Historical Resources
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Application for Corridor Extension Historical Resources Historical Resources Although the Green Mountain Scenic Byway CME considers the proposed corridor eligible for designation on the strength of its recreational and natural resources, the corridor extension could be designated on the strength of its historical resources. The City of Mount Dora has created a Historic Preservation Review Area which is located within a larger National Register of Historic Places District. The entire Review Area is included within the proposed corridor extension. The extension connects the historic downtown of Winter Garden with the historic downtown of Mount Dora. Narrative The colonization of Florida by the Spanish proved disastrous to the Native Americans. Waves of epidemics of infectious diseases introduced from Europe crashed upon the Native Americans. Between 1565, the year that the Spanish founded St. Augustine, and 1595, when serious Catholic missionary attempts began, it is estimated that the Timucua speaking population had plummeted from about 150,000 to about 50,000. To add to the devastation of disease, savage raids by Creek and Yamasee Indians, often supported by Carolina colonists, further reduced the population. By 1700, the Timucua had been reduced to about 1,000 people. The remaining Timucua attempted to seek refuge from the raids at St. Augustine, but by 1753 only 136 Timucua remained. When the British took Florida from Spain in 1763, the few that were left were expelled from the St. Augustine area. A pitifully few Timucua moved south and tried to settle on the Tomoka River. It is possible that their descendants eventually joined the Seminoles. The Seminoles were originally part of the Creek Confederacy. Between 1716 and 1767, Creeks in considerable numbers moved into the Florida peninsula. Pressure from colonists in Georgia and Alabama, and war among the Creek themselves, encouraged the Creek to fill the vacuum left when the Timucua and other peoples were gone. Just as earlier cultures on the peninsula developed in response to changing environmental conditions, a new culture, the Seminole, was created as the Creek adapted to conditions in Florida. At their peak, the Seminole people in Florida numbered about 5,000. 113 Application for Corridor Extension Historical Resources The First Seminole War took place in 1817 and 1818, when General Andrew Jackson led a U.S. military expedition into Spanish Florida. Violence between Seminoles and Americans had occurred for years before, and continued for years after. Seminole troubles were used as a pretext for the incursion of the U.S. Army. General Andrew Jackson’s true aim was probably to show the U.S. government just how weak Spanish control of Florida really was. The success of the expedition also made the Spanish realize the tenuous hold they had on the peninsula. In 1821, Spain ceded Florida to the U.S. for $5 million in Spanish debt and the surrender of the U.S. to any claims on Texas. The Treaty of Moultrie Creek in 1823 restricted Seminoles to the interior of the state from Micanopy to the Peace River. This placed the Lake Apopka area squarely in the center of Seminole territory, discouraging white settlement. In 1832 the Treaty of Payne’s landing was signed between the U.S. government and a small group of Seminoles, without the consent of most of the Seminole leaders. The treaty called for the Seminoles to give up their lands and move west within three years. The Seminoles balked at the treaty, and when the U.S. Army tried to enforce it, the Second Seminole War erupted. The war was one of the most costly, in both blood and treasure, of all the Indian wars. The Second Seminole War dragged on from 1835 until 1842. The U.S. Army suffered 1,466 deaths. The number of Seminoles killed is unknown, but by the end of 1843, 3,824 had been captured and sent west, or bribed, coerced, or tricked to do so. Only 300 to 400 remained in Florida. The Armed Occupation Act of 1842 encouraged settlement of the former Seminole lands located between Gainesville and the Peace River. Any head of family or single male over 18 was entitled to 160 acres if he agreed to cultivate at least 5 acres, build a house, and live on the property for five years. There was a Third Seminole war from 1855 to 1858. The Seminoles had only about 100 warriors, and the war consisted of a series of random raids and attacks. After the destruction of the main Seminole village by U.S. troops in 1857, Chief Billy Bowlegs took the government’s offer of $44,600 dollars for him and his followers to be shipped west. Less than 200 Seminoles remained in Florida. 