Lawson Diggett Exhibit November 25, 2010

Lawson Diggett was born in Lake Como, Florida July 24, 1901. He moved to Seabreeze, Florida, in 1902 with his English parents. Diggett began a lifelong interest in automobiles as a child. When he was 11 years old he began carving models. He became engrossed with the hobby and his parents provided him with a workshop attached to their home. He specialized in building miniature automobiles, but had a vast collection including airplanes, ships, trucks, trains, carriages, furniture and more. Most of his models were build prior to the 1940s before modern materials such as plastics, Styrofoam and super glue. All of his models were fashioned from scratch, made mostly from pine and tin cans. He also utilized scrap items such as rubber pads from a conveyer belt for tires on the cars. He hand painted every model in authentic colors to match the full sized original he copied. He was an avid writer and photographer and corresponded with race drivers and racing enthusiasts throughout the world. He recorded racing activities in detail in scrapbooks and collected every magazine and book pertaining to automobile racing. He photographed much of life in Daytona and that included all aspects of racing. He also kept a diary every day of his life. In the 1930s he built a model of the Temple to Speed which was proposed for City Island including a cloverleaf park setting. In 1938, he created his most ambitious and memorable work which was a 4' x 14' replica of the Boardwalk. When Diggett died, he left his entire estate to the Halifax Historical Society. Many of his models are in the museum.