citruslandfl

Moses Lyman (Left); Benjamin F. Whitner II (right) I n Search of Florida’s Historic Citrusland Part 2: Florida’s Sweet Orange Peace Pact   “ In 1869, when your correspondent arrived in Orange County, the orange crop was estimated at 60,000. I see by the figures of the Florida Journal that the shipments of the present year (1877) at Mellonville, Sanford, and Lake Jesup, are put down (estimated) at 2,000,000 .” Will Wallace Harney, Cincinnati Commercial Newspaper April 15, 1877 A Historic Flash...

Earnest Chapel, Fort Reid, Florida, circa 1874 On Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin Road  (1838-1857) AKA, Mellonville to Orlando Road (1857-c1888)    “One must take a buggy and follow the picturesque old Fort Mellon Road among the groves and gardens of a prior generation.” The Gate City Route, South Florida Railroad  (1887) The Way it Was: F lorida’s population in 1870 was 187,748 , for the entire State, making it the 33 rd  most populous of all 37 States at that time. Considering the United...

A Merry Christmas Florida Blog by Richard Cronin     Historic Mount Dora, Lake County, Florida   Miami, Florida, Christmas Eve 1925:   Jasper Winslow Crawford married Florida native Dora E. Aman in Miami on Christmas Eve one hundred years ago. The ceremony was a small one, and the marriage lasted only five years due to Jasper’s accidental death, but because their wedding was published in a newspaper, this 24 th  of December 1925 event became the start of my quest to resolve another intriguing...