Tallahassee Landmarks Guide

Four Tallahassee landmarks, the Historic Capitol, the Union Bank Museum, The Grove and the Goodwood grounds, cost nothing to enter, and the table below gives the posted hours and admission for each (Florida Historic Capitol Museum).

Sources for the table: Florida Historic Capitol Museum, Mission San Luis, Goodwood Museum and Gardens, The Grove, Union Bank Museum, The Knott House and National Cemetery Administration. The Tallahassee weekday that catches visitors out is Monday: Mission San Luis is closed Mondays, The Grove opens Wednesday to Saturday, and the Union Bank Museum opens only on Friday and Saturday.

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Florida Historic Capitol Museum, Florida Department of State, Museum of Florida History, Mission San Luis, Goodwood and National Cemetery Administration websites.

The Historic Capitol museum on South Monroe Street is open seven days a week with free admission, closing only on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day (Florida Historic Capitol Museum).

The Historic Capitol posts weekday hours of 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday hours of 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and noon to 4:30 p.m. on Sundays and holidays (Florida Historic Capitol Museum). Donations to its education programs are welcome but not required. Visitors check in at the Reception Desk on the first floor Rotunda, the daily programs are available in a self guided format, and audio tours play on demand on any mobile device. The museum phone is (850) 487-1902.

Parking is the planning problem at the Tallahassee Capitol Complex. The museum stands where Apalachee Parkway meets South Monroe Street and has no parking of its own; the museum points drivers to the large public garage in Kleman Plaza, just two blocks away, and warns that parking gets especially hard while the Legislature is in session (Florida Historic Capitol Museum). Because of construction at the Capitol Complex there are no bus loading zones at this time, which matters for school and tour groups, and the Capitol cafeteria is listed as closed for construction.

Inside the Historic Capitol, the building is restored to how it looked in 1902, and the restored rooms include the 1902 Governor's office and the chambers of the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Supreme Court (Florida Historic Capitol Museum). The 22 story executive office building of the new Capitol Complex in Tallahassee was completed in 1977 (Florida Department of State).

Deeper Tallahassee guides: the Old Florida Capitol guide covers the museum, its exhibits and its parking, and the Florida State Capitol guide covers the 1977 building and its architecture.

Two Tallahassee landmarks hold the city's Native American story: Mission San Luis on Mission Road, where the Apalachee and Spanish mission is shown in a recreated landscape (Division of Historical Resources), and Lake Jackson Mounds, the southernmost Mississippian mound center (Division of Historical Resources).

Mission San Luis was the capital of the western Spanish missions from 1656 to 1704, and the state now interprets it on a 65 acre Tallahassee site with costumed living history, a large thatched Franciscan church, the Apalachee council house, the convento, a Spanish residence and the fort (Division of Historical Resources). It is a National Historic Landmark on West Tennessee Street, Highway 90, less than 3 miles west of the Capitol complex.

The historic site, gallery and gift shop at Mission San Luis open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and close on Mondays, New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (Mission San Luis). The Division of Historical Resources page for the mission also lists July 4 among the closed days, which the mission's own site does not, so a July 4 visit is worth a call to 850.245.6406 first (Division of Historical Resources). The Tennessee Street entrance is temporarily closed for construction, so visitors use the west entrance at 2021 Mission Road (Mission San Luis). Admission is $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for seniors 65 and over and $2.00 for children 6 to 17; children under 6, active duty military with ID and Friends members get in free. Groups of 20 or more call 850.245.6406 to reserve. Hands on workshops, such as pine needle basket making on second Saturdays, cost $24 for members and $30 for others, with the next candle making session on November 21, 2026.

Lake Jackson Mounds marks the southern edge of the Mississippian world, which between about 1000 and 1550 A.D. ran from Wisconsin to Oklahoma and down to Florida (Division of Historical Resources). Salvage digs by state archaeologists in the 1970s turned up copper and shell objects decorated in Mississippian style, and the site was investigated again in 2014. The Lake Jackson Mounds guide carries the state park's hours, fee and trail details.

