Pioneer Village at Shingle Creek Regional Park

The historic structures are now located near some of the earliest settlement sites in the county and have been restored and furnished to reflect the lifestyles of pioneer families in the late 1800s. Visitors to Pioneer Village can explore the structures and examine artifacts from some of the earliest industries in Florida history, such as a Florida cracker cowboy replica cow camp and an original citrus packing mill.

Hours of Operation: 7 days a week 10AM – 4PM

Location: 2491 Babb Rd. Kissimmee FL 34746

RESTORED AND RELOCATED STRUCTURES:

• Partin Family – Caretaker’s House 

  The Caretaker’s House from the Partin Family is a great addition to the Osceola County Historical Society. Henry O. Partin made history in Osceola County by introducing Brahman cattle to the cattle industry in Florida. This structure was originally located on Partin’s ranch and served as a Caretaker’s House. Early research shows it may have been built in 1932. Although this makes the structure “newer” than the rest of the Pioneer Village buildings, it was still part of Osceola County history. This structure will be the first building you walk through with a gift shop located inside.

• Blacksmith’s Shop

  By crafting horseshoes, nails, tools and other items, the blacksmith provided a variety of services vital for a community’s existence and growth. Local Boy Scouts used an original plan form the 1800’s to build the shop, which includes a full working forge and authentic tools.

• Lanier “Cracker House”

  Built in 1889 by the Lanier family, prominent ranchers in Osceola County. The Cracker House, an early-American form of architecture, is defined by the center breezeway which creates a natural air conditioner for the home. Included with the house are a wash house, smokehouse, and gardens– all essential to homesteader life in the 1800’s.

• Tyson House

  The Tyson family represent yet another variety of Osceola County settler. This family worked hard as farmers, but had far less expendable income. The one-room house is an original structure from Osceola County, and allows OCHS to tell the story of an average farming family in the late 1800s. This family had 11 children, and at one point 11 members of the family lived in the single-room dwelling.

  •   The Tyson house shares the story of James C. Tyson and his family.
  • After working and living around Osceola County, James settled in Narcoossee at some point between 1884 and 1890.
  • He got married, had his first son, and purchased a small plot of land where James and his wife, Victoria, built their first home. According to property tax records, it appears the Tison home was built in 1892.
  • Over the course of 1890-1917, the Tyson family welcomes 11 children.

• The Cadman Complex

  When the Cadman’s arrived in New York by ship in 1888 on their way to Florida, they became part of a larger trend: investors – many of them wealthy – attracted to Florida by promises of natural bounty and beauty, temperate climate, and commercial opportunity. For the Cadmans, the enticement came by way of family patriarch, Lt. Col. William Edwin Cadman’s younger brother, John Heaton Cadman, Esq., who was involved in a Florida land development project.

  Cadman Bungalow and Kitchen Facts:

   

  • The Cadman family purchased a home from the Fell & Davidson development group in Narcoossee.
  • The family remodeled the home to fit their needs, with Colonel and Mrs. Cadman occupying one bedroom, their daughter, Margery, in the second bedroom, and the three boys occupied a separate building called the Bachelors’ Quarters.
  • The Cadman home and kitchen were occupied by the Cadman family from roughly 1888-1980.
  • Generations of the family grew up here, and many modifications were made to the home over the years, including the addition of extra

    Cadman Bachelor’s Quarters Facts

• At its original location, the building was added to supply sleeping quarters for the Cadman boys.
• Many of the features of the building are consistent with the house and kitchen from that time, including surfaced siding and framing and natural “hard-oil” finish that still remains.

• Seminole Village

  Known today as the Seminole and Miccosukee Indians, the Seminoles trace their history to hundreds of tribes in the Maskoki linguistic family living in what is now the Southeastern United States. Spanish explorers and eventually the U.S. Government battled the Seminole tribes for land, culminating in the Seminole Wars of the early 1800s. At the end of the third war in 1858, a few hundred Seminoles remained in isolated areas of Florida, and the government abandoned efforts to relocate them.

• The Seminole dwelling, or chickee, is an open, round-log wood frame with a thatched gable roof.
• There is an elevated platform roughly 3 feet off the ground within the chickee.
• Upright palmetto logs, unsplit and undressed, support the roof.
• The thatched palmetto leaves are water tight, durable and resist violent wind.
• Coontie plant roots were used to make flour.
• The waterways like Shingle Creek were used for fishing, transportation and safety.

ANNUAL PIONEER DAY:

The Pioneer Village at Shingle Creek Regional Park is now home to the county's annual Pioneer Day. Pioneer Day is an outdoor festival that celebrates Osceola County's heritage. Attendees enjoy family friendly activities, live music, historic reenactments, and interesting lessons in butter-making, cow-milking and other pioneer chores.

Started in 1991, Pioneer Day teaches visitors how early pioneer families and Florida Seminoles lived before the invention of electricity and air-conditioning. Pioneer Day takes place in November each year.

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