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Historic hot spots State's capital rich with history
By Dorothy Smiljanich/Tampa TribuneOriginally published December 27, 1992
`The House that Rhymes'
Tallahassee's wilder side
For more informationVisitors should not hold politics against this town. After all, it became Florida's state capital in 1823 chiefly as an accident of geography and a matter of political compromise: It is conveniently midway between Pensacola and St. Augustine, which were opposing centers of power then.
Some of the best things about Tallahassee are immune to the vagaries of political parties, votes, lobbyists and glad-handing. The azaleas at Maclay Gardens bloom - or do not bloom - regardless of who lives in the Governor's Mansion.
The poems in the newly restored ``House That Rhymes'' rhyme - or do not rhyme - regardless of which party controls the Legislature. And the children - regardless of whether a new tax plan passes - still visit the animals in their natural habitat at the Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science.
Still, political history is so rich and thick in Tallahassee that there is no getting away from it. While all roads in Florida don't lead to Tallahassee, a great deal of power and influence does flow from there, trickling down through the rest of the state.
For the visitor, that heady combination of politics, power and the past most easily can be appreciated at the Capitol Complex and at the Museum of Florida History, where admission is free ... if you don't count all those tax dollars.
HISTORIC HOT SPOTS
Public tours of the capitol buildings are conducted regularly in an organized fashion, but the footloose visitor may prefer an independent itinerary. If so, perhaps the best place to start a visit is on the 22nd floor of the New Capitol building, where a viewing gallery offers a panoramic view.From there, the city of 129,500 residents looks like a small village, punctuated with the campuses of Florida State and Florida A&M universities, but essentially falling away on all sides toward a thick, green and wooded horizon.
The sense of place is startling. Miami may have the international connections, Orlando may have the tourist attractions, and the coasts may boast the sun and surf. But from this vantage point, Tallahassee appears to have the heart of the real, the original, the authentic Florida - Florida before international connections and tourist attractions and without the beaches.
Revealed from this height, Tallahassee, which likes to call itself ``Florida With a Southern Accent,'' looks like a small, landlocked and essentially rural town.
Before leaving the 22nd floor, check out the art gallery and Florida Artists Hall of Fame. Artwork - some sublime, some ridiculous - is on display in the gallery, while plaques commemorating renowned artists with Florida connections are displayed on the wall. Among them are Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams.
Having enjoyed a bird's-eye view of Tallahassee, visitors may now descend and cross the plaza connecting the New Capitol building to the Old Capitol complex.
First opened in 1845 when Florida earned its statehood, the original capitol has been restored, although only back as far as its 1902 incarnation. Of particular interest now are the handsome dome and the restored governor's suite, legislative chambers and supreme court.
A wealth of exhibitions recounting the state's history and cultural development - and a particularly informative one on environmental responsibility - fill much of the building.
But some of the offices and spaces are still in use by government workers and, oddly perhaps, that makes the visit even more interesting. The past and the present coexist in this historic building.
A visit to Tallahassee is not as inspiring or instructive as a visit to Washington, D.C., but the state capitol shoulders its own sense of purpose and destiny. And who can say what wicked machinations and idealistic visions have been, are now, and will yet be hatched in these halls?
That weighty thought in mind, the visitor may want to seek the long view, by strolling over to the nearby R.A. Gray Building, where the Museum of Florida History is located.
The museum houses an uncommon collection of artifacts, documents, memorabilia and flat-out curiosities. When we visited, they ranged from a 9-foot mastodon found in Wakulla Springs to a wide array of Civil War artifacts, from a history of the citrus industry to a recounting of the legacy of tourism, from sunken Spanish treasure to hand-painted, Lithuanian eggshells.
'THE HOUSE THAT RHYMES'
Museums and capitols aside, the human measure of the past is perhaps best taken by a peek into the life of the private citizen. That is exactly what is provided by ``The House That Rhymes,'' the newest addition to Tallahassee's public attractions. Otherwise known as the Knott House Museum, the property is located at 301 E. Park Ave., an easy walk from the museum and capitol buildings.Built in 1843, the house has been restored with a consortium of private and public funds under the auspices of the Historic Tallahassee Preservation Board. In April, it opened to the public. The house was donated to the state in 1986 by members of the Knott family, which had owned it since 1928, when William and Luella Knott purchased it. Many of the family's personal possessions, from antique furniture and paintings to dishes and wallpapers, were left in the house.
The forward-thinking preservationists decided that rather than try to deal with the house's 150 years of history, they would concentrate instead on its life from 1928 to 1941, when William and Luella lived there with their family. As a result of that savvy decision, the house serves as a fascinating time capsule of that period. A prominent politician and civic activist, Knott served two terms as state treasurer (1897-1912, 1928-1941), was state comptroller (1912-1916), and even ran for governor in 1916.
It is to his wife Luella's penchant for poetry that the house owes its name, ``The House That Rhymes.'' Luella wrote poems about many of its fixtures and furnishings and affixed them by satin ribbons to the pieces that had inspired her verse. Many of these poems remain to be read by visitors today.
Of the house itself, she wrote a poem that begins:
``I'm just an old, old house/ Holding within my walls/ Strange tales of life and love and strife/ Which no one else recalls.''TALLAHASSEE'S WILDER SIDE
If the ways of man - both public and private - become oppressive, the visitor may seek respite in the natural world, represented chiefly in Tallahassee by Maclay Gardens and the Museum of History and Natural Science. Both are located several miles from the downtown area - although in opposite directions - and offer widely different experiences.Maclay State Gardens is the more tranquil of the two. Covering more than 300 acres, with almost 30 acres planted in luxurious formal gardens that include both exotic and native plants, the park borders picturesque Lake Hall and offers hiking, swimming and picnicking.
The property and gardens were developed by Alfred B. Maclay, a New York financier, whose widow donated the estate to the state in 1953.
With its rambling paths, ponds and fountains, this garden invites quiet contemplation. But across town, at the Museum of History and Natural Science, quiet contemplation is well nigh impossible much of the time, as groups of children make their raucous way through this ``natural habitat zoo'' that covers 55 acres.
Formerly known as the Junior Museum, this fresh air facility is immensely popular with local residents and has considerable old Florida charm. The complex includes a re-created 1880s farm; a nature trail; an educational ``Discovery Center;'' and - this visitor's favorite - a long, wooden boardwalk over a swampy, cypress-studded section of Lake Bradford.
Following groups of noisy youngsters around, visitors are unlikely to see much wildlife, however; the animals able to escape scrutiny usually do. But the zoo area is said to house more than a dozen species, including panthers, alligators, ducks, turtles, deer, eagles and foxes.
Visitors may take comfort in the realization that not all the weird birds, rapacious predators, strange ducks, wise owls and sly foxes are located downtown in Tallahassee's political zoo.
FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact the Tallahassee Convention and Visitors Bureau, 200 W. College Ave., Tallahassee, Fla. 32302. The toll-free telephone number is (800) 628-2866.