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SARAH CAVACINI/Palatka Daily News – Reenactor Rob Mattson, right, the Putnam County Historical Society’s secretary, explains the use of the wigwag flag he’s holding. -
SARAH CAVACINI/Palatka Daily News – Putnam County students gather around an Occupation of Palatka reenactor Friday during a field trip. -
SARAH CAVACINI/Palatka Daily News – Reenactors portraying Union soldiers prepare to tell students about life in the 1860s during the Civil War. -
SARAH CAVACINI/Palatka Daily News – Middleton-Burney Elementary School teacher Lakisha Griffin and her students listen to reenactors Friday during the Occupation of Palatka.
Children poured out of Putnam County School District buses Friday morning as they prepared for a morning of learning about life during the Civil War era.
Since 2011, the Putnam County Historical Society has been hosting the Occupation of Palatka, which teaches local students more about Palatka’s Civil War history.
The event is also open to the public from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. today and Sunday at the Bronson-Mulholland House, 100 Madison St. People can also visit nearby St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 200 Main St., which will be open during the living history event because soldiers stopped there during the 1864 occupation.
On Friday, fourth graders from across Putnam County heard from reenactors portraying a surgeon, Union soldiers and women of the 19th century.
“I feel like it’s a really good program,” James A. Long Elementary School Teacher Amy Tillis said.
She said many of her students weren’t aware of Palatka’s vast history, let alone its involvement in the Civil War.
The occupation represents the aftermath of the February 1864 Battle of Olustee when Union Col. William Barton’s New York brigade stopped in Palatka, according to the Historical Society.
“(The students) learned a lot of details, I believe, and they had a lot of questions, really great questions,” Tillis said.
She said she also learned new things about Palatka. Last year was Tillis’ first year attending the occupation, and she said felt more prepared this year to answer her students’ questions.
The Bronson-Mullholland House and the Putnam Historic Museum, which is located next to the historic house, are open during this year’s occupation. Students took pictures and asked numerous questions as they walked through the museum, the small white building packed with a plethora of items from the past.
Middleton-Burney Elementary School teacher Lakisha Griffin said her class enjoyed learning from the living history presentations. Her students listened with rapt attention – most of them, anyway – as reenactors told them about family life in the 19th century before the students went into the museum, Griffin said.
“A lot of our kids haven’t really been outside of Crescent City,” she said. “So, for them to get outside of the town and explore a different town in Putnam County … they really enjoyed watching and learning.”
