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A stroll through time

Heritage Village will mark its 30th anniversary of providing lessons in living history.

By Rita Farlow Times Staff Writer
Published October 24, 2007

The McMullen-Coachman Log Cabin is the oldest building in Pinellas County and among 25 historic structures in Heritage Village, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary Saturday with a daylong evvent featuring crafters, live music and food.
	[Jim Damaske | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Jim Damaske | Times] A McMullen-Coachman cabin bedroom shows the cracks in the floor and walls that let in fresh air and critters.

"I spent that whole decade the 1930s in my bare feet, walking from house to house visiting with my cousins," said Bouchard, 78.

One stop was the Rosery Road home built in 1868 by her great-great-grandparents, Daniel and Margaret McMullen, who came to the area in the early 1850s as one of Pinellas County's pioneer families.

On Saturday, Bouchard will join about a dozen relatives from the McMullen clan at Heritage Village for the museum's 30th anniversary celebration.

As part of the festivities, the McMullens and other descendants of local pioneer families will share their memories about some of Heritage Village's historic structures, including the Rosery Road home, which was moved there in 1992.

"Every building here has a bigger story to tell," said Ellen Babb, the museum's historian and spokeswoman.

Another featured home is the McMullen-Coachman Log Cabin, which was moved to the museum in July 1977.

Anne Coachman Epling, one of the museum's docents, likes to share family anecdotes about the cabin - Pinellas County's oldest existing structure - which her family bought in 1902 from the family of James McMullen, Daniel's brother.

"When my father (Samuel Candler Coachman) was a boy, he was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom, and he tended to sleepwalk, and he sleepwalked right out of an upstairs window and broke his leg," Epling said.

It's those storiesthat help keep history alive for future generations, Babb said.

"A huge part of this 30th anniversary has been meeting all of these people and having them share their remarkable stories," Babb said.

Heritage Village, originally called Heritage Park, opened in September 1977 with four historic buildings on 10 acres.

Today, the 21-acre site has more than 25 historic structures, including 10 homes, a pair of outhouses, two schools and a church.

The first jubilee was held in October 1978 to pay for furnishings for the historic buildings. The yearly event is the Pinellas County Historical Society's largest fundraiser and helps support the museum's programs and exhibits.

Visitors to this year's celebration and jubilee can listen to live music, have a snack, watch demonstrators grind sugar cane or make rope and browse the wares of 125 crafters.

Bouchard said she's eager to share her stories about early life in Pinellas County, including the heaping plates of fried chicken and macaroni and cheese her Aunt Nannie served on Sundays.

She said the museum has maintained the McMullen House's sense of authenticity.

"I love the fact they have the quilters and the needleworkers in there, because Aunt Nannie's thing was making quilts. She would sit by that fireplace, in what was her bedroom, in a little rocking chair, and I would go to sleep in the feather bed watching her piecing quilts," Bouchard said.

Bouchard said there is much for today's generation to learn from her family's homestead.

"One of the values is just to remind schoolchildren that there was a very different life here," Bouchard said. "And it was good."

Rita Farlow can be reached at (727) 445-4162 or farlow@sptimes.com.

Heritage Village's 30th birthday celebrationand the 30th annual Pinellas County Historical Society's Country Jubilee

When: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Where: 11909 125th St. N, Largo.

What: Event features crafts and food for purchase, children's activities, live music and historical demonstrations. Proceeds from the jubilee benefit the Pinellas County Historical Society, which supports Heritage Village's educational programs and exhibits. Free. For information, call 582-2123 or visit the Web site at www.pinellascounty.org/heritage/.

[Last modified October 24, 2007, 07:14:45]