114 Application for Corridor Extension Historical Resources Mount Dora The Drawdys arrived in the area in 1846 and were probably the first white settlers in the area. The generally accepted story credits the naming of Lake Dora after Dora Ann Drawdy, either a squatter or a homesteader farming property located east of what is now Lake Beauclair by General Land Office surveyors. Dora prepared home cook meals for the surveyors, who rewarded Dora by naming the large lake to the north after her. However, several holes have been found in this story by local historians, but it is a very popular story, and it appears that it is going to stick. Settlement of the area around Lake Dora was very slow. It was extremely difficult and expensive to transport goods and passengers into or out of the area, and depended on a convoluted combination of wagon or horseback, steamboats and railroads. In 1880, Lake Dora was connected to the Harris Chain of Lakes by the Dora Canal, providing much improved transportation. Also in 1880, construction began on the Apopka-Beauclair Canal, but it was 1893 before anything resembling a navigable canal was opened. Early families settling what was to become Mount Dora included the Sadlers, Tremains, Gilberts, Simpsons and Donnellys. It wasn’t until 1880 that a post office was established. The post office was first named Royellou, a contraction of Roy, Ella, and Louis, children of early settler Ross Tremain. After several years of confusion the name was changed to Mount Dora in 1883. The Sanford and Lake Eustis Railroad came to Mount Dora in 1887. The railroad ran from Sanford to Tavares, with a stop in Mount Dora. The Sanford and Lake Eustis Railroad was eventually bought by the Atlantic Coast Line, and in 1915, the Mount Dora station was built and is now used as the Mount Dora Area Chamber of Commerce. The station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. J.P. Donnelly was an active citizen and tireless promoter of Mount Dora for over 50 years. In 1883, a group of local investors which included Donnelly built the Alexander House at the end Alexander Street. The hotel had ten rooms and a spectacular view of Lake Dora. The Alexander House was later renamed the Lakeside Inn. The hotel is still in business and has been expanded several times. Prominent guests of the Lakeside Inn include former Presidents Coolidge and Eisenhower, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. The Lakeside Inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 115 Application for Corridor Extension Historical Resources A tourism industry began to take root in Mount Dora with the construction of several hotels in addition to the Lakeside Inn and the completion of the railroad. Northern tourists would spend several weeks to an entire winter season. Fishing, hunting and boating were popular activities. The Chautauqua movement made its debut in Mount Dora in 1887. The Chautauqua was a one to two week, concentrated program of education, culture and non-denominational religion. The Chautauqua originated in up-state New York in 1874, and the movement spread quickly. A local group formed the South Florida Chautauqua, and raised money to build a 1,500 seat auditorium. While popular for quite a few years, the Chautauqua faded away after the auditorium burned down in 1905. In 1893, J.P. Donnelly built a grand Queen Anne style house on Donnelly Street that is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is considered by some as the finest example of Queen Anne architecture in the southeast. The earliest settlers planted small citrus groves around their homes. By 1891, there was enough citrus production to support a packing house and several fertilizer plants. The Great Freeze of 1895 dealt a setback to the citrus industry, but it soon recovered to become the largest and most important industry in Lake County for decades. The 1890 Census reported a population of 174. The 1900 Census reported a population of 197. In 1910 the population grew to 371, and the community incorporated as a town with J.P. Donnelly as the first mayor. World War One sparked a sharp increase in agricultural prices. By 1920 Mount Dora had telephone service, water, electricity and a population of 725. In 1922, a fire burned several buildings downtown, including Town Hall. Along with most of the state, Mount Dora was swept up in the land boom of the 1920s. Several new hotels and commercial buildings were built, and a 900 lot subdivision was platted just outside of town. The real estate frenzy came to a screeching halt in 1926. While Mount Dora suffered the Great Depression with the rest of the country, there was still enough money in town for the construction of the Mount Dora Community Building in 1929. The Community Building is located on Baker Street and looks over Donnelly Park.