Stuart Heritage Museum — Attraction in Stuart

This museum is located in an historic feed store built in 1901 in downtown Stuart. It is the oldest commercial building in Martin County. The building was originally the George W. Parks General Merchandise Store. George W. Parks and his family lived upstairs and the store occupied the first floor. In 1924 George sold the store and in 1946 it was purchased by the Truman Fertilizer Company and named the Stuart Feed Store. The City of Stuart purchased the building in 1988 and formed the Stuart Heritage, Inc to preserve and protect historic buildings in the town and artifacts from the city of Stuart. The museum opened in 1992.

It's free to visit the museum and parking is free too. I stopped by on a recent trip to Stuart. I didn't have too long before closing and there was a lot to look at. The museum has over 10,000 from the 1880's through the 1950's. The city of Stuart took root when the Florida East Coast Railroad came through in 1894. You can find pictures of the railroad in the museum. The museum also has an exhibit dedicated to the Seminoles who were the native people in this area. They lived on the banks of Poppolton Creek and used to come in to the store on Saturdays to trade. Some of the displays are dedicated to the local legends like Trapper Nelson who died from a gun shot that may have been self inflicted or maybe not and the Ashley Gang who like Robin Hood would steal from the rich to give to the poor in the 1910's through the 20's. A final shoot out with police in 1924 killed John Ashley and every member of his gang. Another part of the museum is set up like a general store with ceramic chickens that are a nod to the chickens that used to run around inside the building.

Items in the museum are in chronological order starting with the Seminoles, the pioneers, the 1920's through the 1950's. Some of the items are things you might have seen in your grandparents home like antique sewing machines and vintage refrigerators, A favorite display was a recreated ice cream parlor from the 1950's. The executive director of the museum is Mary Jones whose own family makes more than one appearance in the museum. Her family moved to Stuart in 1907 and her father was the town fire chief and her grandfather was the contractor for the Lyric Theater.

While the emphasis is on Stuart and Martin County the museum also tells the story of Florida. You could spend a short time here or hours looking through all of the fascinating items. The museum also has a small gift shop with handmade crafts from some of the pioneer families in the community and a selection of interesting history books relevant to the area. It is definitely going to take me another visit to finish going through all of the photographs and treasures. If you are a fan of history like I am you will want to pay this quaint...

We recently moved to PSL and wanted to explore our new home. We came to the Stuart Heritage Museum and it felt like we entered in a Time Machine. So many original artifacts and articles in prestige condition really made me get a feel for life in Stuart throughout the years. We were greeted by 2 lovely ladies (I apologize for forgetting your names), who gave us a breakdown of the museum’s rich history and also gave us a lot of recommendations for our next adventures...

The Museum associate Mrs Hardwick welcomed us & her daughter also there had a very welcoming conversation with us. I was with my girlfriend who grew up in Stuart. Because of the museum it was so much easier & enjoyable for her to share some of her most memorable life experiences. We spent at least an hour & probably closer to 2 & only were able to really see a portion of all that they have to share. This is definitely a treasure to see & it was FREE...