Experience farm life as it was more than a century ago – plow the garden, pump water, grind corn and feed the chickens

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this is a one-of-a-kind, authentic working Florida farm rather than a re-created farmstead. The rural vernacular architecture and cultural landscape help tell the story of the evolution of Florida farming through three generations of the Dudley family.

The farm was established by Phillip Benjamin Harvey Dudley Sr. before the Civil War. His son, P.B.H. Dudley Jr., developed the farmstead you see today. Eighteen original buildings built between the 1880s and 1930s still exist including the restored family farmhouse with original furnishings, kitchen, general store, post office and cane syrup complex. Staff and volunteers in period farm clothing perform chores, raise crops and tend to livestock - cracker cows and horses, bronze turkeys and heritage breed chickens.  

Stroll the nature trail or enjoy a rocking chair on the spacious porches once used as gathering places. Pack a picnic and watch deer, wild turkeys, gopher tortoises and bluebirds in the fields. Join us at the Annual Cane Festival or a Dudley Kids event. Learn more at the visitor center featuring a 12-minute video, interpretive exhibits and a self-guided cellphone tour. Take a walk into the past and immerse yourself in history.

Dudley Farm Historic State Park

Muskallonge Lake State Park is situated between the shores of Lake Superior and Muskallonge Lake and the area is well known for its forests, lakes and streams. Muskallonge Lake State Park was the former site of, a lumbering town and an Indian encampment.

Muskallonge Lake State Park is located 28 miles northwest of Newberry in Luce County. The 217-acre park is situated between the shores of Lake Superior and Muskallonge Lake and the area is well known for its forests, lakes and streams. Muskallonge Lake State Park was the former site of Deer Park, a lumbering town in the late 1880s, and prior to its lumbering history, an Indian encampment. Muskallonge Lake was a mill pond for millions of white pine logs that were brought to it by railroad lines. By 1900, the virgin stands of pines were depleted, the mill was closed and the lumbering operation moved away. All that remains as evidence of the lumbering community are piles of sawdust and a few partly submerged pine logs in the lake. The park was also the old site of a Coast Guard Life Saving Station.



State Parks Tagged With: Newberry