Florida Roadside Attractions & Abandoned Places - Forgotten Boardwalk & Ghost Town Of Homeland

on this episode of Florida roadside attractions in abandoned places we enter Polk County established in 1861. it's a bit different today here in Florida 57 degrees and no sun but that's okay that's not going to take away our fun there's so much to see today and we begin with uh abandoned boat just kind of sitting by the road here on a trailer check this out it's got the Florida tags on it it looks like this boat hasn't been floating since 2003 maybe or 2009 this is kind of cool here actually it's pretty cool check it out just showing you what's going on sitting beside this fence there you go there's a look in this boat sits across from this road it appears to be an abandoned house right there and the road that I stopped on not too many people going this way it looks like there's a gate at the end there gonna have to turn around and today we continue the journey along U.S highway 17. just a little ways up from Hardy County actually just south of Bartow Florida there's a small town called Homeland this is the main intersection but most of the town this forgotten Town sits that way off of U.S Highway 17. I just want to put things into perspective up front in the video so you can see what's going on here you wouldn't know there's a little town just over that way welcome to 289 4th Street this used to be the crumb building or general store was built in 1915. I know that because it says it right there 1915. Homeland Florida downtown talk about a small town There's a little post office there doesn't look like anything has been going on inside the store for a long time that glass is fogged up don't even know if we can take a peek inside nope not happening oh boy I've been to a lot of small towns in Florida this might be one of the smallest I've seen yet a lot of posted signs here no trespassing no way we're going inside I think this is where we should officially begin right here in downtown Homeland oh look at the bricks here look at the detail people have been scratching their name look at that I love that stuff welcome back to the channel and welcome if it's your first time I am Tampa Jay and in the summer of 2020 I began this series Florida roadside attractions and abandoned places and it has been so much fun today we continue exploring Homeland the main reason I'm coming here today is because I saw that they have a Heritage Museum a living history park I believe it's called Heritage Park and it's a few blocks away from here but before we get there I thought we'd just explore the streets this little small town see what there is to see and then we'll just bounce off that I'm feeling a good vibe today it's a little cold as I mentioned but hey I got my hoodie and uh I got the camera fired up so that should be an enough warmth for all of this so here we go welcome to Homeland Florida folks there's much ahead let's check out that post office at the corner here looks like this used to be some kind of a magazine Center now it's just uh it's just a place to put some random stuff and the only signage here is actually just painted in the window look at that some craftsmanship some artwork U.S post Office Homeland Florida 33847 you don't see a lot of uh Florida abbreviations with fla dot anymore that's an old thing and just to peek inside this kind of reminds me of the post office in Spiceland Indiana one of the first towns small towns I ever lived in in Henry County Indiana is a boy looks a lot like that post office in downtown Spiceland so far probably the most quietest Town ever if we weren't so close to Highway 17 I can hear the cars kind of in a distance this would be pretty quiet and this is pretty much all there is at this Crossroads this little area there's several streets all lined with houses and a couple of churches and the Heritage parks that we will go to shortly how about this for an old Florida Shack old cracker Shack this sits on Old Bartow Road right here on the Far West End Homeland I really love the tin roof old cracker Shack and at the corner of Church Avenue and second I have found the Homeland Heritage Park behind the split rail fence you can see some of the buildings there's several of them it's an old Pioneer Village here we go and I have made it inside the Heritage Park the gate was open the sign says if you wish to have access to any of these buildings there's a phone number and you call ahead so I don't think we're going to get inside today but this is open for people to come in and just take a look around there are quite a few things going on here I see a lot of historic old Florida buildings including this church over here we're going to spend a lot of time out here there's also signage to tell what these buildings are or what they once were and first up is the Homeland School typical wooden Pioneer School oldest surviving school in Polk County 1878 to 1956. and I stepped back from the old school house so you can see how large it is back in those days this was a large school pretty neat that it's the oldest surviving school in Polk County coming aboard the porch doors aren't open but we can take a look inside a peek through the glass look at this old wooden floors and to the right I'll have to shift but there's a stage at the end of the building see if I can block there you go lock in the shadow there you go you can make out the stage to the right in an old piano next to that window I'm gonna go around and peek through that exact window and there you go this is the window you can see all the way back to the other side of the schoolhouse and the chalkboard sits there between those two windows and it's got to be world history you got the globe up and to the left also George Washington hanging above the old chalkboard and it is Sunday morning looks like church is letting out across the street across Church Avenue there's a little picnic area a pavilion looks like it was placed here in 1966 according to that sign