Orange County Regional History Center; Old Orange County Courthouse
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
The Old Orange County Courthouse, built in 1927, is now home to a museum that opened in 1976 in Loch Haven Park. After the city's new courthouse was completed in the mid-1990s, this historic building was renovated and repurposed as a community museum and education center. The History Center opened its doors in September of 2000 and has grown to include a collection and exhibits that share nearly 12,000 years of central Florida's history. The decision to use the courthouse as a museum is itself a reflection of history, as a former courthouse annex located here was used during World War II to showcase local history.
Images
The History Center is located in a former county courthouse

Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The Orange County Regional Center tells the story of Orlando through exhibits and programs. The museum offers core exhibitions that share the experiences of the diverse communities that have called Orlando home. The core exhibits as of 2025 center on African American history, First Peoples, first contacts with colonists, tourism, farming and ranching, aviation, the natural environment, pioneer families, and Orlando's theme park era. The museum also offers temporary exhibits, such as one in 2016 that told the story of citrus workers during the Great Depression.
The museum's exhibits reflect a mixture of triumphs and tragedies, including an exhibit for the mass shooting that occurred at the Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016. Michael Perkins, the museum manager who helped lead efforts for this exhibit said that while the makeshift memorials placed to honor of the Pulse victims after the attack were going to be preserved by the museum. Perkins explained that the tragic event "will always be a part of our history, but so is the community’s response. We are collecting and preserving the memories of how the community responded.”
Sources
The Orange County Regional History Center - Visit Us - Our History. (n.d.). Retrieved October 07, 2016, from https://web.archive.org/web/20090302051954/http://www.thehistorycenter.org/visit/?art=history (n.d.).
The Story of the History Center. Retrieved October 07, 2016, from http://www.thehistorycenter.org/about/history-center/ Washington, E. (2016).
Budy Broke his Pattern in Leach Killing. (1989). Retrieved October 07, 2016, from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/31861/BUNDY-BROKE-HIS-PATTERN-IN-LEACH-KILLING.html?pg=all
Pulse memorial will live on at Orange County Regional History Center. Retrieved October 07, 2016, from http://www.clickorlando.com/news/pulse-memorial-will-live-on-at-orange-county-regional-history-center
https://www.thehistorycenter.org/about/history-center/