Deeper Tallahassee guides: the Mission San Luis guide covers hours, tickets, parking and directions, and the Lake Jackson Mounds guide covers the mounds, the trails and the park fee.

The Tallahassee historic houses open for tours are Goodwood on Miccosukee Road, The Grove, with parking on North Monroe Street, and the Riley House downtown, while the Knott House on Park Avenue is closed for now (Goodwood Museum and Gardens).

Goodwood's gardens and grounds are free and open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed Sunday (Goodwood Museum and Gardens). Main house tours leave Tuesday to Friday at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and on Saturday at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., last 1 to 1.5 hours, and cost $15 for adults, $12 for veterans, students and seniors, and $8 for children 6 to 12. Goodwood posts that it is closed for tours October 20 to 23, with tours restarting Saturday, October 24. The Goodwood main entrance is off Miccosukee Road just east of Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, with a back entrance from Surgeons Drive; phone (850) 877-4202.

The Call-Collins House at The Grove, built around 1840 by enslaved craftspeople, is one of the best preserved antebellum houses in Florida and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 (Division of Historical Resources). The Grove museum is free, open Wednesday to Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with guided tours on the hour; museum parking is at 902 N. Monroe St., leashed dogs may walk the grounds, and group tours of ten or more cost $1.00 per guest.

The Knott House Museum at 301 East Park Avenue is currently closed while the state preserves the historic interior and builds new exhibits; school and scout program questions go to 850-922-2459 (Division of Historical Resources). The Riley House, built circa 1890 at the corner of Meridian and Jefferson Streets, operates as the John G. Riley Center and Museum, and its current exhibit is African Americans in Tallahassee: The World Wars and Post-War Life (Riley Museum). The Tallahassee museum lists its address as 419 E. Jefferson Street and phone as (850) 891-3560; guided tours cost $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and college students and $3 for K to 12 children, and self guided tours cost $5 for adults and $3 for K to 12 children (Riley Museum).

Deeper Tallahassee guides: the Goodwood Museum and Gardens guide, The Grove Museum guide, the Knott House Museum guide and the John G. Riley House guide cover each house, the Florida Governor's Mansion guide covers the governor's residence, and the Lichgate on High Road guide covers that property.

Tallahassee's landmark guides cover three burial grounds: Old City Cemetery, the oldest public cemetery in Tallahassee, established in 1829, Greenwood Cemetery, and the Tallahassee National Cemetery on Apalachee Parkway, dedicated in 2015 (City of Tallahassee).

Old City Cemetery was set up in 1829 by the Territorial Legislative Council, bought by the City of Tallahassee in 1840, and laid out in its squares and lots in 1841 (City of Tallahassee). It was segregated from the start: white burials went in the eastern half, along what is now Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard, and enslaved and free people of color were buried in the western section along present Macomb Street.

Tallahassee National Cemetery, at 5015 Apalachee Parkway, was dedicated May 22, 2015, held its first burial on October 16, 2015, sits on 250 acres and will serve over 83,000 Veterans in Tallahassee and the surrounding area (National Cemetery Administration). The grounds are open daily from sunrise to sunset, and the office keeps Monday to Friday hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., phone 850-402-8941.

Deeper Tallahassee guides: the Old City Cemetery guide, the Greenwood Cemetery guide and the Tallahassee National Cemetery guide each cover one burial ground.

Each Tallahassee landmarks guide covers one site, and the table below matches each common question to the guide that answers it.

The Union Bank, built in 1841 and considered Florida's oldest surviving bank building, now operates as a free museum at 219 Apalachee Parkway, open Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with group tours by appointment at (850) 245-6400 (Museum of Florida History). Cascades Park, which the City of Tallahassee calls a 24 acre classroom, holds the Prime Meridian Marker, first set in 1824 as the starting point for Florida land surveys, and the Smokey Hollow Commemoration (City of Tallahassee).

Deeper Tallahassee guides not covered above: the Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park guide covers the gardens and their fees, the Cascades Park 2026 visitor guide covers the park's features and events, the Meek-Eaton Black Archives guide covers the archive at FAMU, and the Tallahassee Museum guide covers that museum and its grounds.