1 PORT ORANGE-PONCE INLET HISTORICAL TRAIL (From
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PORT ORANGE-PONCE INLET HISTORICAL TRAIL (From Interstate 95, drive southwest 1.6 miles on Taylor Rd. (SR 421) and east on Gamble Pl. to the sign at the turnoff to the Gamble House. The home can be toured if prior arrangements are made with the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach. Otherwise, a gate will keep you from seeing more than a portion of the home in the distance.) 1 South side of Gamble Pl., east of Taylor Rd. 0.0 Gamble House James Gamble, the proprietor of Proctor & Gamble, began wintering in Daytona Beach in 1862. He bought this land in 1898 from George Leffman and built this Bungalow on Spruce Creek in the early 1900s and named it "Egwanulti", an Indian term meaning "by the water". At the same time, he built a citrus packing barn. The house was reachable by horse and buggy or by Gamble's open-air yacht, the "Seabreeze". Reaching the property by boat required dismantling and reconstructing a railroad trestle serving the railroad owned by Gamble, who died in 1932. Near the main house is a playhouse built in 1938 by Gamble's son-in-law, Judge Alfred K. Nippert. It was modeled after the Snow White House in the 1937 Disney film. Walt Disney was a guest at the property that same year. Earlier guests of Gamble here included John D. Rockefeller, H.J. Heinz, and William Howard Taft. The house was given by Gamble's heirs to the Nature Conservancy in 1983. It sits within the 150-acre Spruce Creek Environmental Preserve. (Drive west on Gamble Pl., northeast on Taylor Rd. past Interstate 95, northeast and east on Dunlawton Rd. and north on Ridgewood Ave. (US 1) to park along the road as close to Dunlawton Rd. as is available.) 2 North of intersection of Dunlawton Rd. and Ridgewood Ave. 0.0 Port Orange In 1865, several freedmen attempted to found a colony here, but failed and moved to other parts of the state. When the Florida Land and Lumber Company began their development of the area, they took the suggestion of John Milton Hawks and named it Port Orange. Hawks, described as a militant radical, became its postmaster in April of 1867. 1 (Walk north on Ridgewood Ave., northwest on Charles St., southeast on McDonald Rd., and southwest on Old Sugarmill Rd. 500 feet past Sugarplum Ln.) 3 North side of Old Sugarmill Rd., between Sugarplum Ln. and 1.4 Herbert St. Dunlawton Plantation Ruins Some historians believe that the sugar mill was first built here on the site of a Spanish mission established by Franciscan friars in about 1625. It would have been one of the outposts of the mother mission in St. Augustine. Recent studies, including a search of official Spanish records from that period, have indicated that it probably was not such a mission. Patrick Dean was granted 955 acres here in 1804 from Spain, and operated the plantation until he was killed by an Indian. It passed to his sister, who sold it to Charles Lawton in 1830. He named it Dun-Lawton, Dun being his mother's maiden name. In 1832 the land was acquired by James and George Anderson. They had owned a plantation on the Tomoka River and sold it to buy this one. They operated the plantation until the settlers were defeated by Coacoochee at the Seminole War battle of Dun-Lawton. All homes were burned and the mill was partially destroyed. In 1846, John J. Marshall of South Carolina bought the partially destroyed Anderson plantation, rebuilt the mill and began growing sugar cane. Within a decade, he abandoned production. During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers made salt here and camped under the Confederate Oak on site. In the 1940s and 1950s, this was the site of Bongoland, a theme park featuring concrete dinosaurs created by M.D. “Manny” Lawrence and Bongo, a baboon. The land later passed to J. Saxton Lloyd who artistically landscaped it and donated it to the county in 1963. This site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 28, 1973. (Continue southwest on Old Sugarmill Rd., then walk east on Herbert St. to the intersection with the railroad tracks, and look to the north northeast.) 