The Village is comprised of seven historic buildings from the 1890s  to the 1940s—all listed on the City of Sanibel’s Historical Register. The buildings were moved from their original island locations and fully restored by a group of island volunteers known as the “Hammerheads.”  Each building showcases unique displays and  exhibits depicting life on the islands as experienced by the pioneer

families who settled here.

 

Almost 100 volunteers serve as docents, special tour leaders, gardeners, fundraisers, publicists, board members, and helpers in the areas of special events, archiving and display, hospitality and administration.

 Sanibel Historical Museum & Village

The Rutland House was the first building moved to the current Historical Museum and Village site in 1984. The house, built in 1913 in a typical "cracker" style (“cracker” being derived from the sound Florida cattlemen made when cracking their whips), is made of hard Florida pine. The house originally stood on Periwinkle Way (where the trailer park is now) above ground on pilings made of concrete and beach sand. This protected the house from floods and allowed the air to circulate.

1913 Rutland House

Clarence Rutland came to the island with his parents in 1896 at the age of six and was a jack-of-all-trades. In the 1920s he earned seven cents per crate packing tomatoes and peppers for farmers and resided in this house from 1928 to shortly before his death in 1982. “Uncle” Clarence and his wife, Ruth, are fondly remembered by islanders.

In 1896, the East Sanibel School for white children was built on the corner of Bailey Road and Periwinkle Way and then moved farther up Periwinkle in 1903 where it sat for over 100 years. The building, a classic one-room schoolhouse, had a platform in the front where different grades took turns doing lessons with the teacher. In the center was a wood stove used to warm the room in winter as well as to heat soup and cocoa. In 1932, a second room was added, more windows installed, and the schoolhouse was able to house grades one through eight. In the 1960s, after a new school house was built, the building became a theater. In December of 2004, the building was moved to the Historical Village.

Miss Charlotta’s Tea Room is the little building with four lives. It was built but never used as a gas station, then after the 1926 hurricane, it served as a temporary store. Between 1928-35 it became a tea room and lastly, a private residence.

Before the 1926 hurricane, the Bailey brothers constructed this building as a gas station. The building survived the hurricane, and the Baileys' made it a temporary store. When the new store was completed, the building was moved and turned over to Charlotta Matthews, the present Bailey brothers’ maiden aunt, who turned it into a tea room across from the ferry landing.

This  house, a Sears & Roebuck prefabrication, is a favorite with visitors. At a cost of $2211, Martin Mayer ordered it delivered in 1925. The building came to the island in 30,000 pieces on a flatbed truck aboard a barge. It was the island event of the year!

Morning Glories was originally located on San Carlos Bay. A few years ago, the house was donated to the Village, and a group of volunteers labored for almost a year to restore the building to its present condition. Its warm and cozy atmosphere seems quite livable to today’s visitor and represents a typical winter home on Sanibel in the 20s and 30s.

1925 Morning Glories Cottage

No visitor can walk by this building, complete with mail drop and old Glory flying out front, without stepping inside. The Sanibel Post Office was chosen as a test site for rural mail in 1895 and permanently established on April 2, 1900. The mail sack was put off the steamer at Will Reed’s dock on San Carlos Bay. The front porch of his house served as the post office. After the hurricane of 1926 washed away Reed’s house, there was enough debris found to build this small post office. Will Reed was postmaster until 1940.

There were a few packing houses located on Sanibel where vegetables, produce and citrus were delivered to be packed for shipment “up north.” Islanders would help each other harvest their crops and haul them by mule and wagon to the packing house. Seasonal workers were often brought in to pick tomatoes, peppers and citrus. The workers camped out at the work site and then moved on to another islander’s fields. Agriculture was the main commerce for Sanibel settlers from the 1880s to the 1940s. Eventually tidal surges that washed over the island during several hurricanes rendered the soil useless for large-scale farming.

Originally situated on a wharf in San Carlos Bay, this second store, also known as the "Sanibel Packing Company," was rebuilt farther back on land, following the hurricane of 1926. It’s gabled ends were tied down with braces, and between the inside and outside siding, diagonal tongue and groove boards strengthened the walls for better hurricane protection.

The Bailey General Store was the center of activity on the island with telephone and telegraph links, while steamer, ferry and mail boats stopped at the docks. A small miniature golf course stretched out beside the building and allowed islanders to enjoy themselves while waiting for the ferry.

Islanders voted here, sent and received mail and caught up on the latest news.

Eleven-foot ceilings, a wide hallway and the placement of windows and doors opposite each other keep the house cool and are typical attributes of a "cracker house."