The ORLANDO & WINTER PARK, No Dinky Line!

Often referred to as a ‘Dinky Line’ today, the intention of organizers of ‘Orlando and Winter Park Railroad (O&WP)’ was anything but building an insignificant railway. The official plat detailing an alignment for the O&WP Railroad was recorded in May, 1887, merely months before Florida’s Yellow Fever Epidemic, a minimal outbreak locally but having a serious impact on the State’s entire economy.

The Rogers House, East side of present day Lake Osceola

Winter Park, Florida

Despite the epidemic, Orlando & Winter Park Railroad survived under the guidance of Francis B. KNOWLES, one of three New Englanders most often mentioned as influential champions of early Winter Park development. Knowles was President of the railroad up until the time of his death in May, 1890.

Initially, the O&WP departed ORLANDO traveling on its own track alongside South Florida Railroad, arriving at its first railway station, FAIR OAKS, on Lake Ivanhoe. The second stop was ROWENA, near the present day intersection of Princeton & Highway 17-92. LAKE MABEL and BONNIE BURN were two additional stops prior to arriving at a Winter Park station adjacent to ROLLINS College, twenty-three minutes after the train had departed Orlando.       

Despite the railroad’s name, Winter Park was not the railroad’s terminus. The first plat details the railroad continuing on, following a serpentine route around the north side of Lake Virginia, snaking around to the south side of Lake Mizell, with one branch ending at the Historic Rogers House on the east side of Lake Sylvan at present day Aloma Ave. That stop was called OSCEOLA, the planned town that preceded Winter Park. A second branch line terminated for a brief time at LAKEMONT.

By 1890, Orange County Surveyor John O. Fries mapped the route of Orlando & Winter Park Railroad, showing the train continuing beyond Lakemont, all the way to OVIEDO, and then connecting further north to Lake Jesup.

The expansion eastward followed closely the path of George C. BRANTLEY”S earlier 1878 planned railroad, intended to run between Tuskawilla and Orlando. (Part 1 of this series).

And so by 1890, central Florida’s earliest railroads, it appears, had come full circle.

Following the death of Francis B. Knowles in 1890, trustees signed over the Orlando & Winter Park Railroad, on April 6, 1891, to East Florida and Atlantic Railroad. By 1920, Orange County Florida maps were still showing train service along this route, having stops at Winter Park, GOLDEN ROD, GABRIELLE, and Oviedo.

1920 Orange County, Florida map

THERE WILL BE NO BLOG NEXT WEDNESDAY, but RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or many, returns Wednesday, September 7, 2016, for the FINALE. Our summer series has been sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains,’ a novel based on true-life 19^th Century Central Florida pioneers.

All summer, Central Florida Railroad Museum, in historic Winter Garden, the Winter Garden History Center, and Bookmark it Orlando book stores, have priced this book at a Rails & Trails special price of $15.00.

ARRIVING SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 to Rick’s Blog:

Florida’s Forgotten Frontierswomen

Follow my Goodreads Author Page: Richard Lee Cronin www.Goodreads.com

Want to learn more about CitrusLAND? Visit www.CroninBooks.com. 

RAIL-ROAD MARY and the Town of BITHLO

Plans for an East Orange County metropolis known as BITHLO does not appear to be her idea, but there’s good reason to believe the town’s name was the idea of the one-time, “richest lady in the world!”

Rail-Road Mary of central Florida, as I have dubbed her, was certainly deserving of such a title, as well as the title, First Lady of BITHLO.

BITHLO 1925: THE CENTER OF FLORIDA'S MASTER TRIANGLE

As a named community, BITHLO does not appear to have existed prior to 1915. The earliest known recorded plat of Bithlo was in 1919, although the plat itself suggests some sort of town pre-dated its filing because it added to preexisting streets. William F. Blackman, author of the 1927 History of Orange County, states the town’s origin coincided with the “opening of the railroad.” The first train arrived in BITHLO around the year 1914.

Henry Flagler had announced plans for an ‘Okeechobee Branch’ of his Florida East Coast railroad in 1910, and began accumulating right-of-way agreements soon after. In 1911, Flagler obtained permission to cross land owned by William Vom Scheidt, acreage that later became the site of BITHLO. Recorded agreements filed by Flagler required that a train be running by January 1, 1914 to as far south as WEWAHOTEE, a rail stop south of PACATAW and the second stop south BITHLO.

