Places and buildings
Workshops, roadside sites, neighborhood institutions, downtown rooms and structures whose use explains more than their facade.
A field note for what may disappear
Do You Know a Piece of Florida That Should Not Be Forgotten?
A place, workshop, collection, tradition, business, sign, machine, archive or local story can vanish long before anyone decides it was history.
I am looking for the person who still knows where the story lives. Send the evidence, the local connection and what may be lost if nobody pays attention soon.
Not nostalgia for its own sake
The most interesting stories often sit between private memory and public record
Collections and archives
Photographs, tools, signs, machines, letters, recordings, menus, records and objects with a reliable keeper and a story.
Traditions and practical knowledge
Ways of making, repairing, celebrating, working or caring for a place that may not survive the people who hold the knowledge.
The object does not have to be valuable, and the place does not have to be conventionally beautiful. What matters is the human evidence: who used it, what changed there, how the story can be verified and why it still matters now.
Build a starting trail
A useful lead includes the keeper, the location and the risk of loss
- The Florida city or county and a general description of the place or collection.
- The person who owns it, cares for it or knows the history firsthand.
- What happened there or what the objects reveal.
- Dates, names, photographs, records or published references that can start verification.
- Why the story is at risk now: sale, redevelopment, age, storage, weather, closure or simple neglect.
- Whether the owner or keeper is open to a conversation.
The story is not ours merely because we found it
Permission, ownership and preservation come before content
I will not encourage trespassing, publish private documents casually or turn an uncertain story into fact because it sounds good. A lead may require permission from an owner, archive, family, tribe, institution or community. Physical preservation and professional archival care are different from writing a story about something.
A submission may lead to research, an introduction, a future Florida story, a recommendation to contact a preservation organization or no publication at all. The existing Florida Stories hub remains the editorial home. The special-projects board is where new leads enter.
Before you send it
Frequently asked questions
Will you publish every submission?
No. A submission is a lead for research and conversation, not permission or a guarantee of publication.
Can I share a fragile or private location?
Yes, but clearly mark the information as sensitive. Do not encourage trespassing or send directions that would put a place, collection or person at risk.
What makes a strong lead?
A specific place or collection, who knows its history, why it matters, what may be lost and a few verifiable starting facts.
What might disappear before people realize it mattered?
Send the Florida location, the person who knows the story, what can be verified and why attention is timely.