In honor of Chinsegut Hill’s proud historic connection to conservation, visitors and volunteers will discover how history meets nature at Spirit of Conservation Day, Saturday, July 10 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Chinsegut Hill Historic Site will host a fun day of history, re-enactments, tours, and a food truck. House tours are $10/per person and other activities are free.

Throughout the day, activities will be offered, including:

• Re-enactment of the 1937 Civilian Conservation Corps encampment at Chinsegut Hill, with scheduled talks, displays and demonstrations
• Guided interpretative grounds walk through the encampment
• Chinsegut House tours every half hour, with Civilian Conservation Corps artifacts

Chinsegut Hill invites the public to “Spirit of Conservation Day” July 10

“Few programs or groups contributed as much to our national experience as did the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Chinsegut Hill still exists because of the efforts of this program and the work of the men of Company 5468,” says Ross Lamoreaux, Chinsegut Hill Site Manager. “This living history program will help show the public the personal side of history by being able to see a day in the life of a CCC worker and his impact on the Hill by seeing the tools that built the buildings and structures that have survived as a testimony to their good work.”

Chinsegut Hill House Tours Available: Online Reservations Suggested

Tours of the historic home will be enhanced to illustrate Chinsegut’s connection to the Civilian Conservation Corp and the men who participated in it. House tours are offered every half hour and can be reserved at https://www.tampabayhistorycenter.org/chinsegut/ for  $10/person.

Spirit Day Volunteers are Encouraged: Advanced Registration Required

Volunteers can contribute to the ongoing beauty and maintenance of the house and grounds by volunteering for a morning of work projects. Group volunteer projects include exterior cleaning of the historic house, trail marking, garden maintenance, and grounds clean-up.  No experience required, ages 16 & up. Advance registration is required.  Free house tour and lunch provided for all volunteers.  Contact Christie Williams at ChristieW@MFCS.US.com  for more information or to sign up.

For more information, visit tampabayhistorycenter.org or call (813) 228-0097.

About Chinsegut Hill Historic Site

Located on one of the highest points in the state of Florida, Chinsegut Hill Historic Site has been witness to the gatherings of Florida’s early people dating back thousands of years, to pioneers settling at the time of the Second Seminole War, to the emancipation of enslaved people following the Civil War.

Chinsegut Hill is among Florida’s few remaining pre-Civil War plantation sites and features a historic house, constructed in 1852. During the 1920s, new owners of the home hosted such luminaries as Thomas Edison, Helen Keller, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and others.

In 2019, the Tampa Bay History Center entered into a unique partnership with Hernando County to provide curatorial and interpretive services for Chinsegut Hill Historic Site.

About the Tampa Bay History Center

Located on Tampa’s Riverwalk, the Tampa Bay History Center includes three floors of permanent and temporary exhibition space focusing on 12,000 years of Florida’s history and culture. A Smithsonian Affiliate museum and accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the History Center includes the Touchton Map Library and Florida Center for Cartographic Education and the Witt Research Center, and is home to the Columbia Cafe.

One of Tampa’s premier cultural venues, the History Center’s hands-on, interactive exhibits and theaters provide an entertaining and educational experience for visitors of all ages. For more information, visit www.tampabayhistorycenter.org.