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An Apalachee potter interacts with children during an educational camp at Mission San Luis.
Children walk in front of the reconstructed Apalachee council house during a school tour.
An interior view of the Apalachee council house, the largest known historic period Indian building in the Southeast.
Mission San Luis has an ongoing archaeological research program and is the most thoroughly investigated mission in the Southeast.
Living history interpreters visit outside the reconstructed 17th century Franciscan church.
An interior view of the 17th century Franciscan church.

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MISSION SAN LUIS CELEBRATES CINCO DE MAYO MILITARY MUSTER AND BREAKS GROUND FOR A NEW VISITOR CENTER

~Public experiences military life in the 17th century during day long celebration~

TALLAHASSEE- -Secretary of State Kurt S. Browning and members of Friends of Mission San Luis, Inc., participated today in a groundbreaking ceremony for Mission San Luis’ new state of the art Visitor Center in Tallahassee. The new Visitor Center is scheduled to open in 2009 and will feature a theater, exhibits, classrooms and a multipurpose space for conferences and functions.
“I am so pleased to be here today to celebrate this very special occasion,” Secretary Browning said. “This new visitor center will allow our visitors to learn and experience the Mission in new and exciting ways.”

After today’s groundbreaking ceremony, Mission staff and visitors celebrated Cinco de Mayo at the Mission. Visitors explored Florida’s heritage through the living history program focused on the lives and tasks of soldiers and volunteer militia at Spanish Florida’s western capital. Reenactors from the St. Augustine area participated in the program of military drills, black powder cannon and musket fire, and other colonial military activities.

There were also hands-on activities for children and adults including: pike drills, archery demonstrations and colonial arts and crafts. Dr. John Hann, winner of the 2007 Florida Historical Society’s Rembert W. Patrick Award for the best book on Florida History, signed many books on colonial Florida.

Mission San Luis was the western capital of Spanish Florida from 1656 to 1704. Today the Mission brings the early 1700s to life through costumed interpreters, reconstructed period buildings, exhibits and archaeological excavations. The site is a National Historic Landmark and recipient of a 2006 Preserve America Presidential Award. Mission San Luis is located at 2021 West Mission Road in Tallahassee, Fla. The site is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM, and admission is free. It is managed by the Florida Department of State’s Bureau of Archaeological Research. For more information on Mission San Luis call 850.487.3711 or visit www.missionsanluis.org.