Florida’s history stretches from the Stone Age to the Space Age, and the state is full of historical attractions celebrating each epoch. It's a place where ancient Seminole ceremonial centres and the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in North America sit alongside Miami’s colourful Art Deco quarter. We've ranked our favourites here.
Click through the gallery to see the attractions we think best capture the colourful story of arguably America’s most history-packed state…
Sitting atop one of the highest points in Florida, this 114-acre preserve has witnessed thousands of years of Florida history, from prehistoric times right through to the emancipation of the enslaved people who worked on the Civil War plantation here.
The Antebellum plantation house (pictured) is now a popular retreat and conference centre but is opened to the public most weekends, with visitors encouraged to book tickets ahead of time. The tours are often led by knowledgeable members of the Tampa Bay History Center who have spent years researching the property and its secrets.
In 1914, industrialist James Deering decided to create a little bit of Europe in Miami. The result is this opulent Italianate mansion overlooking Biscayne Bay in Miami.
Today, it is rightfully a National Historic Landmark and a place where visitors wander open-mouthed, gawping at the soaring architecture, meticulously manicured gardens and Deering’s enviable collection of world artworks. Open 9.30am to 4.30pm every day except Tuesday, make sure to book your ticket in advance.
This squat fortified watchtower was built by the Spanish in 1742 to guard the Matanzas Inlet and to warn St Augustine of the British or other enemies approaching from the south.
President Calvin Coolidge declared it a national monument in 1924 and now, well into its third century, it is as solid and vigilant as ever. The fort now hosts frequent reenactments and living history demonstrations about the early days of the fortification. It is open to the public from 9am to 5.30pm every day of the year except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Built in 1860 to warn mariners of the treacherous reefs just offshore, this iconic lighthouse on Jupiter Inlet went on to become a major link in the transatlantic telegraph network, a coastguard station, a steamboat terminal and a stop on a railroad branch line.
Today, it sits at the heart of the 120-acre Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area, offering visitors expansive views of Palm Beach County and exhibits offering insights into the lives of not just the lighthouse keepers, but of the Seminole people who called this part of Florida home, long before the arrival of the lighthouse.
Florida’s first capitol building was a log cabin built in 1824 when Tallahassee was chosen as the capital of the territory. In 1845, a more permanent structure was built and that building remains the core of the Historic Capitol today.
The Historic Capitol now sits in front of a modern 22-storey capital complex that was completed in 1977. It serves as the Florida Historic Capitol Museum and can be visited between 8am and 5pm on most weekdays. Visitors can observe the Legislature at work in the new complex when it is in session.
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Ybor City was founded in 1886 by the Spanish cigar manufacturer, Vicente Martinez Ybor, who moved his business first from Cuba to Key West and then on to Tampa. He built huge factories, employed mainly Cuban immigrants and by 1900 Ybor City had become ‘the cigar capital of the world.’
Today those factories have been preserved and converted to house shops, restaurants, clubs and galleries. It is one of only three National Historic Landmark Districts in Florida, easily reached from downtown Tampa by the free TECO Line Streetcar (pictured).
Nestled in the heart of downtown and only minutes from the beach, Pensacola’s Historic Village is a collection of preserved buildings and museums that tell the story of the town’s fascinating history over the past five centuries.
Made up of 28 properties spread over eight-and-a-half acres, visitors are encouraged to take advantage of the site’s ‘One Ticket, Seven Days to Explore’ option. The ticket enables visitors to explore all of the museums, take guided tours of historic homes and interact with the period-dressed living history interpreters that wander through the village.
If you need proof that circuses were big business in America at the beginning of the 20th century, look no further than this stunning Mediterranean revival residence overlooking Sarasota Bay. It was built in the mid-1920s as the winter retreat of the American circus mogul, entrepreneur and art collector John Ringling.
Boasting 56 rooms and measuring a staggering 36,000 square feet (3,345sqm), the mansion quickly became the social hub of Sarasota. Today it serves as a museum, housing Ringling’s extraordinary art collection and an architectural heritage that instantly transports visitors back to the glamorous age of the Roaring Twenties.
Combining both Victorian and West Indian architectural details, this stunning wooden building in Key West was built in 1890 as quarters for the Naval Base Commander and Paymaster. In 1946, it became the winter home and office of US President Harry S Truman and, in effect, a Little White House.
Now a museum, visitors can see where Truman met visiting dignitaries, attended to matters of state and unwound from the stresses of DC. Take the VIP White Glove Tour and you can ride in his 1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan Limousine.
Tucked away on the Nombre de Dios Mission, this shrine marks the spot where Spanish conquerors celebrated the first Mass in North America in 1565. In 1609, a shrine in honour of Our Lady of La Leche was built on the spot. It's the oldest in the US.
