Constitution Convention Museum State Park

The Constitution Convention Museum highlights Florida's first constitution which was drafted in the Town of St. Joseph.   Artifacts from the original settlement in St. Joseph are displayed.  The original town of St. Joseph, which lasted only nine years, was a boomtown in 1835 and competed with Apalachicola as a Gulf Coast trading port. During its short life, the city was selected over Tallahassee to host Florida's first State Constitution Convention. The museum, which sits on a portion of the park's 12 acres, commemorates the work of the 56 territorial delegates who drafted Florida's first constitution in 1838. Following four more constitution conventions, Florida was finally admitted to the Union in 1845 as the 27th state. Visitors can take a self-guided tour through displays and exhibits of the era. A replicated convention hall takes visitors into the debate of delegates Robert Raymond Reid, William P. Duvall, David Y. Levy and Thomas L Baltzell. These life-size, audio-animated mannequins bring a realistic demonstration of the debate and process of drafting a state constitution.