Seasonal closure approaching for historical village
Time is running out to visit the Sanibel Historical Museum and Village before it closes for season.
Executive Director Emilie Alfino explained that while it is typically open through July, the village will close early this year on May 31 for hurricane repairs. The grounds will reopen for season on Oct. 17.
“That’s our last day open for the abbreviated season. We need the time to work on restoring our buildings,” she said, referring to the damages from Hurricane Ian almost eight months ago.
Post-storm, the village has reopened four of its nine buildings.
“Two of the buildings that are open are traditionally two of our visitors’ favorites, the old Bailey General Store and Morning Glories,” Alfino said.
Called and still known as the Sanibel Packing Company, the Bailey’s store at the village is the second one. The original store was located on a wharf in the San Carlos Bay and was destroyed by the 1926 hurricane. The second one was rebuilt farther inland, but still on the Pine Island Sound near the docks.
Bailey’s was always the center of activity on the island. It had telephone and telegraph links, and the steamer, ferry and mailboats stopped at its docks. Islanders voted there, sent and received mail, and caught up on the news. In 1963, the Baileys moved the store to its current Tarpon Bay Road location.
A Sears & Roebuck prefabrication, Morning Glories was the Springwood model and cost $2,211. It was milled in New Jersey in 1925 and came in kit form, purchased by Martin and Ada Mayer. It arrived in 30,000 pieces by rail and barge — from lumber to lighting fixtures — and was completed in 1926.
Originally located on the San Carlos Bay, it represents a typical winter home on Sanibel in the 1920s and 1930s. The cottage was named Morning Glories after the blue flowers that grew on the island.
Shore Haven and the Caretakers’ Cottage have also reopened in the aftermath of the storm.
A sister home to Morning Glories, Shore Haven is also a Sears and Roebuck kit house that was purchased in 1924 by Ross and Daisy Mayer. In the early 1920s, the Mayer brothers landed on the beach fronting the San Carlos Bay. Deciding to live side-by-side, the families built Shore Haven and Morning Glories and shared facilities, including a bath house, an artesian well and a generator.
The two-story Verona model home, Shore Haven’s exterior was restored to its 1924 look, with the exception of the sun porch. The structure also serves as the village’s administrative building.
The Caretakers’ Cottage was built after 1925 behind the Mayers. Over the years, it served as a guest house, bath house, caretakers’ cottage and annex. In the 1950s and ’60s, Hannah and Isaiah Gavin, after farming and living on Sanibel for decades, stayed there to help widowed Daisy Mayer with housework and gardening. The cottage was donated and moved to the village, along with Shore Haven, in 2012.
In addition to the four buildings, there are a handful of exhibits for visitors to take in.
“We have the brand-new Sanibel Lighthouse exhibit, with blown-up photos of before and after the hurricane,” Alfino said, noting that it is in Shore Haven. “We have the lens from the lighthouse.”
“We have the Sanibel Plan, we have a small exhibit on that,” she added, explaining that Shore Haven also features information and photos about each of the nine historical buildings on the grounds.
Inside of the Caretakers’ Cottage, the Black History exhibit features pictures and explanatory posters about the early Black families on the islands, along with memorabilia provided by the Gavins, Walkers and Jordans. There is also a video where descendants speak to their experiences and family’s history.
When the village closes for season, restoration is anticipated to begin immediately on the buildings still closed: Miss Charlotta’s Tea Room, the Burnap Cottage, Rutland House, post office and schoolhouse.
“We are waiting for the closure and for the city,” Alfino said. “The city owns the buildings and is, more or less, responsible for the repairs — they’re doing the assessments and structural reports.”
She reported that Miss Charlotta’s Tea Room needs a new roof. Officials are waiting on a structural engineering report to see if the Burnap Cottage is racked on its foundation. The Rutland House’s floors were saltwater washed in the surge, and the back room and gift shop will need a full reconstruction.
“The schoolhouse is totally racked,” Alfino said. “There’s a good chance it’s going to have to be taken down and rebuilt using the same materials. That’s not going to be ready for reopening in October.”
The post office is in good shape. It is closed because it is near the damaged buildings and is small.
“The goal and the hope is that we will reopen everything, except the schoolhouse,” she said.
Residents and visitors are invited to stop by before the seasonal closure.
“There’s a lot to see and people who have been coming have been having a good time,” Alfino said.
“And they can also walk the grounds, they can view the buildings from the outside,” she added. “So you can still have that whole educational experience even through you can’t go in all of the buildings.”
Through May, the Sanibel Historical Museum and Village’s operating hours are Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with guided tours at 10:30 a.m. Admission is a suggested donation.
The monies will contribute to operations, re-landscaping, and interior exhibit rehabilitation work that will be required once the restoration repairs to the exterior of the buildings are substantially completed.
For more information, visit www.sanibelmuseum.org or contact 239-472-4648 or info@sanibelmuseum.org.
To support the village’s post-hurricane recovery, visit https://donate.sanibelmuseum.org/.
The Sanibel Historical Museum and Village is at 950 Dunlop Road, Sanibel.