Our last stop on our ECHO Ranger tour set was to a place known as the Anderson-Price Building or the Women's Club of Ormond Beach. This building has a very long history that began when Ormond Beach was less than 20 years old. On January 9, 1891 a group of citizens met at the Union Church with the goal of "promoting neatness and order" in the village, as well as to provide for civic welfare.
Three years later they were able to purchase this property for $1200 with the store and attached residence on the site to serve as a community library.
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| Kevin and girls heading into the Women's Center to begin our tour |
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| Coat of Arms for the Ormond Family |
Initially the old store was the site of the library and later a community meeting place, until 1916 when the Women's Village Association was able to raise the funds to build a new building to serve as the new library and women's auxiliary meeting place. The building is named for the 2 main contributors of the $8000.00 needed for the new facility Mssrs. John Anderson and Joseph Price, the owners of the Ormond Hotel.
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| Chandelier in the main meeting room |
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| Front parlor that originally served as the community library |
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| Main meeting hall with display cases and portraits on side walls - stage area to the left |
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| Docent in the first room (the old library) giving the earlier history of the community and building to the kids |
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| Docent in the second room that had served as the library reading room, gave the kids the history of the community from the turn of the century to the present. |
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| Detail of carving and beautiful locks on the front door |
This building was added to the Historic Registry of Buildings in 1984 and is used as the Women's Center for social events and historical education programs. It's an attractive building with lots of pretty details of mouldings, chandeliers, and ornate doors. There are displays of the towns historic persons, including the Ormond's whose coat of arms is on display and had been given the first grant to the property by the King during the British rule over Florida. Other displays are from pieces donated or found at various archaeological sites. The ladies here wore old fashioned hats as they gave the kids a tour and history lessons. A short film of the areas history was shown in the main hall, before we headed outside to walk to the end of the road to see the old Yacht club building that was rebuilt a few years back after years of use saw the building deteriorate to the point of being condemned. Today it serves as a boat club and event spot and has a beautiful view of the areas water inlet.
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| Kids walking out front - pretty view! |
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| Old photo in the collection of boats at the old yacht club site. Don't think this one counts as a "yacht" though |
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| Rebuilt yacht club |
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| Old photo of a boat there for the racing season. |
Our day in Ormond Beach concluded after this stop. The weather had been gorgeous and we all enjoyed our tours and history lessons.
Nice history lessons. Your kids get so much exposure to things than actually going to school.
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Being able to experience these places has been such a positive of bringing our lessons to life and makes their school fun, so that many times they don't realize they are learning : ) It serves to keep mom learning more too.
DeleteI'm not sure where the information came from on the Ormond Yacht Club but it is not accurate. The OYC clubhouse was never condemned. It has not been rebuilt. It suffered serious storm damage in the hurricanes of 2004. However, that was all repaired. As with any historic building, particularly one over brackish water, there is a lot of maintenance. Periodically things have to be replaced. When that is done it is done, generally, in a manner consistent with the period and style of construction. The building is well-maintained, although there is always more to do. The Club has been in existence since 1910. Nothing has changed. it is still a private club, however, it is a non-profit corporation, with 501(c)(3) status. The primary mission of the Club is to preserve the clubhouse and Club history for future generations. It is not available for an event spot other than on a very limited basis. It is, again, not, per se, a boat club. The building is an Ormond Beach historic landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Additional information on the OYC can be found at www.ormondyachtclub.com. Not trying to be critical, just want to be sure that the information is accurate. It is an Ormond Beach icon. I have the privilege of being the current president of the OYC.
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