A genuine time capsule of Florida frontier life, sitting at the edge of the Ten Thousand Islands.
The Smallwood Store has been sitting on stilts over Chokoloskee Bay since 1906. Ted Smallwood built it as a trading post for Seminole Indians and frontier settlers, and somehow, over a century later, it's still here. That's not a small thing in a place where hurricanes eat buildings for breakfast.
Inside, it's exactly what it looks like from the outside: a preserved general store turned museum, packed with original goods, local artifacts, and the kind of everyday objects that tell you more about a place than any textbook could. Five dollars gets you in, and for a piece of Florida history this intact, that's a bargain. (Buy a slice of key lime pie on your way out. You'll want it.)
The store sits at the far end of Chokoloskee Island, about 3 miles south of Everglades City. If you're doing the Gulf Coast side of the Everglades, this is a natural stop. The view across the bay is worth the drive alone.
Families do well here. Kids who've never thought twice about where people got their food or medicine a hundred years ago tend to get quietly curious once they're standing in the middle of it. There's a gift shop for souvenirs and a restroom on site, which matters more than it sounds when you're this far out.
It's a small museum. Nobody's pretending otherwise. But small and significant aren't the same thing.
728 reviews
a month ago
It’s impressive when you realize that all these things were originally there - it’s like a time capsule. I think 5$ admission is justified for this piece of the history of the place to be preserved, although it’s a small museum. There is also a souvenir shop and you can buy drinks and key lime pie too. The view is great too and you can also do boat tours from here.
6 months ago
(Note: I write these reviews in part for my own nationwide business clients, for travel and activity inspiration. Follow me for more! I’m a financial planner - CFP®️practitioner - with a focus on retirement wealth strategies, primarily serving business women and LGBTQ individuals. We are Planning for Good®️, providing Wealth Strategies with Heart.) Cute little place with some cool historical items. Check out the various rooms including the old bedroom. You have to pay to get in but this is a small museum on the island so it helps them say open. Not a lions parking but it also wasn’t packed. Something interesting for 30 mins.
5 months ago
We took a one hour Everglades National Park boat tour. We sighted a pod of dolphins and the guide got them to play in the wake of the boat. They followed us for about 10 minutes, jumping and turning on their sides to watch us as we watched them. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.
7 months ago
We booked the 1.5 hour Everglades eco tour to see animals from a skiff boat. It was so lovely and we saw tons of birds, plus bottle nose dolphins played in our wake! Captain Michael knew how to get the dolphins to engage and spent a lot of time showing us critters, without too much chat. We enjoyed the peaceful waters and saw the 10,000 islands in a way we otherwise couldn’t. Highly recommend! Very accommodating as well, as we rescheduled due to weather.
8 months ago
This is an interesting place to explore when in Big Cypress and certainly in Everglades City. Tells a lot about the history & culture of this once extremely remote area. I would have given a higher rating, but the ‘attendant’ on the day I visited was nothing short of unwelcoming. It was not just me, the other visitors were completely ignored, and when a question was asked the ‘attendant’ didn’t even look up and barely provided a one word answer. It was as if the visitors were an intrusion on her privacy (or maybe all her attention needed to go to putting price tags on the cheap tchotchkes. Frankly, her attitude made people rush through & get out, including me. BTW-it is $5.00 to go through the museum. After the experience encountered she should have paid us $5.00 to endure such rudeness. It’s a shame, because the store is pretty cool.
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