Once a bustling lumber mill village, Bagdad was at the center of the Southeastern lumber industry for more than 110 years before the mill closing in 1939. Bagdad was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It has an active historic society called the Bagdad Village Preservation Association. The group is resuming its lecture serious with an especially interesting saga of one of the founders of Bagdad, Benjamin Thompson, as well as the tale of the construction and the history of the iconic Thompson House in Bagdad.
Perhaps only rivaled by the Bagdad Methodist Church, the Thompson House is one of the most visited, photographed, and painted sites in all of northwest Florida. Its story and the story of the larger-than-life Benjamin Thompson will be recounted by Dr. Charles D’Asaro, professor of biology at the University of West Florida and current owner, along with his wife Pat, of this beautiful and historic antebellum showplace. Dr. D’Asaro promises some surprises regarding the Thompson House.
The program will be presented on Saturday, February 2, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. at the Bagdad Village Museum, 4512 Church Street followed by a question and answer session, as well as refreshments. There is no cost and all are welcome. For more information on the lecture series or the Bagdad Village Preservation Association, call (850) 293-5349 or visit the association’s web site at www.bagdadvillage.org.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Bagdad lecture series resumes with "Benjamin Thompson and the Thompson House"