Silver River Museum

ABOUT THIS PLACE

The idea came in 1987 and the first money for it was a Christa McAuliffe Fellowship granted to a teacher in the district; the museum opened in 1991. It is a working school facility first, used through the week by the district for classes in natural history and archaeology, and open to the general public on weekends. There are exhibit halls, classrooms, a research library and a lunch pavilion. Outside stands a reconstructed Florida cracker settlement of the late 1800s, and beside it a one-room schoolhouse of about 1930 of the kind African American children were sent to under segregation, which is not a building most Florida history sites have kept. Early each November the center holds Ocali Country Days, a living history festival of nineteenth century trades and demonstrations that draws more than twelve hundred people a day. Park entry is charged separately at the gate. The museum stands at 1445 Northeast 58th Avenue and opens Saturday and Sunday from ten in the morning until four, with admission of two dollars a person and children under six free. Inside are a main gallery, several exhibit wings and an aquarium section, and the whole place is built around handling things rather than reading labels. The pioneer village outside holds cracker cabins alongside the schoolhouse. The number is 352-236-5401