We opened in April of 2009, and since then, residents of the community have generously shared their pictures, genealogy, memories, household and work items to build our collection. Our first artifact was the medical bag of beloved midwife Tillie Miller, donated by Rita Brown Millender and John Brown. From then Carrabelle History Museum has grown to house thousands of items in its collections. Gratefully, we still receive wonderful local artifacts.
The museum is located in the Old Carrabelle City Hall, built by local mason Marvin Justiss in 1933 during the Depression as a work program to employ locals. The museum has exhibits rooms to display collections, a large entry hall for special displays, and a workroom/office for the volunteers to process the incoming artifacts. We have several displays that highlight Local Heroes; the Steamship Tarpon, which was key to building our community in the early 1900's; and Carrabelle's "First People", indigenous people who lived here thousands of years ago.
THIS MONTH
Happy 85th Birthday to the Historic City Hall Building!
This building, which currently houses the Carrabelle History Museum, first opened to the public on May 2, 1938. This building was described at the time of its construction as "one of the finest buildings in the state for a city of this size." It is a two story brick vernacular style of that period. Carrabelle’s original City Hall was constructed by Marvin N. Justiss, a local mason of note who is said to have built half of Carrabelle. Mr. Justiss hand made the concrete blocks in wooden forms. Each one weighs over 60 pounds.
This was the era of steamships, ferries, new bridges (the Apalachicola / Eastpoint bridge had just been built 3 years earlier!), and big band swing and jazz music, all the while the Nazis were already consolidating power and World War II was brewing.
Come check out the historic City Hall, a restored original jail cell door and a display on the construction methods of the City Hall building (as well as many other downtown commercial buildings).
Funded in part by Franklin County Tourist Development Council