Charlotte County Historical Center
Currently located at the Grace Street Annex in Punta Gorda, Charlotte County Historical Center has evolved from a small, private organization chartered in 1969 to the present collaboration between the Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners and (The Museum Society dba) Charlotte County Historical Center Society. In Over 40+ years, the organization has grown fron a small youth museum to a county-wide Center providing a wide variety of off-site exhibits, educational programs, and historic preservation services for a diverse population.
In 2002, Society members decided to form a new kind of alliance with Charlotte County government. The Board of County Commissioners voted to expand the museum and add a new focus on historic preservation county-wide by creating a new historical division, namely the Charlotte County Historical Center. Located on the waterfront at Bayshore Live Oak Park on Charlotte Harbor, the Center is now situated near the site of the county's earliest pioneer settlement and first post office. Staff and volunteers provide a wide variety of programs, events and services to educate the greater community about the rich history of the Charlotte County area and Florida. In 2004 and 2005, a new Historical Advisory Committee of citizens was established, along with a local historical marker program, to better promote, preserve and protect the County's historical resources.
