In 1906, Ted Smallwood opened the Smallwood Store and Trading Post in Chokoloskee to first do business with the Seminoles, and later the new influx of white settlers to the area. The store thrived, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and remained open until 1982. When the doors on the old store finally closed, "90 percent of the original goods remained in the store," as written in the brochure. Smallwood Store now served as a piece of history. Ted’s granddaughter reopened the store in 1989, and today it is a pioneer museum open to the public.

Standing tall on hurricane stilts above Chokoloskee Bay, you can now walk through and see how things were, and how they changed during the 1900’s. The entire Smallwood family lived in the store at one time or another and there were remnants throughout. At the front counter were old cashed checks, payments from the store to the Seminoles for alligator hides. There was a working 1945 Coca-Cola machine, which we bought sodas from. There was also a small gift shop, featuring historical Everglades books and Seminole art and jewelry. The displays were arranged in groups that revolved around the various sections of the store.

The area of the store that sold farm implements had several displayed on the walls. The area that was once the kitchen and dining room had an old fashioned barn sink and the original table where Ted and his family ate dinner. My favorite section was the school desk, and the many ancient text books and readers the students used on top of it. Also placed on the desk was a notebook with a young student’s writing. The story was about a trip to his grandparent's house and the gators and birds he saw. Throughout the story were blue pen marks from the teacher correcting his mistakes-changing thier to their, and adding the "u" to "beatiful." Not much has changed in these hundred years. The views from the back deck out into the bay were gorgeous and next to the store, just off the deck, were the railroad tracks that went right into the bay where rail cars could unload goods for the store. According to store information, the Seminole Indians would row their canoes up to the back deck to trade furs and hides with Ted. This made him a good friend of the Natives. We didn't stay long, the store was small, but we did enjoy the slice of Americana the museum had to offer. The store/museum was open daily from 10am to 4pm.