Imagine you are headed to Florida for new land. When you finally find your spot there is nothing there. You have no house to live in so you begin to construct a temporary home for you and your family. When you are done you have a very small building that resembles a shed, this will be your house for about a year. In that time you will construct your farm house, which will be permanent. When your farm house is completed you will use the temporary home for storage.
This actually happened about 90 years ago at what currently is the Silver River State Park. The temporary home still stands, but is deteriorating. The park is using it for storage of scrap wood, old doors, TV antennae, and I even saw an air compressor. Because of some of these items electric outlets, lighting, and wires were installed. Fortunately the park has disconnected the wires completely. The park has considered demolishing the building, but Christine Dorrier, Silver River’s Assistant Park Manager, thinks otherwise. She has been trying to get historic renovation grants from the state, but they could not offer enough money at the time.
While in St. Andrew State Park during spring break a couple years ago, I discovered an Eagle Scout project that interested me. It was the renovation of a turpentine mill that was falling apart. I immediately knew that I would contact the park system for my project, and thats exactly what I did. Christine told me all about the building and I knew this was the right choice. Now my dreams are a reality, but reality is much harder than I thought. Although the project will be hard I am exited on doing it because I love its historic value.
My goal, and the parks goal, is to have a building that has been restored to its original state and can house historical items such as a bed, desk, and maybe an old stove. This project will help our community understand our past and maybe who we are as Floridians.