4 East side of the dirt road just east of the railroad tracks, 2.5 north of Herbert St. Railroad Depot This building once served as Port Orange's railroad depot, when it was located just south of Dunlawton Ave. on 2 the present site of Port Orange Elementary School. It was acquired by Williams Roofing and moved to this location, and later was the home of Central Pump & Supply, Inc. (Continue east on Herbert St., then walk south on Orange St. and east on Church St. to the intersection with Ridgewood Ave.) 5 Southwest corner of Ridgewood Ave. and Church St. (4100-10 3.1 Ridgewood Ave.) Grace Episcopal Church This Victorian Revival style sanctuary was built in about 1893 by Rev. Charles W. Arnold. The land was donated by Dr. and Mrs. C.H. Meeker. Two of the stained glass windows were made by the Tiffany Glass studio in about 1894 and 1902. The addition on the west side was built in 1966 for the library, Sunday school and office. The new sanctuary was completed in 1984. (Walk north on Ridgewood Ave. and east on Dunlawton Rd. to the bridge.) 6 Dunlawton Rd., crossing the Halifax River 3.3 Bridge S.H. Gove built a bridge across the Halifax River in 1906. It was torn down, then replaced by a new bridge which opened in December of 1950. (Walk east on Dunlawton Rd. to the intersection with Halifax Dr.) 7 Northwest corner of Dunlawton Rd. and Halifax Dr. 3.4 Site of Port Orange Hotel The hotel located here was established in the 1880s with E.A. McDaniel as its proprietor, and for a time was known as the McDaniel House. It later became the Alligator Inn and then the Riverview Apartments. At one point it was used as a tuberculosis sanitarium while it was owned by Dr. Masters. It was removed in about 2000. (Walk west on Dunlawton Rd. and north on Ridgewood Ave. to 3.5 the point of beginning.) (Drive south on Ridgewood Ave., then west on Dunlawton Rd. 3 over the bridge across the Halifax River, and southeast on Atlantic Ave. To shorten the final total distance shown below by 3.2 miles, leave one vehicle parked in the municipal lot at the southwest corner of Atlantic Ave. and Major St. Continue southeast on Atlantic Ave. and Robert A. Merrill Pkwy., and turn right just before the county park toll booth and drive southwest on Lighthouse Rd. and west on Peninsula Dr. to park in the municipal lot for the park and playground - not the one for the lighthouse. Walk south to Peninsula Dr.) 8 North side of Ponce Inlet 3.6 Site of Pacetti Homestead Bartola Clement Pacetti settled on the north shore of Mosquito Inlet in 1854 on 210 acres that had previously been granted by the Spanish government to Antonio Ponce. He built a house of driftwood, containing a log chimney chinked with mud. Pacetti served in the Confederate army. In 1867, a post office opened nearby, but during that same year it was moved across the Halifax River to C.C. Sutton's house. It moved to McDaniels in 1868. Pacetti sold 10 acres to the government as a lighthouse site. He received $400 which he used to enlarge his house and create the Pacetti Hotel, well-known as a hunting and fishing resort. The hotel was later owned by Olivia gamble, daughter of James N. Gamble of the Proctor and Gamble Company. (Walk west and northwest 650 feet on Peninsula Dr.) 9 East side of S. Peninsula Dr., south of Ocean Way 3.7 Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse The first light in this vicinity to aid navigation was established by the British on the north side of the inlet, and has been described as a barrel on a pole for daylight use and a bonfire on a dune for night. In 1834-35, the second lighthouse was constructed near here on the south side of the inlet. Winslow Lewis of Boston built it for $7,500. In 1835, before oil had arrived to light its lamps, a storm undermined the foundation. Workmen were prevented by hostile Seminoles from stopping further damage, and the tower collapsed. The next lighthouse was built of red bricks made in Baltimore and shipped here, with the light being lit for the first time in late 1887. Its cost was $170,000, including the adjacent buildings. The light from the 2,000 lb. lens made in Paris in 1867 for $5,000, reached by 213 stairs, 4 could be seen for 19 miles. Drapes were drawn around the Fresnel lens during the day to prevent the sun from cracking its prisms or starting fires on the ground. In 1897, author Stephen Crane was involved in a shipwreck off the coast while on his way to cover the Cuban Revolution for his newspaper. His experience was relived in his short story, "The Open Boat", in which the survivors steered toward the Mosquito Inlet Lighthouse. At first, kerosene was used to produce a flame for the lens. Later, that was changed to electricity. In 1926, the name of Mosquito Inlet was changed to Ponce de Leon Inlet. A battery operated the water pump and lights in the homes as early as 1924, but the light in the tower was not electrified until 1933.