Page 8 - 2018 Mar-Apr Art-i-facts

New Pioneer Exhibit Balances

Adversity with Fortitude

Pioneer exhibit photo by Jeremy Maready.

Polk County’s early pioneers were survivors. room, including items typically used by pioneer families such
as candle molds, a cast iron wood-burning stove and wooden
They built their homes along rivers, streams and on military chairs with cowhide seats. The display includes an authentic
roads. They chose to live in some of the most inhospitable cowhide chair hand-crafted by Silas McClelland. McClelland
environments where few settlers chose to call this area of was a skilled local chair maker, and his chairs were both
Central Florida home. The federal government hadn’t even strong and durable, making them collector's items.
surveyed the state’s interior.
Additional displays feature textiles and other personal
Yet, this became the home of Florida’s early pioneers. items used by early Central Florida families. Because many

And now a redesigned, permanent exhibit in their honor artifacts displayed in the exhibit were donated by the original
is open at the Polk County History Center in Bartow. The owner’s direct descendants, the item’s history is included in
Seminole Indian Wars, the establishment of forts and military the interpretation, which is always an added bonus.
roads, pioneer life, religion, early black American settlements The new Polk’s Pioneers exhibit offers a glimpse into the
and a lighthearted list of old Florida Cracker remedies are rugged conditions of Florida’s unsettled interior during the
just some of the items visitors will find in the exhibit. mid-1800s, while leaving visitors with this thought: whether

The History Center’s exhibits incorporate the building’s black-American, Anglo Saxon or Native American, all worked
historic architecture. The gallery’s high ceilings made it a tirelessly toward a common goal – to carve out a better life
perfect space to feature floor to ceiling graphics, including in the central Florida wilderness.
dozens of photographs from the museum archives and an The Polk County History Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
1870s map of Florida that immediately draws visitors into the Tuesday through Saturday at 100 E. Main St. in Bartow. Visit
room. www.polkhistorycenter.org or call (863) 534-4386 for more
Within the gallery is a large display case built in the style of a information on exhibits and programming. All programs and
pioneer cabin. Inside, the artifacts reflect a kitchen and sitting events are free and open to the public.

8 Art-i-facts • March-April 2018 • www.polkarts.org