citruslandfl

Ocklawaha Hotel #2, Eustis, Florida, circa 1914 A caravan of horseless carriages, on the morning of 1 September 1914, departed the headquarters of The Tampa Times in downtown Tampa and embarked on a historic Florida road trip. The Times newspaper headlined their report on the parade of vehicles as “The Run to Eustis.” Now, 120 plus years later, this seemingly trivial event appears to have been forgotten to history, but it was a very special day for Florida’s Enchanting Golden Triangle,...

In Search of Florida’s Historic Citrusland – Part 3 Orange Lake, Florida, 1833 Survey by Henry Washington “ Aside from its importance as an orange-growing district, Mandarin (now a Jacksonville suburb), has become a celebrity through being a winter residence of the famous authoress, Mrs. Harriett Beecher Stowe .” Mandarin, Florida, Duval County, Webb’s Historical (1885) Historic Florida Towns & Places , Richard Lee Cronin (2026) The Dawn of Citrusland There was a time in Florida’s...

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...