Pioneer Park is located in

Zolfo Springs, Florida Zolfo Springs is a town in Hardee County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,827 at the 2010 census, up from 1,641 at the 2000 census. History Early prosperity in the area (known initially as simply Zolfo) was due to its location alon ...

. This park, owned and operated by

Hardee County, Florida Hardee County is a county located in the Florida Heartland, Central Florida region U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,327. Its county seat is Wauchula. Hardee County comprises the Wauchula, FL Micropolitan St ...

, is at the northwest corner of US 17 and Florida Highway 64. It is bounded by those two highways and on the north and west by

Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...

. Roughly the northern half of the park is wooded. Pioneer Park has many features.

Hurricane Charley Hurricane Charley was the first of four separate hurricanes to impact or strike Florida during 2004, along with Hurricane Frances, Frances, Hurricane Ivan, Ivan and Hurricane Jeanne, Jeanne, as well as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to ...

caused much damage to the park on August 13, 2004, and not all the damaged structures were repaired. On the west is

Pioneer Park Lake Pioneer Park Lake is a lake in Zolfo Springs, Florida. It is located in Pioneer Park and goes by at least two names. It is known as either Pioneer Park Lake or Twin Lakes. Twin Lakes is an inaccurate name, as only one permanent lake exists. The ...

, a manmade 8.5 acre body of water. On the lake and along Peace River fishing is allowed. Also, people canoe on Peace River. Areas in the park are set aside for campers."Zolfo Springs, FL 33890," in the Yahoo! Local website, http://local/yahoo.com/ .

Cracker Trail Museum

Two unique features of the park are the Cracker Trail Museum and Pioneer Village. The museum was opened June 24, 1967, as Pioneer Park Museum. The Peace River Valley Historical Society opened it. Over the years local residents donated articles for display in the museum. In June 1988 the Historical Society disbanded and the museum closed. Hardee County reopened the museum in September 1988 and was renamed the Cracker Trail Museum. The next year the museum again closed because of lack of funds. Cargill Fertilizer helped with a $50,000 donation. Half of this donation was used to construct an addition to the museum, as it had been very strapped for space. The expanded museum reopened in 1991. Hurricane Charlie ripped part of the museum roof off and some of the artifacts were damaged. The museum was repaired by volunteers and the artifacts were also repaired by volunteers."About the Museum" in the Hardee County website, http://www.hardeecounty.net/crackertrailmuseum/about.html .

Pioneer Village

Pioneer Village originated shortly after the museum's start. It began with the erection of a cane grinding shed. Soon a 1914 locomotive was donated to the park and an open shed was built to house it. A blacksmith shop dating from 1897 was next reassembled in the park. In 1979 the 100-year-old Hart Cabin, donated by Wendell M. Smith, was moved into the park. A smokehouse was constructed and two wagons from the 1880s were placed in Pioneer Village. An 1886 post office and outhouse were also placed in the village. In 1979, the Hart Cabin was donated and relocated to the park by Wendell M. Smith, the great-grandson of W.H. Hart. The cabin was built in 1879 and consists of only one of the remaining rooms of the original structure where W.H. and Mary Jane Hart raised their six children on Maude Road in Hardee County. Many of the pieces of furniture located inside the cabin were built by Mr. Hart. Hurricane Charlie also caused havoc in Pioneer Village. The outhouse was destroyed and the post office was damaged. Both were repaired by volunteers.

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Pioneer Park

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