Photo by Joy Katzen-Guthrie

Palm Harbor Museum
Where local history comes alive!

We welcome you!  Free/Donation Tours can be docent-led or self-guided
Open 10 AM to 2 PM on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
Email us to arrange other times for group tours | closed on holidays
corner of Belcher & Curlew Rds  |  enter from Curlew  |  plenty of free parking
2043 Curlew Rd.,  Palm Harbor, FL  34683  | Email:  [email protected]  | (727) 724-3054

 CURRENT EVENTS  ~  YOU ARE INVITED!

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Home for the Holidays:  Keep History Alive!

Our annual year-end donation campaign is now 11% toward its $10.000 goal, with $1,100 of donations from supporters since November 1st.  Please help us reach our end of year campaign goal! Become a member, renew your membership, and make a donation today!

🌟  Home for the Holidays: Keep History Alive — November 1 – December 31, 2025
🎯  Goal: $10,000 |  Please Click to Donate or Learn More

Your gift helps us:
✅ Protect the historic Hartley House
✅ Expand educational programs
✅ Ensure Palm Harbor’s story continues for generations to come
Whether it’s $10, $50, $100, or more, your donation is a powerful way to say:
“I believe in our past—and our future.”  Please Click to Donate or Learn More

TONIGHT!
Our Monthly Speaker Series, PALM HARBOR MUSEUM PRESENTS
RETIRED LIAISON TO PINELLAS COUNTY GOVERNMENT and
PALM HARBOR HISTORY AFICIONADO NANCY MCKIBBEN with
Wall Springs: Then and Today  |  Tonight, Wed, Dec 3, 6:30 PM at Palm Harbor Library

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Join us tonight for our December 2025 Palm Harbor Museum Presents with Retired Liaison to Pinellas County Government and Palm Harbor History Aficionado Nancy McKibben. Wednesday evening, Dec 3 at 6:30 PM at Palm Harbor Library, Nancy will share the history surrounding a Palm Harbor treasure—Wall Springs, the one-time spa and swimming hole, now a 210-acre Pinellas County Park. Nancy's presentation will include a fascinating story of how the namesake of the spring was connected to one of the most notorious gangsters of the era! You'll discover much more about this extraordinary environmental gem.

Nancy McKibben has been a resident of Palm Harbor since 1981, before which she resided in Weeki Wachee during her adolescent years and graduated from Hernando High School.  After pursuing an engineering degree for while working and raising three children who attended Ozona Elementary and Palm Harbor University High School, she turned to Public Administration, receiving her Bachelor and Master's degree from Barry University in Miami Shores. Retired this summer from Pinellas County Government, where she represented the unincorporated communities of north Pinellas, Nancy has always had a keen interest in the unique history of Palm Harbor —especially some of the lesser known facts and characters.

All are welcome at no charge (donations gratefully accepted)   |  No RSVP necessary
Palm Harbor Library: 2330 Nebraska Ave., Palm Harbor (next door to Sprouts)
Light refreshments available | Free Parking & Handicapped Accessible
Click to View/Download a pdf of the December 3rd Palm Harbor Museum Presents with Nancy McKibben
File Size: 52432 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

FREE INTERGENERATIONAL FAMILY FUN DAY
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13 FROM 11 AM TO 2 PM

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Save Saturday morning, December 6th at 10:30 AM for an informative historical program by Palm Harbor Museum Volunteer Research Associate Quinton Spiaggi at Brooker Creek Preserve as Quinton presents
Women of Pinellas: How They Shaped Bird Protection in the Early 20th Century. 

If you joined us for Quinton's program earlier this year on Lue Gim Gong, then you know how thorough and fascinating is his historic research, and this program promises to be equally informative. 

Additionally, Quinton will bring another program to our 2026 Palm Harbor Museum Presents speakers series. Save the date of Wed., April 1 at 6:30 PM, as Quinton presents a discussion and photographic display of a little known, seldom-discussed, and amazing community of Florida and, specifically, our region, with Arab Americans of Florida: The Story of Mecca, Pinellas. That program will be presented at Palm Harbor Library at no charge.

​Discover more and reserve your spot for Women of Pinellas: How They Shaped Bird Protection in the Early 20th Century at Brooker Creek Preserve on Sat., December 6 at 10:30 AM. 
Click to View/Download a pdf of the flyer for Brooker Creek Preserve program of Dec 6
File Size: 2639 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

FREE INTERGENERATIONAL FAMILY FUN DAY
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13 FROM 11 AM TO 2 PM

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OUR next Free Intergenerational Family Fun Day, brought to you by Pinellas Community Foundation and Faith Mission Grant, will be an Old-Fashioned Holiday Celebration on Sat., Dec. 13th from 11 AM until 2 PM.

All ages are invited for a holiday story reading, arts and crafts, activities, games, and refreshments both indoors and out—rain or shine! Enjoy free refreshments, including free Culver's frozen custard too.

Our Historic Hartley House indoor exhibits and our historic Citrus Grove House, as well as outdoor native landscape exhibit with signage are open for your enjoyment, including our newest exhibit, Marriage and Mayhem in the Sunshine State and our newly-erected Hartley House State Historic Marker.  Our beautiful Wind Phone inspired by the "Kaze No Denwa" (The Phone of the Wind) created by 72-year-old garden designer Itaru Sasaki in Japan can be experienced as well. 

