PALM HARBOR — It sounds like an episode of “Antiques Roadshow” crossed with “American Pickers”: A Pinellas County resident was cleaning out a shop when they found a box filled with old photos and documents, relics of a bygone era as likely to be trash as treasure.
But instead of tossing the trove, they reached out to the Palm Harbor Historical Society to inspect the items and determine whether they were worth anything to anyone.
They were.
The donation, now known as the Hayes Collection, is composed of roughly 1,500 photos, documents, cards and letters from the family of Rutherford P. Hayes, the third son of President Rutherford B. Hayes. Known as Rud, or RPH, the younger Hayes was born in Cincinnati and died in Tampa in 1927 after spending years living, working and volunteering in the area, including in Palm Harbor, Dunedin and Belleair. The collection includes many long-lost family memories and mementos.
“The Hayes Collection is a donation that was received by us, a box of memorabilia that was located in a shop in unincorporated Pinellas County, about five years ago,” said Terry Fortner, a spokesperson for the Palm Harbor Museum, noting the collection “had been stored for more than 70 years.”
After determining the validity of the items, the PHHS enlisted Belleair town historian Joe Vars and Palm Harbor Museum volunteer research associate Quinton Spiaggi to curate and research the collection.
As they sifted through the lot, it became clear the find was unique.
“This collection is a once-in-a-generation type of find,” said Vars, who finished working on Belleair’s yearlong centennial celebration in 2025, during a Feb. 12 visit to the museum at 2043 Curlew Road.
Spiaggi noted that one envelope in the collection is labeled “Curlew” — the area where the museum sits. Research shows RPH purchased property between the Gulf coast and Alternate 19, a small tract of land north of the Dunedin Causeway.
Additional research revealed RPH was involved in some of the most prominent groups, businesses and organizations in the area at the time, including libraries, banks and boards of trade, an early predecessor of today’s chambers of commerce.
“Hayes became an important figure locally,” Spiaggi said, adding that one photo depicts a group shot from a board of trade meeting in Safety Harbor. RPH also had family in Tarpon Springs.
Once the significance of the collection was established, the historians set out to find it a proper home — and they couldn’t think of a more fitting place than the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, the first presidential library in the country, which opened in 1916 in the 19th president’s hometown of Fremont, Ohio.
“The Hayes Collection is probably the last extant collection of RPH’s existing,” Spiaggi said. “So it makes sense that it should go there, because they’re the protectors of the Hayes lineage, and they have access to resources that we don’t.”
In a final act befitting a Hollywood script, Scott T. Hayes and Rutherford P. Hayes, great-great-great-grandsons of the president, made the trip from frigid Ohio to sunny Florida on Feb. 16 to formally accept the donation — an emotional, patriotic moment purposely planned to coincide with Presidents Day.
“They were concerned about mailing it,” Fortner said of the family when the society contacted them about transferring ownership. “And we thought about making a field trip. But eventually we settled on Presidents Day. So, I guess you could say the stars aligned!”
During an 11 a.m. ceremony at the museum, the Hayes descendants were greeted by a group that included Pinellas County Commission Chair Dave Eggers, Palm Harbor Library Director Matthew David and many historical society and museum volunteers and supporters.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us,” PHHS President Lynn Geist told the group after the Hayes family arrived. “Because we’re going to take an archival collection from the son of a president and hand it over to descendants of that son, who are going to take it to the Hayes Presidential Library. On Presidents Day.”
“So, it’s a real once-in-a-lifetime!”
Scott T. Hayes said the family “was honored to take these items back. Because as lovely an institution as you have here, when you get to Fremont, it is climate controlled. So, the artifacts you’re donating will be preserved in perpetuity. And they’ll be cataloged and treasured. So, what an honor for us for you to entrust us.”
Before moving to the patio for lunch, Scott Hayes reflected on the circumstances that led to the occasion.
“It’s an honor for us to take this collection back to Fremont, where it will be kept for hundreds of years,” he said, recalling vacations and other visits to the Clearwater area when he was in high school.
“And we appreciate the hard work of Terry and Lynn and everyone here, all the volunteers, who made this connection happen. We can’t thank them enough. All the pieces really came together.”