Illustrated Diary of a Trip from Boston to Florida

In February 1894, an unidentified traveler went from Boston to Florida and spent six weeks visiting Gainesville, capturing the highlights of the journey in an illustrated diary. The trip began on February 14th, and the earliest pages of the diary describe the first leg of the journey. These pages include hand-drawn maps, train schedules, and vignettes of Boston and Washington, D.C. Some of the places depicted in these vignettes include Boston’s Park Square Train Station, Washington’s skyline, and the United States Capitol Building. The next passages trace the remainder of the journey from Washington, D.C. to Florida, with two pages devoted to a stop in St. Augustine. The traveler arrived in Gainesville on February 20th, and most of the diary is focused on this visit. A highly detailed street map includes 46 numbered locations around the city and includes a hand-lettered key. The vignettes that illustrate this section include images of the courthouse, several private residences, an orange packing house, a dance hall at Oliver Park, and the big sink. The traveler departs Gainesville on April 3rd, and the remainer of the illustrations cover their return trip to Boston. While most of the diary’s drawings are of buildings and landscapes, the artist also included caricatures of African Americans. In addition, they collected leaves and flowers, which they glued to the pages of the diary.