No reservations are necessary.  All are welcome — Bring family and friends!
2043 Curlew Road (corner of Belcher & Curlew, entrance from Curlew)
Plenty of free parking and handicapped accessible
Click to View/Download a pdf of the Dec 2025 Family Fun Day flyer.
File Size: 6512 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

HOLIDAY MEMBERSHIP MINGLE on Sat., Dec 13th from 2-4 PM

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We invite Members to join us at our HOLIDAY MEMBERSHIP MINGLE
on Sat., Dec 13th from 2-4 PM

Following our Family Fun Day event (from 11 to 2 on Sat., Dec 13)
members are invited join us from 2-4 PM to view holiday
decorations, enjoy cozy refreshments, and mingle with fellow members.

We will also reveal the winner of our Membership Raffle into which
​all current and new members will be entered to win a free flat screen TV.
All memberships purchased from mid-October through the event date
will be eligible. Please renew by Dec 13th to be entered in to win.

Not yet a member?
You may attend and join at our Membership Mingle
or visit the link below to become part of the legacy
​of historic Palm Harbor today! 
Click the image to the right or file icon below to view and download a pdf of the flyer. 
Click to View/Download a pdf of the Holiday Membership Mingle Flyer
File Size: 1667 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Palm Harbor Museum is now a Florida Heritages Site

Photos by Joy Katzen-Guthrie
We invite you to view our new Hartley House Historical Marker (dedicated on Saturday, July 19th). The Florida Historical Marker Program is among the most popular and visible statewide public history programs of the Florida Division of Historical Resources, with the intention to provide awareness of Florida's rich cultural history and to enhance the enjoyment of publicly accessible historic sites and attractions.

This marker was the result of a ten years-long process in which volunteers from Palm Harbor Historical Society, Inc. partnered with Pinellas County historians to research and author the text and apply for approval from the Florida Department of State Division of Historical Resources. Discover more about the rich history of the Hartley House (built between 1914 and 1919) and Palm Harbor Museum by viewing our Historical Marker at any time and by visiting our museum during our open hours 10 AM to 2 PM Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, when you can enjoy a self-guided or docent tour at no charge (Donations are gratefully accepted!). Museum grounds also include our historic Citrus Grove House,  Florida native plant gardens with informational signage, wind phone, and shaded picnic area in our camphor tree grove.

Discover more about our Historical Marker and Palm Harbor's Centennial: 
Pinellas County   |  Suncoast News   |   MSN   |   TBN Weekly   |   Bay News Nine

Did You Know ... Palm Harbor Museum is Available for Rentals?

Historic Hartley House and grounds provide a cosy, historic venue for meetings, clubs, showers and other celebrations.

Conveniently located at the corner of Belcher and Curlew Roads (with entrance from Curlew). Ample parking, affordable rates, handicapped accessible with covered veranda, large outdoor patio and shaded picnic area in addition to kitchen, indoor parlor, and exhibit rooms. Hartley House has been the lovely location for many a private event and meeting, and yours could be next! Discover more about hosting your event at Hartley House. 

Email Barb Battaglia for availability and additional information.
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Photos by Joy Katzen-Guthrie

VISIT OUR NEWEST EXHIBIT:  
​MARRIAGE AND MAYHEM IN THE SUNSHINE STATE

As you view our most recent exhibit, Marriage and Mayhem in the Sunshine State, you'll discover the fascinating story of how, here in north Pinellas County, the actions of the Duke of Sutherland and the woman he took to become his second wife, Mary Caroline "May" Blair, created one of the biggest scandals in British society. The scandal rocked the British establishment and upset Queen Victoria herself. 

In Dunedin, The Duke and Mary Blair married. Aside Lake Tarpon, they made their home.  Read their story and touch or view closely the artifacts of their lives and era that immerse you into Victorian history. 

View this exhibit with docent tour or self-guided visit at no charge during museum hours
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays between 10 AM and 2 PM.
Donations are gratefully accepted.

PALM HARBOR MUSEUM WINTER (NOV/DEC) 2025 E-NEWS

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Hot off the Press—our Winter Nov-Dec 2025 E-Newsletter has just been released and is chock full of information of upcoming end-of year and coming year events, news, photo recaps, our End of Year Campaign updates, museum updates, and more.

Learn of the museum's recent refurbishments and our coming Palm Harbor Museum Presents program on Dec 3 with Nancy McKibben about the history of Wall Springs, our Dec 13th Intergenerational Family Fun Day Holiday Festival and Membership Mingle, our inaugural Good Neighbor Award, Garden Work Days, calendar for the remainder of 2025 and coming events in 2026, photo recaps of our Annual Wine Around Palm Harbor, speaker series, and museum activities. See news of the museum being added to the Pinellas Library Cooperative Museum Pass Program, a special drawing and giveaway for New Memberships and Membership Renewals—and much more.

​Click the image or the button below to view this issue online. 

To receive our e-newsletter (issued monthly and additionally on occasion for special announcements), join our mailing list via the subscribe form at the bottom of this page or email us your request to be added. We'll update you of museum news, activities, programs, special events, and announcements, and of course, you may unsubscribe at any time. 

Join Our Mailing List

Join our e-mail list to receive our program, event, volunteer, and exhibit updates.

Click to receive our e-mail newsletters (generally sent twice a month)
Or provide your name/email below, and we will add you to our e-mail list.
​We are delighted to welcome you!
WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO VISIT
​PALM HARBOR MUSEUM
2043 Curlew Rd   |   Palm Harbor, FL   |   34683   |   (727) 724-3054   |  [email protected]
Open Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10 AM to 2 PM   |   Free Admission  (donations welcomed!) | closed on holidays
Docent-led or self-guided tours   |   We welcome groups!   |   Email to arrange other times for group visits
plenty of free parking on our museum grounds | corner of Belcher & Curlew Rds | enter parking lot from Curlew