so you can come out here bring your lunch your breakfast there's a few buildings log cabins this way and then out Beyond just to show you be on this giant live oak tree that beautiful Live Oak Tree several buildings and then an old church you can see the steeple poking up there I think we're gonna go to the church last and underneath the awning and kind of in front of this whole Barn there's some old antique farm equipment it's like an old pump there an old plow a tiller all kinds of old stuff just happening around this Barn just kind of letting the camera roll there's some old kettles cook kettles looks like maybe perhaps from like a sugar cane Mill the English pole barn okay and there's a picture of it right there oh okay we can walk in here look at that these syrup kettles were used to make sugar cane nailed it the focal point of daily life the English pole barn is an early example of a settlers outbuilding in 1890. this Barn was the focal point of daily life on early Florida homestead I was also reading that this Barn was used to store farming supplies and also the Loft up there was used to store hay and all kinds of other things I don't think these doors are open actually I see padlocks but we can kind of peek through and see what's going on in there oh yeah there's a bunch of tools in there this is pretty cool I got this whole place to myself so far very quiet Town out here in Homeland I'm really liking it this pole barn was actually donated and it says on this photo and this was the barn where it used to set it says the pole barn it in its original location date unknown when it was constructed so very cool nice living piece of History restored here or being stored and beside the English Barn the English Log Cabin with a wrap around porch it's kind of in the shadows let me step forward so you can see what's going on here look at this this is cool love how it sits a few feet off the ground of course it being Florida it's a pretty cool Shack I'm gonna go up on the porch in a second and take a look at that sign step back for you so you can see it there you go that's a postcard right there this is Florida folks Cornelius and old man Jack the English Log Cabin was originally located in Winston Florida and built in 1888 okay so it's been relocated here the land had been purchased by Hackney English and the cabin built by Cornelius English and his brother James Jackson also known as old man Jack the cabin was used as a family residence until the 1900s and where Cornelius English and his wife raised three children we can't go inside but thankfully there's pictures of the inside of old man Jack's cabin right here that's what it looks like inside now on the porch I was reading that this is one of the earliest types of cabin in Polk County it is known as a single pin cabin this is pretty cool 1888 that is absolutely amazing look at these old doors oh porch is giving away again I always say this it's amazing what you find when you just jump in your car and head down to Florida Highway you can hear the highway too you can hear the semi over on U.S 17. also 17 is 98 through Polk County still standing on the front porch of old man Jack's cabin looking West two buildings behind me one to the left and to the right and also there's one over there I think we'll work our way around counterclockwise Homeland Park office former Methodist Church parsonage from 1914 to 1917 so this building built in 1914 and first thought a little different but this reminds me of the house from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre it looks like one of those Sears houses if it was two stories tall with that round window and that porch right there that's what it reminds me of DJ Kitty on the porch of old man Jack here kitty kitty kitty oh look at this look Chris always cats hi there oh oh I'm sorry didn't mean to startle you you you look just like DJ Kitty meow and we pause this video to check out this cat and that sign right there says Homeland Park Annex Building former Methodist Church Annex 1912 to 1970 so this one was built before that one that one's 1914 and right behind me some old brick kind of leading up to the backside of this old cracker home looks like they had some water oh well I see a spigot there red spigot and I think I made a friend she just keeps following me this way Kitty we're going to the front side of this house this way come on come on the rollerson house early affluent Royal architecture built by the blocker family it says 1880s and it looks like it says 1990 to 1987. I guess that's when the rollersons lived in it that's a hard word for me rawler sense r-a-u-l-e-r-s-o-n and as you can see the rollersons had an outhouse it's over to the left there's a lock on it are you coming over DJ okay I think she's gonna check out this house with us all right and it looks like just noticed that we wouldn't be able to go inside even if this park was open they boarded up the house we can look inside the window though oh yeah looks like there's some Renovations going on lots of antique furniture there's the fireplace to the left it's pretty neat and at last the only building we haven't looked at this old church and it's hard to put this into frame look at this wow that is one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen it kind of reminds me of the church Chris the girl and I saw at the Phoenix Pioneer Park just north of Phoenix Arizona last January it looks like that church babe a lot like it the wind really picking up gonna approach to the church gonna go up that porch take a look in the window but also there's a sign right here to the bottom left right there in front of the the dead palm tree winds Fierce it's cold out here I think it got colder it's in the low 50s now also I might try to somehow untangle that flag from the tree looks like the wind's got it tangled up this is right behind the schoolhouse before the church just caught my eye also DJ Kitty right there still lurking in the background see him by the