- City:
- Brooksville, FL
- Site Type:
- Education and Health, Schools
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Description
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded the construction of this New Deal stone schoolhouse in Brooksville, FL. In 1941 the building was converted for use as a cannery. In the years following its construction, the building has served as a school for orphans and runaways; a cooperative extension site (Hammock Extension Homemakers); and as a northern extension site for the Hernando County Library system, known as the Rock Cannery Library.
Presently, the building continues to serve the community as a facility where members of the public can come to preserve fruits, vegetables, meat, and seafood using the commercial kitchen’s pressure canning processors. The building is owned by Hernando County and is managed by the Hernando County Recreation Department. It is one of a small number of public canneries in the United States. In 2013, community members successfully rallied the public to reverse the planned closure of the facility by county commissioners.
Source notes
https://www.hernandocounty.us/cannery/index.php/history; https://www.sptimes.com/2004/10/25/Hernando/Museum_teacher_wants_.shtml; https://hernandotoday.com/he/list/news/plan-to-save-little-rock-cannery-praised-20131112/; https://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/little-rock-cannery-preserves-communitys-harvest-of-delights/1232182; https://hernandotoday.com/he/list/news/membership-up-17-percent-in-effort-to-save-little-rock-cannery-20131205/Site originally submitted by Jo-Anne Peck on November 12, 2014.
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