Last updated: 9/18/2013
3 North Museum Ave.
Avon Park, FL 33825
Wednesday - Friday
10 AM - 3 PM
Through our website of the Historical Society of Avon Park, its Depot Museum and its railroad dining car, we hope you get to know us: who we are, and more importantly, what we do.
Depot Museum Avenue, home to the Depot Museum, the Avon Park Public Library and the city’s community center, is now known as the Cultural Core of Avon Park. At the heart of this core is the museum, operated by the Historical Society of Avon Park. The museum serves as an ever-growing, multifaceted resource for the community. It was built as a railroad station in 1926 by the Seaboard Railroad, which brought hundreds of people to the area in the late 1920s, many of whom would later settle here. Thousands of soldiers -- and their families -- also arrived in Avon Park by train during World War II, when the city was home to two Army Air Corps training facilities. A number of these soldiers married local girls and later returned to make Avon Park their home.
Today, the Depot’s main function is to serve as a historical museum for Avon Park and the surrounding area. It features a number of ever-growing exhibits telling the stories of Avon Park. The museum also features a research room, complete with a microfilm reader/printer for viewings yesterday’s Avon Park newspapers. And, of course, visitors will find a museum gift shop. A former railroad dining car, built in 1948 and purchased by the Historical Society of Avon Park in 1986, sits adjacent to the museum. It is rapidly becoming a popular site for people-pleasing luncheons, historical programs and other functions. During the summer season, we periodically sponsor Sunday afternoon programs. These include both “chat rooms,.” where visitors are encouraged to share their memories of growing up, or a “speakers series.”
Avon Park's strong suit is its history. That's true -- but only if we work at it. And that's why we need your continued support to keep it alive.
Our mission is to record and display the history of Avon Park and the surrounding area within the museum, once a railroad depot for the Seaboard Airline Railroad.
Gift Shop Museum Director Elaine Levey invites you to stop in and visit our ever-expanding gift shop. We now offer a selection of museum t-shirts, baseball-style caps and golfing visors. Also on hand are railroad engineer caps, in adult and child sizes. We also have a selection of lapel pins reflecting the railroad industry. We sell several history-related publications including The First Hundred of Avon Park by Leoma Maxwell and video materials (including Avon Park from Founding to Freeze and Living History of Avon Park).
Gift Shop
Group Tours
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