Flagler’s Okeechobee railroad branch first train arrived at LAKE OKEECHOBEE, its southern terminus, September 14, 1914. It’s reasonable to conclude therefore that the train passed through BITHLO by no later than September of 1914.

But Henry Flagler, the railroad’s founder, had died May 20, 1913, and it was said that he was bedridden since March of 1913. A Sun Sentinel article, dated July 2, 1989, reports on the astonishing events following Henry Flagler’s death. His Widow, according to that article, Mary Kenan Flagler, became the owner of, “Florida East Coast Railroad, four million acres of land, eleven hotels and assets that included Florida Power & Light Company and the Miami Herald newspaper”.

Mary Kenan Flagler’s wealth as of 1914 has been estimated at $6 billion in present day currency. The Widow Mary Flagler lived until July, 1917. Between May, 1913 and her death in 1917, the railroad therefore, the first train arriving at BITHLO, was her train!

Mary’s railroad is now long gone, but Flagler’s Okeechobee Branch train, during its brief existence, allowed for the founding, by an Optic’s Doctor and an Orlando Dentist, to plat the town of BITHLO. A charter was issued in 1922 for the town, and on April 5^th of that same year the BITHLO Post Office opened. Between years 1921 and 1925, the Orlando based partners filed nine additional town plat revisions.

April 2, 1925, a full page advertisement for BITHLO tells of accomplishments for this east Orange County city. There were a total 6 ½ miles of paved streets, and developers were in the process of building a golf course. “More than 3,000” people from across America had already purchased lots in the town proclaimed to be the City with a Vision, serviced by Florida East Coast Railroad, and the new Cheney-Dixie Highway (now Highway 50), that was officially christened, December 31, 1924.

Land sales slowed beginning in 1925, and crashed in 1926. The final spike in Florida’s Great Land Boom coffin occurred after the Great Hurricane of 1926, having winds in excess of 125 mph, the storm killed 115 in Miami, destroyed 13,000 homes, and then travelled inland, causing a tidal wave at Lake Okeechobee that drowned as many as 300 inhabitants. Florida’s Land Bust and Hurricane of ‘26 was followed by the Market Crash of ‘29, and a Great Depression during the 1930’s.

A note, hand scribbled atop a page in Orange County’s 1935 Census, provides a brief yet accurate epitaph of the East Orange County community: “Bithlo Charter Surrendered.”

The Okeechobee Branch of Florida East Coast Railroad, like that of more than a dozen central Florida railroads, opened up a vast wilderness for development. Like the other railroads, this train left behind a remarkable heritage, including an interesting but long forgotten fact. Railroad stops at Bithlo, Pacataw and Wewahotee were established during the reign of Mary (KENAN) Flagler, while in Osceola County, the town of KENANSVILLE likewise owes its name to RAIL-ROAD MARY.   

Stay tuned for a new RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or two, returning Wednesday, August 17, 2016. This summer series is sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains,’ a historical novel based on real-life Central Florida pioneers, and the feature of this week’s RAILS & TRAILS blog.

WIN 1 of TEN FREE autographed copies of GHOST TOWNS & PHANTOM TRAINS at GOODREADS.com – winners to be drawn by Goodreads on August 27, 2016.

Enter Giveaway Here:

GOODREADS BOOK GIVEAWAY

This summer, Central Florida Railroad Museum, in historic Winter Garden, the Winter Garden History Center, and Bookmark it Orlando book stores, have each priced this book at a Rails & Trails special price of $15.00.

COMING THIS SEPTEMBER to Rick’s Blog:

Florida’s Forgotten Frontierswomen

Follow my Goodreads Author Page: Richard Lee Cronin www.Goodreads.com

Want to learn more about CitrusLAND? Visit www.CroninBooks.com.

The ORANGE BELT of Florida's CITRUS BELT

ORANGE BELT Railway personifies the fascinating story of 19^th century central Florida, a vast undeveloped land in 1880 that I have dubbed, CitrusLAND.

During this summer-long series, my RAILS & TRAILS Blog has been featuring more than a dozen independent railroad ventures between the years 1870 and 1890. Today they are all phantom trains, and yet each, during their brief existence, were largely responsible for many a place name central Floridians are familiar with today.

