AN ODE to WILL WALLACE HARNEY

An Ode to Will Wallace HARNEY

CENTRAL FLORIDA MEMORIALS 

A to Z by Richard Lee Cronin

ANNO Avenue memorializes a Kentuckian who doubled the size of 1884 PINE CASTLE;

BUMBY Lake remains a tribute to Jesse, central Florida’s first BUMBY immigrant;

CONWAY Lake honors Dr. Valentine Y. CONWAY, 1844 Florida Surveyor General.

Many street & lake names are visual memorials to early pioneers.

DIXIE Highway (Orange Avenue) revitalized a then forsaken 1920s PINE CASTLE;

EOLA Lake (EULA) immortalized one Orlando pioneer’s “childhood sweetheart”;

FORT Gatlin’s plaque celebrates the location of an 1838 central Florida Army fortress;

GUNBY Avenue (abandoned) of Orlando was named by & for a PINE CASTLE resident;

HOFFNER Avenue crossing HARNEY’S Homestead reminds us of a 1895 homesteader.

Visual memorials help preserve the story of central Florida.

Lady Isaphoenia

LADY ISAPHOENIA owned EPPES land first, but today is obscure as W. W. HARNEY;

JENNIE Jewel Lake reminds us of a brave frontierswoman Jane (PITTS) PRESTON;

KUHL Avenue honors an immigrant who expanded Orlando south toward PINE CASTLE;

LANDSTREET evokes the memory of Angebilt Hotel Mgr & Realtor, Arthur LANDSTEET.

Forgotten meanings of memorials are often vital clues when researching the past.

MATCHETT Road on HARNEY’S Homestead recalls John W. MATCHETT;

NELA Avenue at BELLE ISLE honors Cleveland’s “National Electric Lamp Company;”

ORLANDO, some continue to believe, honors a fictional soldier named ORLANDO Reeves.

Mythical memorials however can detract from central Florida’s rich heritage,

While a lack of memorials can lead to forgetting worthy, true-life pioneers.

Orlando Reeves monument at Lake Eola Park

PINE CASTLE is today a lone reminder of an 1869 frontiersman, William Wallace HARNEY;

QUARTERMASTER documents became a lone clue to learning of Rutland’s 1864 MULE;

RUTLAND & HARNEY footprints are no longer easily found on central Florida’s landscape;

ST CYR’s role in bringing General HARNEY back to central Florida is all but forgotten;

Brigadier General William Selby Harney

TAFT Florida is no longer remembered as  having ties to our nation’s WHITE HOUSE;

UNDERHILL Lake lost its significance as the birthplace of a young TENNESSEE bride;

VAUGHAN Street remains an unknown memorial to a partner of an 1884 Town of GATLIN;

WHITNER Avenue once immortalized an early homesteader, until renamed FERN CREEK;

X was a mark of many pioneers, but not of Professor Belles Lettres, Will Wallace HARNEY;

YATES Avenue at Shingle Creek memorializes a South Orange County first family; and,

ZIEGLER Road off SOBT celebrates the memory of Ziegler brother’s PINE CASTLE Dairy.

Memorials county-wide stand as reminders of central Florida pioneers, the bravest of brave men and women, and yet with little exception, Will Wallace Harney, builder of the Pine Castle, is all but forgotten in the remote wilderness he played a role taming.

In memory of WILLIAM WALLACE HARNEY (1831-1912)

CENTRAL FLORIDA HISTORY

THE RUTLAND MULE MATTER by Richard Lee Cronin

CITRUSLAND: Curse of Florida’s Paradise by Richard Lee Cronin

FIRST ROAD to ORLANDO by Richard Lee Cronin

And Now;

BEYOND GATLIN

By Richard Lee Cronin

“Between two beautiful lakes and projecting into a third,” central Florida’s Fort Gatlin, established in 1838, became the hub for the earliest settlements south of Orlando. BEYOND GATLIN is a story of true-life courageous pioneers, hardy men and women, who endured an endless barrage of challenges so as to establish the 19^th century settlements of Kissimmee City, Shingle Creek, Pine Castle, Mackinnon, Troy, Gatlin, Conway, Campbell City, Runnymede, and 20^th century communities of Taft, Prosper Colony, Edgewood, and Belle Isle. Beyond Gatlin also goes in search of the real Fort Davenport, the Ridge of Oaks, and more. 97 Exhibits and an extensive bibliography support this first-ever history of South Orange County and north Osceola County.

BEYOND GATLIN, A History of South Orange County

Beyond Gatlin, from the family of central Florida history books by Richard Lee Cronin

   

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Recipient of the 2017 PINE CASTLE HISTORIAN AWARD

Florida’s Indian River Duchess (EBook only)

Seven Honorable Floridians (EBook only)

Email for Questions and Comments: Rick@CroninBooks.com