Today, pilgrims come from all over the world to pray at the tiny, ivy-covered chapel, asking Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery for fertility, the health of their children or safe delivery if they are pregnant. Open daily, admission is free but donations are welcome.
Located just minutes from Fort Lauderdale Beach, this beautifully secluded haven has been an artist’s retreat since the 1920s. Chicago-born artist Frederic Clay Bartlett built it as a winter retreat in 1920 and together with his second wife, Evelyn, embellished the house and gardens with whimsical elements that delight visitors to this day.
The estate is now a non-profit organisation dedicated to celebrating the Bartletts' story, preserve their unique collection of art and provide inspiration and respite for all. It is open 11am to 3pm Tuesday to Friday, and an hour longer on Saturdays and Sundays.
Built between 1846 and 1875 to protect heavy ship traffic that passed between the Gulf Coast and the eastern seaboard, Fort Jefferson was one of the largest forts ever built. And one of the most effective. It was never attacked and the warships stationed there helped protect the peace and prosperity of a young nation.
The fort remains the chief attraction of the Dry Tortugas National Park, an area also noted for bird and marine life and shipwrecks. After exploring the well-preserved fort, visitors often take to snorkelling in the clear blue waters, just off its imposing walls.
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Mission San Luis is a living history museum that features a gallery of artefacts recovered on the site, reconstructed buildings and interpreters dressed in historical wardrobe telling the incredible story behind the only National Historic Landmark in Tallahassee.
The site covers 64 acres and is set on a site that served as both the seat of power for the Apalachee people and the western capital of Spanish Florida from 1656 to 1704. It is pet and picnic friendly and open 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday except New Year's Day, Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
On 28 December 1835, troops led by Major Francis Dade were ambushed by a large group of waiting Seminole warriors. The day-long battle claimed most of Dade's men and triggered the start of the Second Seminole War, the longest and most costly Indian war in US history.
This historic state park was established in 1921 to preserve and commemorate the site. It has gone on to become a popular picnic and hiking spot and is the setting for a re-enactment of the iconic battle every January.
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The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park sits on the site of the first Spanish settlement in the New World. It was here that Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in North America in 1565.
Today, the site features an active archaeological dig, a host of recreated historical dwellings and reenactments of the area’s fascinating history. Open daily from 9am to 6pm, make sure to take a rejuvenating sip from the Fountain of Youth, said to have been discovered by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce De León in 1513.
Back in the first half of the 19th century, Quaker slave trader Zephaniah Kingsley and his African princess common-law wife Anna established a plantation on Fort George Island near Jacksonville. Today, it forms part of the Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve.
Here, visitors can tour the Kingsley Plantation house, the oldest standing plantation house in Florida as well as what remains of the simple huts (pictured) that once housed the plantation’s enslaved workforce, a poignant reminder of the hardships brought about by human bondage.
The Koreshans were a religious sect founded by Dr Cyrus R Teed in 1893 who believed in reincarnation, celibacy, communal living, alchemy and that Teed was the Messiah. They created a community on the banks of the Estero River that included a farm, nursery and botanical gardens.
There are 11 immaculately restored and nationally registered historic buildings, erected by the Koreshans during that time, sitting at the heart of the Koreshan State Park. Open every day from 8am until sunset, the historic settlement is a peaceful retreat and a unique insight into this eccentric pioneer group.
This National Historic Landmark is one of the longest continuously occupied sites in Florida, serving as an important ceremonial centre for Native Americans for over 1,600 years. It is believed that up to 7,500 people visited the complex each year to conduct trade and bury their dead.
Modern visitors follow a trail that leads past burial mounds, temple mounds, a substantial midden and a large plaza. The onsite museum exhibits some of the extraordinary artefacts found on the site including pottery and arrowheads.
Built in 1847, the Key West Lighthouse may only be the 15th oldest surviving lighthouse, but the fact that it is built so far from the coast raises eyebrows. Salvaging shipwrecks was such an important industry to the island, it is thought locals didn’t want it to do too good a job.
It does mean that the view at the end of the lighthouse’s 88-step staircase encompasses all of the island and the turquoise waters that surround it. It's also why people are happy to pay $475 (£378) for an indulgent lighthouse sunset experience, including prosecco and a charcuterie board.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979, Miami Beach’s Art Deco Historic District is home to over 800 designated historic buildings, each bursting with the colour, character and playful lines this 1930s architectural style is famous for.
Knowing where to start can be overwhelming. Thankfully, the Miami Design Preservation League runs daily walking tours that take you to the most striking examples and help you distinguish between your classic Art Deco and more localised styles like Mediterranean Revival and Miami Modern.
