Carrabelle History Museum – Preserving the History and Culture of Carrabelle, Florida

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.

NEW EXHIBIT NOW OPEN IN UPSTAIRS GALLERY

The Carrabelle History Museum is excited to announce the opening of a new exhibit, “Shipwrecks of Dog Island”.

This exhibit explores Dog Island’s rich maritime history, and especially focuses on those shipwrecks that resulted from the direct hit of the 1899 “Carrabelle Hurricane” through amazing photographs. Dog Island was a safe harbor for European explorers, smugglers, fishermen and lumbermen. In 2018, Hurricane Michael uncovered parts of two ships that were wrecked during the 1899 event. Learn why these ships were visiting Carrabelle and which of our exports they took back to Europe.

An original video featuring expert underwater archaeologist Chuck Meide describes the process of identifying the sunken ships. It informs visitors about what to do when they come across an artifact on public land whether that's a piece of a shipwreck, an arrowhead, or a piece of pottery. READ ABOUT OPENING DAY HERE.

This exhibit was funded in part as a heritage education project by the Florida Department of State, Division of Historic Preservation and the State of Florida.

This exhibit, created by curator Joan Matey, is the first to be installed in the museum’s refurbished upstairs. Please note that the upstairs currently can only be accessed by stairs and is therefore temporarily not accessible to those with mobility issues. An elevator has been funded through a grant and through dedicated fundraising efforts and will be installed by next summer. A special video program will also make it possible to learn about the Shipwrecks of Dog Island exhibit from downstairs to accommodate all visitors during this transition period.

Welcome the Carrabelle History Museum

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