Come explore the amazing history of Osceola County and life in early Florida. During an interactive tour you can experience how people lived in the late 1800s at Pioneer Village, hear fun facts (and the sounds of Florida wildlife), and see award-winning exhibits at the History Museum.
The origins of Beard Day are a mystery. Still, the belief is that Danish Vikings held celebrations to honor their beards as early as 800 BC. Here in Osceola County, Florida, beard contests were held in conjunction with the local rodeos. In the 1950s, Kissimmee downtown merchants were required to grow beards or else pay hefty fines – all done in the name of good […]
Phillip “Phil” Russell Kelley didn’t always wear bow ties but beginning in the late 1950s; it appears to have become part of his regular attire. What prompted him to make the switch from a regular tie is a mystery, but Phil was definitely one of Kissimmee’s unique citizens. And with a good old Irish name like Kelley, Phil also had the “Gift of the Blarney.” […]
On Purple Heart Day, August 7th, Osceola History pays tribute to a local businessman who served his country and the community he called home for sixty-two years. After serving in World War II, Elmer “Pete” Louis Hunt, born in 1923 in New York, came to Kissimmee, Florida. The youngest of five sons born to Homer and Lena Hunt, the family moved to Oviedo before 1940. […]
