Upcoming Public Events
Cracker Country is open exclusively for educational field trips, privately scheduled tours, and a limited number of public events each year. We are excited to invite the public to join us for the special events featured below. Please check-out our event calendar to see a complete listing of the opportunities to visit Cracker Country.
About Us
Cracker Country is a rural Florida living history museum located on the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. Set on four beautiful acres of live oak trees, the museum includes 13 original structures built in Florida between 1870-1912. The buildings were relocated from around the state, restored and furnished to represent aspects of home life, transportation and commerce as it was in many rural communities just before the turn of the 20th century.
The museum focuses on providing opportunities to learn about the daily lives of late 19th century Floridians, through hands-on school field trips, tours, special events and the annual Florida State Fair. Our programs incorporate historically dressed interpreters, folk life demonstrations and preservation of our historic resources.
Top Left: Church, 1900
Bottom Left: Okahumpka Train Depot, 1898
Top Right: Portrait of Mildred W. & Doyle E. Carlton Jr.
Bottom Right: Carlton House, 1885
A Museum is Born
Cracker Country was founded in 1978 by Doyle Carlton, Jr and his wife, Mildred Woodbery Carlton on four acres of property inside the then-new Florida State Fairgrounds. This piece of land, with its moss covered live oak trees, seemed the perfect setting for their longtime vision: a living museum that would showcase and share with the community the history of rural Florida.
The Carltons, both natives of Tampa, had deep roots in pioneer Florida. The Carlton and Woodbery families settled here in the early 19th century, when the territory of Florida was a sparsely populated wilderness.
The museum debuted at the 1979 Florida State Fair with just two buildings: the 1885 Carlton House and the 1894 Smith House. Over the next decade, the Carltons continued to partner with the Florida State Fairgrounds and expanded the museum to include a one-room schoolhouse, general store, railroad depot, church, post office and more historic structures.
The Carlton family continues to generously support Cracker Country today, helping the museum to educate new generations about the unique history of rural life in late 19th century Florida.
Blacksmith Shop
Visitors to Cracker Country can see a real blacksmith practicing his trade…
What is a Florida “Cracker”?
The term “cracker” dates at least as far back as Shakespeare, who coined it in the play King John. From the early 19th century it was used to describe the hardy, self-reliant and often poor pioneers who migrated from the north in search of a better life in the harsh Florida wilderness. Later, the term became associated with Florida’s rugged cattlemen.
Cattle, descended from stock left behind by the Spanish, roamed freely in the Florida woodlands. Cow hunters used whips to flush the cattle from the underbrush and drive them to ports for shipment north or to Cuba. Whips were not used to strike the cattle. They were popped in the air to make a “crack” sound to get the cattle moving. The sound traveled great distances, making the whip an essential communication tool between cowmen. A commonly used 120 mile cattle drive route across the south central part of the state is known today as the Florida Cracker Trail.
Schedule a private tour for your book club, senior group, family or friends!
Private group tours are available on select days - minimum 15 participants required. Contact us at Museum@FloridaStateFair.com.
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