At the Constitution Convention Museum State Park, interpretive exhibits and artifacts put a face on Florida’s frontier days, with a special focus on the historic city of St. Joseph (now Port St. Joe).
Resources
Overview
Location: Port St. Joe
Lat-Long: 29.793400, -85.299400
Fees: $2 per person
Open: Grounds open 8 AM to sunset daily.
Museum open Thu-Mon 9-12 noon and 1-5 PM except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day.
Location
Along US 98 just east of downtown Port St. Joe at 200 Allen Memorial Way
Details
Established by homesteaders who were kicked out of Apalachicola thanks to a sneaky land deal called the Forbes Purchase (1830), St. Joe was Florida’s first real tourist destination, a deep-water port that was the Las Vegas of its day. Some said it was the hand of God that wiped out Sin City in 1841, with a triple whammy of yellow fever, hurricane, and wildfire. A stone marker, cemetery, and this museum are all that’s left of the old city. In 1838 St. Joe hosted Florida’s Constitutional Convention. A replica meeting room has bios of all of the delegates, and gives a nice glimpse into a time when Mosquito County took up most of the southern peninsula.
Behind the museum, near the locomotive display, is a trailhead for a 4 mile paved trail through Port St. Joe, the Port City Trail.