tree Homeland Methodist Church okay so this is the Methodist Church those buildings we saw back there are just like they said Administration buildings okay so the Homeland Methodist Church was established in 1875 and was originally called Bethel Methodist Church the Bethel Methodist Church stood about a half mile west of where the present Church currently sits and was a crude structure without refinements or ornamentation in 1887 the charter members of the church decided it was time to build a more suitable building they began construction of the Homeland Methodist Church on property just about 500 feet south of its present location so across the street here all right I'm going to try the knob I don't think it's going to work though I think it's locked up but I can at least take a look through the windows to the left to the right if not wishful thinking there you go the back side of the back pew also still decorated for Christmas it seems maybe they had a Christmas event here I'm sure they did came around the side on the south side of the church just so you could see the church pews very old great shape don't see any hymnals though all right walking back behind the church out this way I saw something I missed wow oh wait till you see this all the way at the back of the property this old picket fence not very big and on the back side of these houses like right up against that house the backyard it's an old Cemetery whoa okay some of these headstones have been knocked over they're very old but it looks like according to some of these dates these were former members of the Methodist Church this is crazy I don't know if if these are just the headstones and they just moved them here Pauline beloved wife of William L Rogers born February 27 1872 died April 28th 1908 and we kind of went backwards here's the main signage for Homeland Heritage Park right here before the schoolhouse this is where you come into just so you know there you go wow that was fun now I'm going to try to uh get that flag down it's right over there and I fixed it and as soon as I did the wind oh my gosh it died I just undid it there pulled it down tied it back up we got it all right goodbye DJ Kitty we'll see you later my friend it's nice meeting you well nice meeting you again have a good one someone's tired there's a crow on the crucifix top of the steeple of the church and another little Free Library let's check this out looks like it's locked up see what they got in here oh is that Michael J fox oh look at that Michael J fox uh lucky man a memoir the 10 years since my diagnosis have been the best 10 years of my life and I consider myself a lucky man look at that okay check this out I passed this a couple times this old mansion here look at that thing wow okay speak about uh talk about Texas Chainsaw Massacre but look in the driveway it's a little orange blossom honey stand homemade honey looks like it's on the honor System too okay that's awesome and check out this old Bungalow that sets right beside U.S Highway 17 across from the Citgo this is all I ever knew about Homeland Florida it was just a pass by Town didn't know there was an actual post office Heritage Park or anything just kind of discovered it there was something that popped up on my map as I was just checking it out and look at this now on the boardwalk gonna go down this a little bit see where it leads us foreign look at that though this Wetland pretty dry check out all the Cypress a lot of leaves there's a black here talks about man and nature over the past 100 years man's activities has significantly affected the Peace River system agriculture practices Mining and urbanizing have all impacted the river by redoing water quality quantity and storage reducing wildlife habitat and fragmenting ecosystems Mother Nature will push back but sometimes we make it more difficult yes we do who so quiet out here other than the road roadway you can hear the highway in the distance some Big Cypress trees look at the trunk there flowers at the bottom just letting the camera roll how are you all liking these roadside attractions these videos I've been putting out last couple years last few years now are you liking them a good way to show me if you don't want to leave a comment just give the video a thumbs up that'll let me know appreciate you guys always watching all my videos thank you so much it means everything to me wouldn't be the same without you yeah they're just kind of letting us go out here look at this wow yeah just letting it go looks like some damage right here this is absolutely beautiful look down here look at all the green and the yellow flower so quiet look at that got to be careful right in here if I had to guess hurricane EMA had something to do with all this damage ooh trees down everywhere it's all torn up so the giant Boardwalk out here wow this is crazy what a system of Boardwalk which way do I go this bench and I decided to go to the left foreign oh wow look at this tree down cypress tree fell over holy cow I'm gonna step over it here and be careful counting there as I step over man it's so pretty holy cow and then I got a dunk duck right here we go made it watch ahead and I think I see the river way back there assuming that's the Peace River it's not very wide right here getting a little bit closer yeah here we go I think this is the closest we're gonna get to the Peace River see what we see there you go how much going on looking out for Gators just a little opening I've seen many parts of this River some wider um some smaller just like this this might be the tiniest portion of this River I've seen of the Peace River runs all the way down through Hardy County and just looping my way around this Boardwalk probably the longest consecutive Boardwalk I've seen in the state of Florida so far here's a little tougher spot here hope I can make it through here oh no another limb down right there that's fun wow yeah duck whoops also I found a a license just laying out here I'm gonna look