| Demonstrations in the Early Florida Village will only be available on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of each weekend of the Fair. During weekdays, all cabins and accessory buildings will be open for your pleasure. Feel free to stroll through the Village and take a passive look at times past in Florida's history. |
 Trail Cooking / Cowboy History |
| TrailCooking / Cowboy History: an annual favorite ! Sit with a real cowboy and hear stories of the lonely life of a cowboy, the dangers and hard work associated with a job too often overlooked in our history. See an authentic " chuck wagon" and see for yourself how these men often had to live off the land. If you are lucky, maybe you will get a sample of his beans. But BEWARE of his coffee!!! |
 The Old Red Barn |
| The Old Red Barn offers to the visitor a display of many "hand" tools used daily on our early farms. |
 Apple Shed |
| Apples have always been a staple in our diets. Watch as fresh apples are "squeezed" by hand. Apple sauce, apple butter and apple jelly will surely delight a biscuit every time. And the apple cider ain't bad either! |
 Village Blacksmith |
| The village blacksmith was the "local hardware " store in many small communities. Watch our blacksmith create tools and household items using hot coals, a hammer and anvil and lots of talent. |
 Log Splitting |
| Watch as a turn-of-the century log splitter is used to split fire wood for both heat and wood burning cooking stoves. This particular log splitter was used for several decades in downtown Jacksonville to provide firewood for government buildings, hotels and boarding houses. |
 Southern Cooking |
| Sample some mouth watering wood-stove cooking at both the Baxley House and the Padgett House. Real Southern Cookin at it finest!! |
 Cracker House |
| In the Cracker House and several pavillons you can see the intricate talents of weaving, cloth- making and sewing. Watch as our volunteers loom and weave to make both functional and decorative fabrics. |
 Quilt Making |
| Nothing is more fun than quilt making. Stop by the Johns House and see beautiful quilts being stitched together for warmth on cold nights and for decorating each room of the house. These folks are true artists! |
 Penney Farms School House |
| Visit the old Penny Farms School House. You will recall the early years of schooling – - – and what the Three R's really mean. Spend some time with our volunteers from the Clay County Literacy Coalition and share your early education experiences. (You may even be interested in become a volunteer too!) |
 Cane Syrup |
| AHHH – - – - CANE SYRUP!!!!! Even an old cold biscuit comes to life when sopped in some fresh southern cane syrup. A bottle of syrup was found on every kitchen table. Watch as the sugar cane juice is ground from the stalks and cooked into mouth-watering syrup – - an annual event on most Southern farms even in recent times. |
 Master Gardeners |
| Learn the "particulars" of having a successful garden. The Clay County Master Gardeners know their stuff!!! And they love the bounty of a garden. These volunteers demonstrate and answer questions about the art and love of growing fresh vegetables for Mom's kitchen. |
 Moonshine |
| MOONSHINE????? Enough said!!! |
 Crosscut Saw |
| The crosscut saw cleared millions of acres across the United States. From felling trees of every size to cutting fence posts, these saws were instrumental in building America. Try your hand at the demonstration shed manned by men and women from the Florida Forestry Service. |
 Maguire Commissary |
| Visit the Maguire Commissary and experience the importance of the timber and turpentine industries in the building of Florida. Actual turpentine tools, era photos and real "cat eyes" tell the story of a vanishing industry. Feel and smell the atmosphere inside an actual turpentine village commissary. These "company stores" were often the center of business in the numerous timber communities throughout the Southeastern United States. |
 Reinhold Pavilion |
| Like Music???? Cloggin??? Fiddle playing??? Come by the Reinhold Pavilion and the Village Church both weekends for beautiful authentic music performed by local church choirs and bluegrass bands from the North Florida area. |
 Craft Work  |
| Making soap, braiding bullwhips and crafting cornhusk dolls were part of life in every early Florida household. Watch our volunteers "make it look simple". |
 Milling Barn |
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The "MILL HOUSE" This attraction makes its debut during the 2011 Fair. Every small town or village had a central location where shelled corn could be ground into grits and corn meal. In more rural settings, a small grits mill was actually one of the pieces of power equipment located in or adjacent to the livestock barn. See a 19th century grits mill and "fanning" operation turn shelled corn into food staples found in ever southern kitchen for over the past 250 years. Also, take time to look at the selection of antique hand tools on display and see if you can identify their uses. |
 Saw Mill |
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| The "SAW MILL" This attraction makes its debut during the 2013 Fair. The saw mill was owned by Horace Whitehead. It was built in the late 40’s by Parker & Mic Machine Shop. The saw mill came from Maxville and was used for cutting cypress trees. Horace ran several saw mills in the County, his son runs a saw mill today off Normandy. | |