Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum

The Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum is founded in 1981 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving rail history in Florida. The line it later uses originates with construction that began in 1895, was first incorporated in 1902 as the United States & West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company, renamed the Florida West Shore Railway on May 9 1903, and was acquired by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company on November 4 1909. The 1967 merger of the Seaboard Air Line and the Atlantic Coast Line creates the Seaboard Coast Line, which later becomes part of the Family Lines System, then the Seaboard System, and finally CSX Transportation in the 1980s; the segment from Durant to Willow is removed in 1986. The museum receives official state railroad museum status in 1984 after legislative recognition. Beginning in 1992, the organization starts operating weekend tourist excursions from Parrish.