312-316 North Park Avenue, Winter Park
A Winter Park Nugget:
One for the History Books
I have a habit of digging into the past of locations where I am to do a history related event, a routine that, because of Central Florida’s past, seldom disappoints. Knowing the back-story of the place where I will be discussing Florida’s history allows me to personalize my discussions with fans of local history. And so, in preparation for my 4PM to 7PM book signing on Saturday, August 10, 2024, I went in search of the story of the earliest days of the land upon which Writer’s Block Bookstore is located. Here’s what I learned about the history nugget which the postmaster refers to as 312-316 N. Park Avenue.
Old timers might conjure up images of an Oriental Rug Shop that for many years occupied this very location. James Haber opened the imported rugs store at 316 N. Park Avenue in April 1956.
A two-story building having two storefronts, the structure itself was built, says Orange County’s Appraiser’s office, in 1950. The first occupant of 316 N. Park Avenue in 1950 was Park Avenue Linen Shop, “The House of Unusual Linens and Baby Wear,” located at 316 N. Park Avenue, had as part of its grand opening that year a 17 piece Imported Linen set for only $17.50.
Looking 75 years into the past was a worthy start, but my interest was in learning about the first-ever occupant of 316 N. Park Avenue. And to find that pioneer, one has to start at the beginning, back on April 5, 1882, when Oliver Chapman became the first Postmaster the new Winter Park Post Office.
The building at 312-316 N. Park Avenue is described by the county appraiser as located on “Lots 25 & 26 of Block 19’ in the town of Winter Park. A town Plat drawn in June of 1882 for founders Oliver Chapman and Loring Chase shows “Block 19,” but the block only had 17 lots, numbered 1 through 17. To find the story of lots 25 & 26 of Block 19, one then needs to refer to a revised Plat of Winter Park issued in 1887. By comparing the two, the plot of the Plat, as they say, thickens.
Winter Park started out with two Park Avenues. North Park Avenue of today was originally East Park Avenue, running north-south along the east side of the railroad tracks. New York Avenue of today, running on the west of the railroad tracks, started out as West Park Avenue. The distinction between the two is crucial to understanding why 316 North Park Avenue of today was at first known as 316 East Park Avenue (and at times, 316 East Park Avenue North).
East Park Avenue and West Park Avenue, Winter Park
Boulevard, the east-west main artery known today as Morse Boulevard, became the dividing line for numbering, so that East Park Avenue house numbers north of Boulevard were “North-East Park Avenue and house numbers south of Morse Boulevard were “South-East Park Avenue.” The same was true of West Park Avenue. Fortunately, the confusion was rectified by changing the name of West Park Avenue to New York Avenue.
Garfield Avenue was originally designed to continue east of East Park Avenue, but the revised 1887 Plat of Winter Park terminated Garfield Avenue at East Park Avenue. In doing so, Block 19 of 1887 was revised to run north continuously from Lincoln Avenue to Canton - as it still does today - making one long city block consisting of 35 numbered individual “Lots.”
The revision of 1887, therefore, created Lots 25 & 26 of Block 19, the specific parcel of interest in this research. But until 1925, thirty-eight years later, the north half of Block 19 remained undeveloped. In 1926, the first structure was built in the north half of Block 19. Built on “Lots 25 & 26 of Block 19,” the building was still standing in 1945, when the property owner, a native Floridian described as “one of those characters they call pioneers in Winter Park,” sold the two-story building that had also served as his personal residence since the building was completed twenty years prior. The owner lived on the second floor and rented out the ground level floor.
June 1924 Sanborn Insurance Map of Block 19.
For three decades, from 1882 until 1914, developers showed little interest in Block 19, but all that changed beginning in 1914 when proponents of “Good Roads” began a movement to transform Central and South Florida into a friendly territory for personal automobiles. Their timing to build good roads was perfect, for in 1915, local citizens determined to change the route of the proposed Dixie Highway, cast the sleepy interior towns of Florida in a whole new light.
Neither Ocala nor Sanford had been on the original Dixie Highway route, and even after Ocala and Orlando were added in 1915 as a “Spur Route,” Sanford, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, and Winter Park were all to be bypassed. A last-minute agreement added yet another “Spur” to the Dixie, changing Winter Park’s downtown Park Avenue from a local street to part of a new interstate "auto-route" to bring tourists and snowbirds from as far away as Michigan and Canada. Within five years, the Dixie Highway, combined with the Roaring Twenties, brought to life a sleepy “wondrous land" called Winter Park, Florida.
Winter Park no longer depended on the railroad alone to bring visitors, for Americans began an enduring love affair with personal automobiles. Park Avenue, suddenly busy with vehicles and travelers on their way to and from all parts South, became the place for businesses. Vacant land began disappearing in the 1920s, with Block 19 development starting with construction of a two-story building on Lots 25 & 26, a structure having storefronts on ground level and an apartment house on the second.
Moving into an apartment on the second floor of 312-316 N. Park Avenue was the owner and builder, a Floridian who continued to reside in his Winter Park apartment during his off-season, the baseball off-season that is. Florida’s first baseball player to make the Major League was the very same individual to kick off development of the north half of Block 19. And his stint with the Brooklyn Dodgers just happened to coincide with the arrival of yet another Block 19 developer and merchant - a lady well-known to Winter Park history as the owner of the Proctor Building.
More on both Zach of “Lots 25 & 26” and his “Block 19” neighbor Eve when Part 2 of this two-part series resumes on Wednesday, August 7, 2024.
I invite you to stop by Writer's Block Bookstore on Saturday, August 10, 2024, between the hours of 4PM and 7PM to look over my Central Florida history books. I'll have a supply of my Orlando: A History of the Phenomenal City as well as my latest, Altamonte: A History of Altamonte Springs books on hand should you care to purchase one or both.
You can also click on the photo below to visit my Amazon Author page to learn more about each of my books or purchase directly from Amazon. You can even follow my Author page for future updates.
Part 2 of 2 will be posted Wednesday, August 7, 2024.
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