South Florida Fair 2013

Yesteryear Village 

at the South Florida Fair

Photos by Jimmy Shirley

The Riddle House

The South Florida Fair is over for this year. It was reportedly a huge success. My favorite venue at the Fair is the Yesteryear Village which is just east of the main Expo Building. The Village is "populated" with volunteers who dress in period apparel and man the various buildings representing the era from 1895 to 1945. The Riddle House is the big, three story house located at the southeast end of the Village. Two of the volunteers at the Riddle House, pictured here, are Lynn & Sheldon Mead of Century Village, WPB. She is 85 (Feb. 5) and he is 89. The couple have been volunteers for over 14 years. From Fairlawn, N.J., the couple spend several months here and became volunteers at the village when they first came to West Palm Beach.

Yesteryear Village is proud of their new fire house and print shop. 

See photos below by Jimmy Shirley

The New Fire House

Chief Wilbur Danley, Volunteer

Antique Firetruck

The New Print Shop

Intertype typesetting machine

Print shop 

2013 South Florida Fair’s Expo Hall brimming with historical and current Washington D.C. attractions

Replica of Air Force One display at the South Florida Fair Expo Hall. The public can walk through the fuselage and see the seats that President Reagan and the First Lady sat in for take-off, her office, his office, the cockpit, the galley, and more. The communications center is a visual copy of the one aboard Boeing Air Force One used by President Reagan up until 1989.

Photos by Jimmy Shirley

Seats occupied by the president and first lady on take-off and landing.

Air Force One cockpit

Oval Office

Oval Office

The South Florida Fair’s Exposition Hall took on a presidential look during its run from Fri., Jan. 18, through Sun., Feb. 3. A number of new attractions were set up in the 70,000 square foot expo space with the theme, "Washington, D.C., Our Nation’s Capital."

The presentations gave fair goers an opportunity to experience aspects of our nation’s capital in South Florida. The "American Presidential Experience" allowed visitors to enter Air Force One, the Oval Office, view exhibits of First Lady gowns, sit in President’s chairs and experience a photo opportunity at the President’s desk, the U.S. Capitol Dome and the Washington Monument.

The Florida Holocaust Museum offered its newest original exhibition, "Courage & Compassion: The Legacy of the Bielski Brothers," as a traveling exhibit to the South Florida Fair. This unique multimedia exhibition, the only one exclusively focused on this inspiring story, appealed to a wide audience of visitors. The exhibit’s content included an overview of the Holocaust within the history of the Bielski partisan group and its design enhanced the visitor experience. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is housed adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

"Abraham Lincoln: A Man of His Time, A Man For All Times," an exhibition from the Gilder Lehrman Institute, featured excerpts from Lincoln’s speeches and quotations and invited visitors to understand the challenges and accomplishments through his own words. "From Freedom’s Shadow," an exhibit from the US Capitol Historical Society,depicted the journey of African Americans from slavery to freedom and political representation in the US Capitol. There was also a towering 19 foot, 400 ton sand sculpture of President Lincoln as he is immortalized in the Lincoln Memorial as well as a six foot by 15 foot mural of the National Mall.

"The President’s Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office," is a new traveling exhibition showcasing both iconic and rarely seen images of U.S. presidents through the eyes of their official photographers. The exhibition features 50 framed images and a text panel with brief biographical information on each photographer. Since the 1960s, photographic images have become an increasingly critical tool in how presidents are understood. John F. Kennedy was the first president to have an official photographer and nearly every president since then has had one. This exhibition offers a fresh and candid viewpoint on the life and work behind the famous facade of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. These engaging photos capture moments of high drama and turmoil and moments of family fun and intimacy.

For more information, call 561-793-0333 or visit the website, http://www.southfloridafair.com.

Last Updated 02/16/2013

About Yesteryear Village —

Nestled on the South Florida Fairgrounds at 9067 Southern Blvd., in West Palm Beach, Florida, visitors will find the historic Yesteryear Village, comprising of a collection of more than 20 restored buildings from all over Florida, most of which date back to the turn of the century through the early 30s and 40s. 

View of the School House (left) from the Bink Glisson Museum yard.

The first building to -- the one that started it all -- was the Loxahatchee Two Room School House. It now houses a school room on one side and the World War II Museum on the other. 

Riddle House

The Riddle House, a beautiful three story frame house, was built in the early 1900s. It was known as The Painted Lady because of its bright painted colors of Flagler yellow, Jefferson green, white and sky blue. (The underside of the wrap around porch roof is painted sky blue which was said to discourage carpenter bees from making their home in the rafters.) Built by some of Henry Flagler's hotel construction workers and using some of the materials from the hotel construction, the Riddle house was erected on the Jefferson Park land owned by Joseph Jefferson, the most famous American actor of the time. It became the home for the first West Palm Beach City Manager and Superintendent of Public Works, Karl Riddle. The house was donated to the Village by West Palm Beach.

The Bink Glisson Historical Museum was built entirely by volunteers and donations of materials and remains the largest single contribution to the Village, valued at $450,000, and is a replica of the 1858 Haile Plantation House which still stands in Alachua County, Florida. It houses artifacts from the late Bink Glisson's  collection. Mr. Glisson's family came to the area in the early 20s and he was very instrumental in the development of Wellington, Florida. 

View of the Church (right) from the porch of the Riddle House.

Other buildings at the Village include the L Street House, Sewing Circle, Smoke House (it is in operation during the Fair), the Fish & Bait House, Church, Corbett House, Fire Museum, Print Shop, Wood Shop, General Store where visitors can purchase period merchandise, preserves, some baked goodies, candies and more, Bridge Tender's House, Seller's Farm, Blacksmith Shop, Post Office, Telephone Museum, and more. 

The entrance to the Village is graced by the 1934 West Palm Beach Country Club Arch Donated by the Town of Golfview, Florida. 

The Yesteryear Village is "populated" by a "community" of volunteer reenactors  in period dress. There are quilters, candle makers, weavers, spinners, woodworkers, leather craftsmen, and more. You will experience the sights, smells and sounds of old Florida. The village is a product of the hard work and dedication of these volunteers.  

The Village is open year round for group tours by appointment.

For more information, please call  (561) 795-3110.