up the person and see if I can find them later but it's a New York state license that expired in 2017 so it's kind of weird up rooted tree here check this out oh man yeah they've got a lot of work to do out here tons of work all right I'm gonna climb through here I'll make it I promise and just west of town I came out of Homeland just a little bit down this road home went back that way Beyond those three oak trees down the hill you can kind of make it out right here looks like an old cemetery and we're finding all kinds of old cemeteries lately this is pretty spread out but there's quite a few headstones Clyde e Langford born February 9 1888 died December 4th 1890 sweetly sleeping it looks like someone left him a cup of coffee welcome to the resting place of Mary a Tillis born April 22nd Earth Day 1845 died October 14 1861. uh beautiful lovely she was but given a fair bid Bud to Earth to Blossom in heaven that's beautiful this might be one of the oldest cemeteries in this part of Florida I have been to 1861. beginning of the Civil War also that name Tillis country singer Mel Tillis who was from these parts from Plant City Florida not too far from here I wonder if they or any relation Mel Tillis wow Winifred M wife of J.L durange born March 2nd 1830 died October 16th 1862 and just a little beside those tombstones I found their daughter desercy daughter of John W and Annie V Durant started September 10 1885. she was only six months old and directly behind the durences over here this small tiny Tombstone this this is one of the smallest headstones I've ever seen CD I wonder if this was perhaps the child of the Darren's family someone's left some pennies and some nickels one cent pieces right there right behind his parents or her we have no idea see Braun A Smith born it looks like April 24th 18. can't really make it out it looks like 1848 died December yeah that that part's been taken out right there chunk died December maybe 8 1892. and if I had to guess there are so many bodies underneath me right now the tombstones are no longer no more these two stones I'm showing you very spread out if I had to guess they are no more of the Tombstones they could be they could be I don't know I'm just saying they could be some of the Tombstones we saw back behind the Methodist Church back at Heritage Park it's just a couple more out here let's check out these two over here just hanging by a thread Marion Jay son of J and M B Watson born March 11 1876 died November 7th 1900 and I wonder if this is J and M B Watson to the left on this one here that's laying down I see an mjw so yeah this is the resting place of the Watson family this is MJ Watson and I'm assuming over here this was Marion's mother and B always get a somber feeling you know I just said this a couple videos ago but man we have no idea who these people were and who else is buried here beneath these grounds tombstones are gone So Gone if you're looking for the cemetery it's just west of Homeland on Highway 640. some barbed wire the boundary of the back of the cemetery nice little Hill grass growing up it a lot of phosphate mines around this area all along uh South Polk County mosaic just to kind of put things into perspective of what's going on in this region of Florida phosphate Florida phosphate and it looks like someone came out here and left every grave some sort of a cup this one looks like a little teacup this is the last headstone wmh Burns born August 30th 1815 died February 27th 1879. you've seen them all out here folks you've seen them all if you enjoyed this video do me a favor give it a thumbs up right down there thank you so much for watching everyone I really appreciate you guys joining me and living vicariously if you like the old Florida stuff the back road stuff make sure if it's your first time subscribe below and check out some of my older videos of this series there is a Florida roadside attractions in abandoned places playlist on the main page of my YouTube channel where you can also subscribe to this channel so there you go if you'd like to it's out there bunch of fun I appreciate you guys I'll see you next time as I always say there's much ahead know you're awesome know you're loved and no matter who you are what you're going through there's always much ahead out here in Polk County Florida and Beyond I'm going to uh yeah I don't want to spoil anything but I'll be leaving Florida soon that's all I'm gonna say all right watch ahead see you soon bye-bye and Chris the girl joins the video Yeah in Lakeland at Sonny's you were just across the street at the Lakeland Antique Mall creating your video like to keep up to date with was on at the lake at the life-changing all the time I walked in there for a moment I saw a lot of cool stuff a lot of Universal Studios props Disney World props so check out Chris's video and also check out what we're about to eat here at Sonny's here in the bonus features we've stopped here a couple times so many times this Sunday's has been in the bonus features more than any other Sunny yeah I'm not saying something and a little hack here I get barbecue I got barbecue last time actually no I got a steak last time on Sonny's but I do get the barbecue at Sunny's but what I love about Sonny's is their burger it's like a Hidden Gem and I love ketchup as you can see okay this is it that's the end of the video bye-bye

Channel: Tampa Jay

Views: 81,783

Keywords: forgotten cemetery, Florida roadside attractions and abandoned places, off the beaten path florida, homeland heritage park, florida, old florida, roadside attractions, florida roadside attractions, forgotten florida, haunted, alligator, abandoned, tampa jay, abandoned florida, roadside America, forgotten boardwalk in the woods, abandoned places, scariest places, Florida, ghost towns, alligator infested, explore, vlog, travel, road closed, Polk county, Homeland heritage park

Id: HQQhO3gbLp8

Length: 33min 30sec (2010 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 20 2023