Interesting Facts about the Dow Museum

I recently toured the homes in this museum and was amazed at the originality of each house and the collection of antiques that were in them. I enjoyed seeing each of them. I especially enjoyed viewing the art work in the Rose House and the Spear House. The people who explained the self-guided map of the tour were extremely helpful that day in answering all my questions. I also had the pleasure of meeting them on another occasion as they allowed my company to host their November staff meeting on the property. Once again, they were informative and provided us with some little known facts about the property that I would like to share. Jennifer Weigle

The Dow Museum has a long and rich history stretching nearly three centuries to the Second Spanish occupation. The oldest house on the site was built in 1790 by Antonio Huretos through a Spanish land grant he received in 1789, but was named for its famous guest Prince Murat.

The Dow Museum is a collection of 9 historic original houses and is the largest collection of original houses in the entire South. These houses provide the strongest link to the lives of the people who built them. The museum’s namesake Kenneth Dow purchased the Prince Murat House in 1940. Because Kenneth had a rather large collection of antiques, artwork, and all sorts of collectibles the one house was not large enough, so he bought a second house on the lot and continued buying until he owned all 9 just ten years later. They are all full of his extensive collections.     

Kenneth Dow gave the entire site of homes complete with his collection to the Museum of Arts and Sciences in 1989 with the agreement that all nine houses would be restored and opened as a museum to the public. The museum opened in 2001 as Old Saint Augustine Village. Kenneth was still alive during the renovations. He passed away in 2002 and today the museum is known as the Dow Museum of Homes.

Interesting Facts About the Property

 ~ The houses built between 1790 and 1910 were included in the 1592 Saint Augustine town plan. The block includes an archeological record of a 16th century church, hospital, and cemetery.

~ The Rosario Defense Line was an earthen embankment on the south side of one of the homes, which re-creates a section of the defense wall that protected Spanish Saint Augustine from attacks in the 1700s.

~ Maria Sanchez Creek was a saltwater creek which meandered from King Street to the MatanzasRiver north from Bridge Street and named because at this point a bridge crossed the creek. The foot of this very same bridge is on the Dow Museum’s site.

~ The Emancipation Proclamation is also included on the block as it was here that the document was read by a union solider in 1893.

I highly recommend visiting this site while touring Saint Augustine. You will be surprised what you see in these unique houses. http://www.moas.org/dowmuseum.html