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Oldest Store Museum: St. Augustine Experience
4.8
255 Ratings
St. Augustine
Step back in time at St. Augustine’s Oldest Store Museum Experience. Meet the proprietor and witness demonstrations of turn-of-the-century inventions. Physical distancing in place.
Step back in time at St. Augustine’s Oldest Store Museum Experience. Meet the proprietor and witness demonstrations of turn-of-the-century inventions. Physical distancing in place.
Duration:
3 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
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The Oldest Store Museum - Local actors and storytellers make this tour with the items and inventions from the turn-of-the-century come to life! By providing history and humor all rolled into one delightful experience, guests will be captivated to learn more about turn-of-the-century life within the ancient city.
When you visit the Oldest Store in…
- The Oldest Store Museum - Local actors and storytellers make this tour with the items and inventions from the turn-of-the-century come to life! By providing history and humor all rolled into one delightful experience, guests will be captivated to learn more about turn-of-the-century life within the ancient city.
When you visit the Oldest Store in St. Augustine, be prepared for an impressive list of items—over 100,000 in fact! You can see items such as a steam driven tractor, tonics, elixirs, farm equipment, collars and corsets, corn sheller and more! The store has even unique items like worm syrup and a goat powered washing machine that are sure to fascinate all ages. This interactive history lesson is something you shouldn’t miss!
- Historic Tours of America - St. Augustine - Experience is offered by Historic Tours of America
What's Included
- Admission
- Admission
What's Not Included
- Transportation to/from attraction
- Food and drinks
- Oldest Store Museum Experience is closed on Christmas Day.
- Transportation to/from attraction
- Food and drinks
- Oldest Store Museum Experience is closed on Christmas Day.
Additional Information
Get acquainted with the owner, Mr. C.F. Hamblen and observe the amiable staff, meat seller and patent medicine merchant showcase the most recent innovations for turn of the century lifestyle at St. Augustine’s most antique shop-turned-museum Experience.
Provisions for maintaining social distance are implemented. Wearing of masks is optional yet…
Get acquainted with the owner, Mr. C.F. Hamblen and observe the amiable staff, meat seller and patent medicine merchant showcase the most recent innovations for turn of the century lifestyle at St. Augustine’s most antique shop-turned-museum Experience.
Provisions for maintaining social distance are implemented. Wearing of masks is optional yet recommended.
- Children aged 5 years and younger are free
- Reservations are NOT needed or accepted. Tickets can be used on any operating day within 12 months of the purchase date.
- Free parking for patrons at The Old Jail (167 San Marco Avenue).
- Reservations are not required.
Location
The Oldest Store Museum
167 San Marco Ave,
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.8
(255 Ratings)
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Majestarose
Sep 10, 2026
Interesting and memorable - Our tour guide, Orville, really made our experience a memorable one. He was funny, informative and compassionate. We brought our toddler into the museum and he was so accommodating and made us feel welcome with our small child. He really went deep into character and made a small museum feel like a big experience. I highly recommend you stop by and see this attraction.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Joiw611
Sep 1, 2026
Oldest Store Museum - We visited the Oldest Store Museum during our trip, and it was a lot of fun to see items from the city's early days. Orville was our guide, and he had a lot of knowledge about the different items, what they were used for, and how much they would have cost. Definitely recommend stopping in and walking around.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ronaldf07734
Jul 27, 2026
Chock Full of History, Fun and Surprises - Having taken the tour before, I wanted to share the value and experience with family that was in from out of town, and had never been to Saint Augustine.
Penny was our tour guide, and her entertaining attitude started before we even walked into the store itself. She started off by producing a small brown bottle and talking about its contents as if it was a magical elixir for everything. She then held it up and asked "Who wants to buy it? One dollar!"
She looked at me and saw me reaching into my pocket, and she smiled and said "I know you have a dollar because I saw you getting change."
So, for a dollar I got a souvenir and a core memory with my family present. Put a price on that.
Once inside, I told her as we continued that was like the Tardis, and she appreciated the Doctor Who reference.
This is not only an interactive tour, there is a great deal of antiques, appliances, machinery, and all the things you never imagined existed. Penny was quick to share that if you had the budget to buy these things, they could ship one out...in two weeks (a running gag of sorts).
Penny was very comfortable with the material and spoke as though she were a sales person on the floor, working to meet whatever quota her boss had imposed on her. Part of the character she embodied, the tour felt in many ways like someone introducing us to the store before saying that we should go shop.
Pro tip - ask questions. After the formal tour, you are encouraged to continue to look around at the various props. Before you leave, be sure to grab a survey. Tips are always appreciated, but positive feedback for those who do you what they do helps as well.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lieseldrake
Apr 12, 2026
Worth it! - Such a well preserved and laid out museum accompanied by an excellent portrayal of the staff of that era. MUCH bigger inside than we imagined. Even the kids were shocked at how hard things were back then. Loved it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Escape655365
Apr 3, 2026
Oldest General Store - If you are interested in the past and what is was like to shop in a general store you NEED to check out this Super Entertaining, Super informational, and truly interactive tour!! Exceptionally knowledgeable tour guides!! 🙌🤩🌽🥫🍭
Review provided by Tripadvisor
J3004apdh
Mar 29, 2026
Worth Visiting - A very entertaining way to visit the museum as our guide Molly did it in character and tailored the talk to the people in the group. Definitely worth visiting as it gives insight into how general stores operated at the time as well as history of St. Augustine. It is a good add on to the Trolley Tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Janets963
Mar 18, 2026
This is a fun tour to learn history on, for the whole family! - This is such a fun tour! The tickets can be purchased online or at the ticket booth between the store and the old jail. The tickets are a little pricey. The tour is about thirty minutes. The tour size will vary, but ours was small-only about ten or twelve people. If you get the tour guide Virgil, you are lucky! He was a very good tour guide, providing good information, some funny jokes, and he had a great sales voice. The store is right in the same plaza as the old jail. There are lots of cool, antique items to see. You can see all the old canned food and kitchen items from the olden days. You even get a free candy at the start of the tour. This tour does have some interactive parts. Our guide did let people from the tour try out the coffee grinder and the corn grinder. Once the tour is finished, there are still some exhibits you can look through without a guide. You can take as long as you like because no tours go through there.
This was definitely a great tour to go on for the history of the old store.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Newyorknick
Mar 23, 2026
Exhibits and demonstration of early 20th century inventions, about 30 minutes, best booked with the Trolley combination. - Interesting display of the latest in early 20th century technology, guide, “Uncle Vince” did a good job of demonstrating the new “labor saving devices” Smallish place, tour is about 30 to 40 minutes, we booked it as a combo with the Trolley Ride, probably best value, maybe slightly overpriced, but it’s a unique experience, again best with the Trolley combo.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mary_l
Sep 5, 2026
Old General store - I don't know how other tour guides are but ours was just okay. He took us around an old, dusty, cramped general store. Gave us examples of life in the day of men and women of the era.
The tour wasn't as long as they say in the write up. At least ours wasn't.
Review provided by Viator
Donnad
May 23, 2026
Nit exactly what we... - Nit exactly what we expected. The guide was very nice and gave us a lot of information, but we expected more of a “grocery store & pharmacy” than a hardware store
Review provided by Viator
