The Blanchard House Museum of African American History and Culture of Charlotte County again will be on the city’s historic register after Punta Gorda City Council voted to return the house to the list.
Councilman Bill Dryburgh said the move will help Blanchard House, which was heavily damaged after Hurricane Ian, avoid demolition due to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 50% rule, which excludes historic homes.
The historic designation can help the museum secure grant money, but former Council member Jaha Cummings, who sits on the museum’s board, said the museum wasn’t barred from receiving grants when in the years it was left off the registry.
Cummings said after the roof is completed in the near future, repairs to the interior, which were damaged by wind and rain, will follow.
Council will immediately pass on the registry information to the state and federal levels for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, Dryburgh said.
Before damages from Hurricane Ian, the Blanchard House Museum was a treasure trove of artifacts and materials related to the history, culture and contributions of African Americans in the settlement and development of Charlotte County and Southwest Florida.
It was on the city’s historic register until the house built in 1925 was moved three blocks away in 2002 to its present site, 406 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Martha Bireda, executive director of the museum and Cummings’ mother, has hosted various exhibits and two-women plays at the Punta Gorda Library, telling the history of African Americans and their role in founding the city and county. Many of the museum’s artifacts have been on display at the library.
In addition, Bireda, a fourth-generation Punta Gordan, is the author of numerous books, some of which tell the early history of the city.
The museum was founded in 2004 and was the vision of Bireda’s mother, Bernice Russell, who was a humanitarian, social activist and historian for the African American community. The Bernice A. Russell Community Development Corp. was created in Russell’s honor. Russell died before the museum was completed.
Blanchard House was built for original owner and local fisherman Joseph Blanchard and his wife Minnie. The house is a Florida vernacular-style craftsman bungalow, originally built with just four rooms and a front porch.
Years after Minnie Blanchard died, Bernice Russell purchased it in 1997, as all the Blanchard heirs were deceased.
Upon Russell’s death in 1999, the house was donated to the Bernice A. Russell Community Development Corp. by Bireda and her children.
The Blanchard House is one of dozens of historic homes in Punta Gorda on the National Register.
A reopening date for the museum has yet to be determined.