Virginia native Bolling BAKER of MAITLAND was an
1879 neighbor of Dr. Clement C. HASKELL of Massachusetts. An Attorney, Confederate
Veteran Baker and the doctor, a Union Veteran, shared two things in common. Both
men owned land in a Florida town that was by then 8 years old, and yet each had
to endure an arduous 16 mile land trek from the port at Lake Monroe to their
homestead alongside Lake Maitland.
“The natural and customary gateway to Orange
County,” stated Orange Land of 1883, “is the St. Johns River steamers to
Sanford on Lake Monroe.” Steamers on the river had been the customary means of
travel for 40 years. The problem for travelers was not the river though, rather
how to continue their journey after arriving at Lake Monroe.
Maitland’s Bolling BAKER had been trying to
improve land travel, but by 1879, his retired warriors group had yet to find
the cash needed to build a railroad. Enter Baker’s neighbor, Dr. Clement C.
HASKELL, a brother of newspaperman Edwin B. HASKELL, one of the owners of the celebrated
Boston Herald.
Edwin B. HASKELL
Edwin HASKELL was acquainted with
central Florida. A sister, Arabella (HASKELL) Bent, had married Charles A.
BENT, and after moving to CitrusLAND, they planted an orange grove that was to
become known as BENT”S Grove, you know it today as LAKE MARY. Edwin Haskell held
a mortgage on Bent’s Grove dating back to 1874. During 1879, Edwin also became
involved with his brother’s Maitland home.
Orange County’s population had yet to reach
7,000 by 1880. The county’s landmass at that time included all of present day
Orange, Osceola and Seminole – and then some. But New Englanders were taking
notice of this “EDEN on earth, a land of sunshine and health, lacking in the
cheerless rigors of a bleak, frozen northern winter.” Central Florida offered a
haven from harsh northern winters.
Improved transportation in central Florida
became critical for continued expansion, and at that time, a railroad offered
the best solution. Various plans to build a railroad had not gone well. George
C. Brantley’s, ‘Tuskawilla to Orlando’ train faltered soon after his 1878 death
while in New York City. Joseph J. Finegan and friends, desiring to build rail
service between Mellonville and Orlando, had gotten nowhere.
Bostonians came to the rescue, financing
South Florida Railroad. Track installation began during February of 1880, days
after two Maitland neighbors agreed to transfer franchise rights. That deal
however was subject to one “express condition,” service to Maitland had to be
completed within four months. “So
vigorously was the work prosecuted, that by June 1, 1880,” said the 1883
Orange Land, “the road was in operation
to LONGWOOD, July 1st to MAITLAND, and December 1st to ORLANDO.”
The final agreement hammered out by Baker and
Haskell forever changed the landscape of central Florida. Why? Baker’s group
planned a railroad following the alignment of the original forts trail, the 'First Road to Orlando', that dirt path
serving the County Seat for nearly 40 years.
The original forts trail did pass through
Maitland, but the alignment north of Maitland shifted to the west. Haskell’s
group ran their railroad toward Henry S. Sanford’s, ‘Belair Grove’, then
continued toward Bent’s Grove, location of Haskell’s sister land; then on to Longwood,
owned by the Civil Engineer from Boston, Edward W. Henck.
The train’s new alignment destined Mellonville,
Fort Reid and Tuskawilla to Ghost Town status, and opened up an entirely new winter-haven
for Northerners, along the alignment of Boston Herald’s historic South Florida
Railroad. The first train ran between Sanford and Orlando November 11, 1880,
and within two years, Thomas C. Simpson was in town to acquire 1,200 acres for
a group of Boston investors. Land he acquired included a tiny village and
depot between Longwood and Maitland called Snowville, land soon to be renamed
Altamonte, and renamed again, Altamonte Springs.
At today’s busy intersection of Maitland Ave
and SR 436, location of the once elegant hotel named The Altamonte, was a 25
acre ‘Hotel Park.’ The park connected Lake Adelaide and Lake Orienta, and
surrounded the hotel. A few home sites fronted that park, with one such
residential site, Lot 445, being sold May 16, 1887. Celia (HILL) Haskell
purchased the one acre site the very year her husband, Edwin Bradbury Haskell,
retired as Editor-in-chief of the Boston Herald.
Edwin & Celia Haskell owned Lot 445 until
1906, when they sold that parcel, “along with the house and enclosure,” according
to the deed, to Bostonian George Frost, Altamonte’s second generation
developer. Heirs of George Frost sold this acre lot in 1909, “including house
and furnishings.”
Residence at Lot 445, Altamonte Springs, FL
Altamonte Springs became part of Seminole
County in 1913. County records today lists the “actual or effective” date of
construction as 1920. But a home existed on this exact site in 1906 according
to deeds, and quite likely as early as 1887. Perhaps one day a researcher will provide
compelling evidence regarding the house sitting on Lot 445 today. Is the home
96 years old or perhaps 129 years old?
Beyond the structure itself, of special
interest to history was the 1887 owner of this land. Edwin Bradbury Haskell,
Editor-In-Chief of the Boston Herald, was also an investor in land at Sanford,
Lake Mary, Altamonte Springs, and Maitland – 4 of the first 7 stops on the
South Florida Railroad line.
“Although
individuals have located here and there, all over the county,” Orange Land of
1883, “the great majority have made their homes in the lovely strip of country
but a few miles wide that extends either side of the South Florida Railroad
from Sanford, on the south side of Lake Monroe, the natural gateway of the
county, to Orlando, the county seat, and a few miles beyond.”
South
Florida Railroad not only reshaped central Florida’s landscape, this first
train to Orlando made it possible for Orange County to prosper throughout the
1880s. Boston’s Edwin Haskell and partners understood the importance of their
railroad to the barren Orange County wilderness. Visionaries, they were indeed
the forefathers a new central Florida era – the golden age of CitrusLAND.
South
Florida Railroad rolled into Orlando the first time on November 11, 1880. Forty
years had passed since the first surveyors had followed the old forts trail
south from an old military pier on Lake Monroe. Throughout the course of these
40 years, pioneers wanting to settle the Orange County wilderness traversed an
old dirt trail, trekking 22 miles down a lonely path to reach the Orange County
seat.
Stay tuned, as a new RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST
TOWN or two, returns next Wednesday, July 6, 2016. This summer series is
sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains’ a Novel based on actual Central
Florida 19th century residents, and one tragic 1895 event that
forever changed CitrusLAND.
Kindle Unlimited members read the book FREE, but all summer
long, Central Florida Railroad Museum at Winter Garden, in association the
Winter Garden History Center, and Bookmark it Orlando book stores, have all priced
this book at a summer discounted price of $15.00. Explore central Florida’s
network of RAILS & TRAILS.
Richard Lee Cronin Author Page is now up and running at www.Goodreads.com. From now until July 28, you can register for the Goodreads FREE giveaway of 10 CitrusLAND: Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains Books.