Bok Tower Gardens is a gorgeous 250-acre contemplative garden and bird sanctuary created by Pulitzer-prize winning author and publisher Edward W Bok in 1929. Nearly 100 years later, it remains a place where visitors can experience serenity in the stunning mature gardens.
At its heart is an extraordinary neo-Gothic, richly carved and decorated and known as the ‘The Taj Mahal of America'. Its 60 carillon bells ring out at 1pm and 3pm each day, echoing across the lush foliage and bringing a smile to the faces of visitors.
Visitors can relive the opulence and glamour of the 1920s at the magnificent winter estates of world-famous inventor-entrepreneurs Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, which overlook the beautiful Caloosahatchee River in Fort Myers.
The estates offer a glimpse into the lives and legacies of these famous men, from their luxuriously appointed homes and vast botanical gardens to a fascinating museum and laboratory (pictured) where Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone attempted to create a compound that would lessen America’s dependence on foreign rubber. The estates are open daily between 9am and 5.30pm.
Housed in the former Hotel Alcazar, a stunning Spanish Renaissance Revival style building in downtown St Augustine, the Lightner Museum is like stepping back in time to Florida’s fabled Gilded Age.
The museum houses the personal collection of Otto Lightner, a publisher and collector who bought the Alcazar after it fell upon hard times. Open 9am to 5pm most days of the year, the museum aims to offer an immersive experience of the art, architecture, history and design that flourished thanks to the patronage of America’s wealthiest industrialists.
Built in 1925 as a new home for the city’s oldest newspaper, Miami’s Freedom Tower was designed to be a grand architectural statement and assertion of the city’s ambitions. But after it was converted into a Cuban Assistance Center in 1962, it became something more – a symbol of freedom for thousands of Cuban refugees fleeing communism and political persecution.
It’s a role the tower will continue to play after its current renovation is complete, housing a Cuban Legacy Gallery and special collections focusing on the exile experience.
A relic of more recent history, the Nike Missile Base in the Everglades National Park is fascinating nonetheless. The site was built in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 to protect the country from a possible Soviet attack from the south.
The site remains virtually the same as it was when it was decommissioned in 1979 and includes three missile barns, a missile assembly building, barracks and two Nike Hercules missiles. The site is open most days between early December and late March, with National Park Rangers on hand to give guided tours.
Ernest Hemingway was a brawling literary giant who wrote and lived with an intense gusto. Between 1931 and 1939 he lived and wrote and got into all manner of scrapes in this gorgeous Spanish colonial house in Key West.
The house is now a museum dedicated to his life and work. Visitors can peer into the office where 'Papa' wrote, take in his hunting trophies in his library and wander the lush tropical grounds where Hemingway challenged guests to impromptu boxing matches. It's open every day between 9am and 5pm.
The mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs have thrilled people vacationing in the Sunshine State since 1947 and remain an enduring symbol of the kind of roadside attractions that Florida was famous for in the early 20th century.
The historic park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The iconic mermaid theatre is still used by the ‘mermaids’ to put on underwater shows that have changed little from the ones that entertained the likes of Elvis Presley and Esther Williams. The state park it sits in is also home to the deepest freshwater cave system in the USA and abundant protected wildlife.
Built in 1890 by John G. Riley, a local educator and civic leader, this house and the museum it holds has been rated as one of the top 10 'Must See African American Places in the US' and an important stop on the Florida Black Heritage Trail.
Exhibitions focus on African-American heritage and the Reconstruction era, but also trace Riley’s own journey from being born into an enslaved family to respected teacher and civic leader. Only open on Tuesday through Thursday, visitors can take either a guided or self-guided tour.
Located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay, Castillo de San Marcos was built by the Spanish in 1672 to defend Florida and the Atlantic trade route and is the oldest masonry fort on the US mainland.
Today, visitors can wander the preserved fortress where modern exhibitions bring its past to life with, among other things, live historic weapons demonstrations every weekend. The boom of the ancient cannons is an evocative reminder of what life was like at the beginning of the 18th century, a time when the fort was constantly under attack from the British.
Our number one choice only opened in 1997, but this unique cultural institution nevertheless preserves and showcases a culture thousands of years old – that of the Seminole people. Located in the heart of the Everglades, it houses more that 200,000 precious artefacts.
The collection is displayed across five galleries, and features traditional clothing, tools and artwork of Florida’s first inhabitants. Visitors are encouraged to follow a scenic wooden boardwalk that winds through the surrounding landscape, offering insights through informational displays along the way. Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum is open 9am to 5pm, seven days a week.
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