WHY I WRITE ABOUT CENTRAL FLORIDA

My CitrusLAND

BY Richard Lee Cronin

WHY I WRITE ABOUT EARLY CENTRAL FLORIDA?

The short answer is searching for the WHY! My interest in uncovering the true story of Central Florida began with me traveling down an entirely different path. ADELAIDE, a quaint little lake outside my Altamonte Springs home of 1990, started things off. How, I wondered, did it get its name? Would how it was named make an interesting book? 

If anyone knew who Adelaide was, they certainly weren’t saying, but a chance search discovered the answer and much, much more. The lake’s name dated to the 19^th Century, to a railway depot located near this very spot, a railway station named SNOWVILLE. Why? No, it wasn’t for Snowbirds, but rather a Chicago couple, he an Ex-Union soldier of the Civil War, and she, his wife, Adelaide SNOW! 

Digging even further, I discovered my Altamonte hadn’t always ended with an ‘E’. Another Union Veteran, a doctor so it turns out, had named his Central Florida homestead ALTAMONT after walking to Central Florida from Ohio. I know, a double why, right?

Continuing my research, I was soon asking who named ORLANDO. An answer that had served for more than a hundred years was: “Benjamin F. Caldwell of Talladega, Alabama,” the man who donated land for a courthouse at Orlando. My immediate question however was, WHY? Why did he give land? Who was this Caldwell fellow? 

WHY so many unanswered questions arising from 19^th Century Central Florida. That's how I got into researching the fascinating story of Central Florida, an enchanting American Paradise that I lovingly refer to as CitrusLAND. You see, a promise of growing rich from planting Citrus trees encouraged pioneers to come to the wilderness of Central Florida, and the idea of establishing towns and adding to their wealth by selling LAND turned Central Florida into a dreamers paradise. 

The story of Central Florida makes all the sense in the world only after America’s amazing history, combined with in-depth genealogy research, collide. More than boring history – CitrusLAND is all about uncovering the MYSTERY!