William Augustus Bowles Museum & Historical Foundation 1st Pirate Road Rally

The 1^st Annual William Augustus Bowles Museum & Historical Foundations’ Pirate Road Rally fundraiser is being held on Saturday May 18^th with registration at the Ft. Walton Beach Chamber Parking Lot (Rain or Shine) beginning at 10:30 and an event start at 11:00 am.  By car or motorcycle, this event will be a true “Pirate Adventure”- participants will solve clues, find specific locations, answer fun questions, and collect “booty” all in search of the final party location.  The winner will be the person or team that finds all map locations, answers all questions correctly, collects any required “booty” and then finds the final party location in the least number of miles. 

A 501 3(c) Foundation, funds raised will support the William Augustus Bowles Museum and the MOBILE PIRATE MUSEUM project.

Other Info -

            The William Augustus Bowles Museum and Historical Foundations Mission statement “To become recognized as the premiere MUSEUM in the Southeast providing an educational and authentic Emerald Coast Pirate heritage experience based on technological innovation and artistic presentation of historical lore and events that will revive the “child” in all of us.” 

In July of 2007, a visionary group of local Fort Walton Beach business professionals and civic leaders established the William Augustus Bowles MUSEUM & Historical Foundation.  The group envisioned a museum that captured the colorful history and rich traditions that shaped the culture of the Emerald Coast.  At the heart of early history along the Florida Gulf coast there were 18^th century Pirates!  Now, this current group of almost 200 members, is committed to preserving the colorful history of “piracy” on the Emerald Coast, they have set a goal to build and maintain a museum enabling year-round access to the historical items, traditions, Bowlegs Festival memorabilia and ALL the elements of Pirate Lore from along the Emerald Coast.

            This year we were lucky enough to receive one of the BP Gulf Tourism and Promotional Grants…we received $128,000 to build the William Augustus Bowles MOBILE PIRATE MUSEUM - the MOBILE PIRATE MUSEUM is being created to provide a unique, exciting, educational and cultural experience for all ages in the form of a pirate museum on wheels. The William Augustus Bowles MOBILE PIRATE MUSEUM will provide visitors an opportunity to relive the adventures of legendary pirates, such as William Augustus Bowles, who roamed the Florida Panhandle in search of riches on land and sea. The displays will create both a static and interactive space, using state-of-the-art technology to portray the Pirate heritage and lore of the area. Utilizing the William Augustus Bowles MUSEUM’s extensive collection of costumes, pictures, and memorabilia, along with historical artifacts and items donated from other pirate-related festivals and museums, the MOBILE PIRATE MUSEUM will be ever-changing and exciting.