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During the year, the Museum offers
changing exhibits that highlight artifacts, photographs and postcards from
our extensive archival collection.
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Lawson Diggett was born in Lake Como, Florida July 24,
1901. He moved to Seabreeze, Florida in 1902 with his English
parents.
Diggett began a lifelong interest in automobiles as a child. When
he was 11 years old he began carving models. He became engrossed
with the hobby, and his parents provided him with a workshop attached
to their home. He specialized in building miniature automobiles,
but had a vast collection including airplanes, ships, trucks,
trains, carriages, furniture and more.
Most of his models were build prior to the 1940’s before
modern materials such as plastics, Styrofoam and super glue. All
of his models were fashioned from scratch, made mostly from pine
and tin cans. He also utilized scrap items such as rubber pads
from a conveyer belt for tires on the cars. He hand painted every
model in authentic colors to match the full sized original he
copied.
He was an avid writer and photographer, and corresponded with
race drivers and racing enthusiasts throughout the world. He recorded
racing activities in detail in scrapbooks, and collected every
magazine and book pertaining to automobile racing. He photographed
much of life in Daytona, and that included all aspects of racing.
He also kept a diary every day of his life.
In the 1930’s he built a model of the Temple to Speed which
was proposed for City Island including a cloverleaf park setting.
In 1938 he created his most ambitious and memorable work which
was a 4’ x 14’ replica of the Boardwalk.
When Diggett died he left his entire estate to the Halifax Historical
Society. Many of his models may be seen in our Museum. |
Charles Burgoyne was born in Fairmont Virginia in 1847.
He served in the Union Army during the Civil War, joining at age
14. At age 28 he went to New York and began a printing company.
After earning a fortune there he moved to Florida with his third
wife, young Mary Therese MacCauley, who was a proofreader at his
printing company.
Charles Burgoyne purchased a city block in downtown Daytona between
Bay and Volusia and Beach and Palmetto Streets. He built an ornate
three-story mansion that became the showplace of the area.
He was elected Mayor of Daytona between 1897 – 1898, and
in 1899 he was elected Commodore of the Yacht Club. He was referred
to after that time as Commodore. His 65’ yacht, The Sweetheart
was built in 1898, and a huge boathouse was built on the river
across from the mansion to accommodate it.
In 1912 Burgoyne had a $25,000.00 aeolian pipe organ installed
in his home. It is pictured here in this exhibit. He played the
organ for his friends and associates at musicales held in his
music room.
The Commodore shared his love of music with the public by building
a round gazebo at the corner of Orange and Beach Streets and hired
Saracina’s Royal Italian Bank from New York to play here
during the winter seasons.
In 1914, to improve the downtown Beach Street area, he built as
a gift to the City a 10’ wide concrete promenade bordered
by a rock seawall that extended from Orange to Bay Streets. It
was lined with streetlights, each pole containing a cluster of
five large white globes. It was named THE ESPLANADE BURGOYNE,
and a bronze plaque to honor him for this was donated by the City.
In 1915 he built a spacious casino across the street from the
Merchant’s Bank. It was a 17,000 square foot structure and
was to house the band that played in the winter season, and to
be used for other types of recreation. It burned in 1937 and was
lost forever.
The Burgoyne’s had no children of their own and were very
generous to the children of the town, providing milk for school
children and aiding the needy in whatever they could. Mrs. Burgoyne
gave young girls of the town a pearl necklace for their birthday,
and a huge party was provided for the children every year on the
lawn of their home.
Mr. Burgoyne died unexpectedly in 1916 at the age of 69. He is
buried at Pinewood Cemetery on Main Street in Daytona. The marble
angel placed on his grave was vandalized in 1953 and has not been
replaced.
Mrs. Burgoyne continued to live in the home for the next 25 years
at which point she sold the home to a land developer, and spent
the rest of her years in an apartment on Grandview Avenue. She
died in 1944 at the age of 81.
A booklet of the life of Charles Grover Burgoyne is for sale in
the Gift Shop at the Halifax Historical Museum. |
One of the most colorful characters to live in the Halifax area
was the dashing and adventurous Bill McCoy, the famous
rumrunner and "King of Rum Row". The rumrunners of Prohibition
said that "Bill never cut his liquor", and his fair
dealing perpetuated the phrase, "It’s the real McCoy".
Bill was six feet two, shoulders like a cargo hatch, slim waist,
a voice like a fog horn, lean tanned face, and steady eyes in
a weather beaten face from long gazing over glittering waters.
He was born in Syracuse New York, and was a cadet for two years
on the Saratoga.
He moved to Florida in 1900 with his family, and he and his brother
Ben began building boats on the banks of the Halifax River in
Holly Hill. Their boat, the Uncle Sam which they built in 1903
was used as an excursion boat on the Tomoka River, and they also
operated freight and passenger boats between Daytona and St. Augustine
and to West Palm Beach. In 1908 they purchased Charles Burgoyne’s
The Sweetheart, and made weekly runs to West Palm Beach. They
built several more boats including the Republic, The Beach Comber
and the Hibiscus which were built for Fred Vanderbilt in 1915
and John Wannamaker in 1918.
In 1920 business was poor, and Bill was approached by a rumrunner
with a phenomenal salary to captain his boat. He declined the
offer, however he and his brother decided to go into business
for themselves. Bill purchased the Henry Marshall in Massachusetts.
It was a 90-foot fishing schooner built of white oak. The boat
could carry 1,500 cases of liquor in crates, or 3,000 cases in
burlap bags. Bill sold all his first cargo offshore in New York.
This was the largest cargo brought into New York to that time
and Bill founded the notorious "Rum Row".
With the money made from the first sale, he purchased the love
of his life, a beautiful fishing schooner, the Arethusa. Nassau
became his home port for the next four years, and the Arethusa
sailed many times from there loaded with liquor headed for Rum
Row. He claimed he landed more than 170,000 cases of liquor during
his rum-running days.
He was closely watched by the Coast Guard, and the canny Bill
renamed the Arethusa, the Tomoka and placed her under British
registry. He also named her the Marie Celeste and registered her
with the French. Eventually in 1921 the Henry Marshall was taken
into custody by the Revenue Service when its drunken captain went
ashore and left the ship in incompetent hands. Revenue agents
boarded the Tomoka, but Bill claimed he was beyond the 3 mile
limit and tried to make a run for freedom while some of the agents
were on board. When the Coast Guard Cutter Seneca fired on the
Tomoka, Bill surrendered. So went the rum-running days of Bill
McCoy with his 130’ vessel leading the Coast Guard on a
merry chase. He died aboard his boat the Blue Lagoon at Stuart,
Florida at the age of 71 on December 30, 1948. |
The Halifax Historical Museum has thousands of domestic and foreign
artifacts from the Spanish American War, World War I, World War
II; and the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf conflicts. In addition to
several permanent displays, we rotate various memorabilia for
special displays and commemorations. |
The Halifax Historical Museum houses hundreds of artifacts from
the Halifax area plantations. Items include tools, household items
and personal artifacts. Regular exhibits are available for viewing
in addition to the archaeological artifacts. |
In addition to the new permanent Racing Zone Exhibit, the Halifax
Historical Museum has several displays documenting the history
of automobile and motorcycle racing in the Daytona Beach area.
Our collection of automobile photos and memorabilia is second
only to the NASCAR archives. We feature seasonal exhibits coinciding
with area racing events. |
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