Constitution Convention Museum State Park is a Florida State Park

Florida State Parks

The Florida State Parks encompass the majority of the lands that fall under the authority of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. There are 160 such entities, including nature reserves, recreation areas, and historic sites, which can be found in every corner of the state...

 located just outside of Port St. Joe

Port St. Joe, Florida

Port St. Joe is a city located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 98 and State Road 71 in Gulf County, Florida, United States. As of 2007, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 3,579. The population was 3,644 as of the 2000 census. Port St. Joe became the county seat of Gulf County...

, off U.S. 98, in northwestern Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. The 14 acres (56,656 m²) park contains a museum with examples of 19th century life in the former town of St. Joseph

St. Joseph, Florida

St. Joseph, Florida, was a boomtown that briefly became the largest community in Florida, before being destroyed only eight years after it was founded. St. Joseph was founded in 1835 on the shores of St. Joseph Bay, one of the finest natural harbors on the Gulf Coast of the United States. The...

, and features life-sized figures with audio presentations about the state's first Constitutional Convention. The address is 200 Allen Memorial Way.

History

Founded in 1835 and gone by 1844, St. Joseph is notable for being the site of the first Constitutional Convention of the state of Florida in 1838. It was selected over Tallahassee

Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...

 (at the time the territorial capitol) due to promoters of the town, as well as conflict between East Florida and Middle Florida. The more affluent Middle Floridians had long been proponents of statehood. However, the people of East and West Florida believed a state government could not yet be financially supported, so they wished Florida to remain a territory.

A group of territorial delegates met finally in St. Joseph, working from December 3 of 1838 through January 11 of 1839 to create the initial draft of Florida's constitution. Four more conventions were held in other locations, and Florida joined the Union in 1845, but St. Joseph has the distinction of being where Florida's statehood began.

Recreational Activities

Besides the historical displays of town life, the park's museum also has a reproduction of the original convention hall with audio-animated life-sized recreations of some of the delegates. Visitors can see and hear facsimiles of Territorial

Florida Territory

The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Florida...

 Governors Robert Reid

Robert R. Reid

Robert Raymond Reid was the fourth territorial governor of Florida. He was also a Representative from Georgia. He also held several judicial positions....

 and William P. Duval, Senator David Y. Levy

David Levy Yulee

David Levy Yulee, born David Levy was an American politician and attorney from Florida, a territorial delegate to Congress, the first Jewish member of the United States Senate, and a member of the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War...

 and Attorney Thomas L. Baltzell

Thomas Baltzell

Thomas Baltzell was an American lawyer and politician who was the first popularly elected chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court...

debating and framing the early constitution of Florida.