The Mandarin Museum & Historical Society offers a rich blend of educational programs for adults and children.

Tours

The old Mandarin Store and Post Office, built in 1911, is open for informal tours from 1 to 3 p.m. on the first and third Sundays of the months. The 1875 farmhouse at the Walter Jones Historical Park is closed for the summer but will reopen for tours in the fall. Group tours are available by appointment.

School Programs. Each year, hundreds of elementary school students take part in field trips to the Mandarin Store and Post Office and the Walter Jones Historical Park, which includes a visit to the 1875 farmhouse and the Mandarin Museum. The students learn about the Maple Leaf shipwreck and experience what it was like to live in a rural Florida community in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Florida Heritage Programs. Four times each year, the Mandarin Museum & Historical Society presents programs to the public related to area history. The programs, which are free and open to the public. Speakers have include actor Tom Rahner, who portrayed Henry Flagler; Eileen King, award-winning nature photographer; and James Cusick, University of Florida scholar who has written a book about the War of 1812 in Florida.

Speakers Program. Mandarin Museum & Historical Society officers and board members are available to speak to community organizations and other interested groups about Mandarin history.

Special Events

Miss Aggie Day is held on the third Sunday of March each year during Women’s History Month. The day honors Agnes Jones who was proprietor and postmistress of the Mandarin Store and Post Office from 1928 until it closed in 1964.

Winter Celebration in Mandarin, which is held on the first Saturday of December, draws hundreds of visitors each year. The day’s events feature a hayride, old-fashioned children’s crafts and games, musical entertainment, Civil War re-enactors, Santa Claus, refreshments, and a holiday gift shop.