller (1902-1994) of Massachusetts. Stoller first came to Tallahassee at the invitation of Louise’s husband, New York banker Alfred Maclay, to see their gardens. Mrs. Maclay later sent a live century plant to Stoller’s New York studio to use as a model, and the finished sculpture was placed within the park’s ivy-covered, rusticated brick-walled garden (completed in 1935).

Originally known as Killearn Gardens, the property was first planted in 1923 by Alfred Barmore and Louise Maclay after the couple purchased it as their winter home. It was opened to the public around 1946, and in 1953, Louise Maclay donated the land to the state of Florida, which designated it as a state park. The park was later renamed Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park to honor the planter and to distinguish it from a nearby housing development that adopted the Killearn name in 1965.

Discover more photos of Florida’s historic botanical gardens and state parks at the State Archives of Florida.✴️

📷Department of Commerce collection. State Archives of Florida, Images DC781868 & DC053897.

Address

500 S Bronough Street
Tallahassee, FL
32399

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	9am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	9am - 4:30pm
Thursday	9am - 4:30pm
Friday	9am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+18502456719

Website

http://Archivesflorida.com/

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