TOURS AND PROGRAMS

Guided Tours
Guided tours for individual visitors of the Pioneer Village are offered on Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.; Sundays, 1:30 p.m.

Groups
Group tours are provided to any group, including schools, business/professional associations and social organizations. These can be tailored to a specific subject or needs. To inquire, please contact us at (407)396-8644 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 

School Tours & Programs  
The following tours include a brief orientation of Florida and Osceola County history and last about 1-hour in length, unless otherwise noted. Group size should not exceed 60 students per visit.

A screened pavilion is available on the grounds without additional charge to groups bringing boxed lunches. If desired, groups can have small samples of "pioneer foods" included for an additional nominal cost.

For more information or to book, please call (407)396-8644, or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

2010 School Tours & Programs

 
Lanier "Cracker House"
Tour this 1889 authentic Cracker House, which was owned by the Laniers, a prominent ranching family in Osceola County.  Included with the house are a wash house, smokehouse, and gardens-- all essential to homesteader life in the 1800's.

General Store & Blacksmith's Shop
Originally the 1887 home of the Tyson family of Narcoossee, the General Store was an all-important business to rural communities, helping to foster the foundations of commerce. See and learn how this type of facility, along with the 1800's Blacksmith Shop, provided a variety of services and goods vital for a community's existence and growth.

Cracker Cow Camp
Explore this primitive campsite and learn about the life and work of the Florida Cracker cattlemen, or "Cow Hunters", and the importance of these camps in serving the cattle trade during the early days.

One-Room Schoolhouse & Citrus Packing House
As communities began to grow and become more structured, the early days of formal education were personified by the "one-room" 1880's Schoolhouse.  This was where grades 1-6 were cleverly taught simultaneously by a single teacher (literally and figuratively).  The 1880's Citrus Packing House and orange grove is representative of Florida's early importance as a leader in the citrus industry.

Osceola County Historical Society Museum
A detailed tour of the formal OCHS Museum, housing an extensive collection of artifacts and displays which provide a full and varied perspective of early life in Osceola County, to significant events of recent history. (Following tour, students and chaperones are welcome to visit the other sites of the Pioneer Village on their free time.)

The Pioneer Village Tour
A tour of all historical facilities of the site given by guides who are long-time residents, having a thorough knowledge of the county's history.  The tour is conducted with fascinating historic tidbits and anecdotes that have been passed on through generations of local residents.  (Note: This tour is 75-90 minutes in length.)

Mary Kendall Steffee Nature Preserve
Tour this 1-mile, approximate, nature trail that has preserved a piece of Osceola County as it was from the time of Florida's original Native American tribes and early pioneers. The vegetation growing here provided the early inhabitants materials needed for dyes, clothing, medicine and other necessities.

Cracker Cowboy Campfire (evening program)
Sit around a campfire and learn about early Florida, the "Cracker Cowboys" and hear exciting stories of folklore and legend. You bring the marshmallows, and we provide the storyteller! Scheduled by special arrangement, this is a wonderful program for students and parents to experience together. (Note: this program is limited to no more than 30 students, plus parents/chaperones.)

Early Pioneer Agriculture
Learn what the early homesteaders farmed.  How they learned from the Native American to use a particular root of the Florida Coontie plant as a substitute for wheat, and how sugar was obtained from sugarcane, which was once prominently grown here.

Special Curriculum Incentive Programs
Educators seeking adjunct projects and extra-curricular activities to enhance their students' history and social studies curriculum may wish to consider the following offerings on an extended-term basis:

Host a Historical Site
Students can become limited-term Hosts or Hostesses of any of the historical sites at the Pioneer Village.  They research the subject matter and specific history of the site (e.g. the Importance of the General Store in 1800's Society, and the history of the store and its original owners when it was the residence of the Tyson family).

Nature Preserve Research Projects
Educators teaching science and nature preservation subjects can arrange to have access to the 8-acre Mary Kendall Steffee Nature Preserve on an on-going basis for field research by their students.  Horticultural projects can also be arranged using plants and gardens of the Pioneer Village, and by cultivating new historically accurate gardens on-site (i.e. sugar cane, coontie plants, and other indigenous plants).

Other special projects and activities can be arranged by special request.  High school students may wish to consider Internships with OCHS.  For more information, call (407)396-8644, or contact Philip Jackson, OCHS Program Coordinator at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .