Hit the road and explore the city of Gainesville in a brand-new episode of Florida Road Trip. WUCF’s Emmy Award winning program returns with all new episodes exploring the history and stories that make up Florida.
On Thursday, September 22, travel to Gainesville and explore the beginnings of the University of Florida and hear the stories of how the school became the gators. Veteran television journalist and host Buddy Pittman will take viewers to the Matheson History Museum, the former home-turned museum of one of the city’s founding families. Alachua County is also home to many animals, and viewers will visit the Sante Fe College Teaching Zoo and the Lubee Bat Conservancy. Learn about the legacy of Tom Petty and get into the the art scene inside the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, considered to be one of the best in the nation.
“Gainesville has really played a variety of different roles in the state of Florida over the years,” said Kaitlyn Hof-Mahoney, Executive Director of the Matheson History Museum. “Looking back at the Civil War, Gainesville was hugely important for the confederacy because it was a relatively safe inland location and this area was really a huge agricultural center and also Gainesville had the railroads that were able to send these supplies not just throughout Florida but the south as a whole during the confederacy.”
Florida Road Trip: Gainesville, airs Thursday at 8 p.m. on WUCF TV, on wucf.org and on the PBS Video app. WUCF Passport members will also get early access, starting Thursday at 8 p.m. to next week’s episode, Florida Road Trip: Tampa.
Learn more about the show at floridaroadtrip.org