Regardless where you look, be it Bithlo, Chuluoto, Oviedo or Tuscawilla in the east; Astor, Clermont, Eustis, Montverde or Tavares in the far west; or Sanford, Lake Mary, Altamonte and Kissimmee in the central region; a vast majority of present day place names are traceable to enterprising dreamers, courageous individuals who dared to do the unimaginable, build a railroad.

In May of 1880, a soon to be Orange County newspaper editor walked to Orlando from Lake Monroe, a journey taking more than a day. Six months later, that November, passengers aboard the first central Florida train made the same journey in just over two hours. CitrusLAND is truly a testament to the best of American ingenuity.

If I had to choose one specific railroad to embody the amazing story of CitrusLAND, the railroad I would choose would be the Orange Belt Railway.

Florida's Orange Belt Railway

Founded in 1886 by a Russian immigrant, Orange Belt Railway was among the last of all CitrusLAND trains established. Three short years after its inaugural run, the founder, visionary Peter A. DEMENS, was suddenly threatened with lynching and run of town.

Still, the Orange Belt Railway chugged on. The founder’s dream, to open a vast portion of west Orange County, had been shared, albeit somewhat secretively, by others who believed in the Peter Demens venture. Supporters included some of the most prominent bankers, businessmen and railroad builders from the North. But even after Demens left town, those enormously successful Northerners were unable to work their magic here in America’s 19^th century Paradise. Mother Nature wouldn’t allow them!

The American spirit remained alive and well though throughout the 1880s, and that spirit could be seen all along the route of the Orange Belt Railway.

Southwest of Sanford today, residents and golfers alike enjoy a body of water inside the exclusive community of Heathrow called ISLAND LAKE. But the story of this magical lake began long before Heathrow, and its real story had long been forgotten.

Long, long ago, at a time when women rarely ventured into the world of business, a gal named Mary Lambert, an exceptionally courageous Pennsylvania lady, also dared to do the unthinkable in the 3,000 square mile wilderness of central Florida. A single woman, Mary first planted a 200 acre orange grove, large by every standard of her day.

On June 17, 1886, Mary became Postmistress of her Island Lake Post Office. A year later, in 1887, she platted her very own city, a town that included a public lakeside park, accessed via, “Boulevard around the Lake.’ She named her town, ISLAND LAKE.

Island Lake, 1887 Orange County, Florida

Central Florida place names of Sylvan Lake; Paola; Island Lake; Glen Ethel; Altamont spelled without an E; Forest City; Lakeville; Crown Point; Winter Garden; Oakland and Killarney, were once all Orange County towns, cities served by Orange Belt Railway.

Before being run out of town, Peter A. Demens had extended his railroad to the Gulf of Mexico, and there he incorporated a new town, a city he named for a historic Russian city back in his homeland – St. Petersburg, Russia.

All along the 19^th century route of Orange Belt Railway dreamers had become doers. A failed Indianapolis banker, for example, started over at a place he named Hoosier Springs, later to be Sanlando Springs, today a residential community called ‘The Springs’.

Next door to Hoosier Springs was Altamont, spelled without an ‘E’. Founded by a New Yorker, Widow Elizabeth Saunders moved her sick son to this tiny railroad town, and then bought the town. Elizabeth expanded and renamed her town Palm Springs, to eliminate confusion with nearby Altamonte – a town spelled with an E.

An Ohio department store founder also established a city on the Orange Belt Railway line, giving his town the nickname of his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio – Forest City.

Today, much of Orange Belt Railway’s route is a trail system. Most towns along the old railroad are now Ghost Towns, and yet one can still sense, simply by walking the trails today, the spirit of brave souls who dared to a dream into reality.

Standing on the corner of busy Markham Woods Road & SR 434, imagine a young Virginia lad named Arthur Smyth, working alongside his cousin and partner, Allen MacDowell Smyth, a native of Nottinghamshire, England. Envision two cousins, boxing oranges there in the middle of this present day busy intersection, where in 1886, two independent railroads crossed, here in Palm Springs town center. The Smyth cousins had one of three packing houses at these railroad crossroads.

After the fruit picking season ended, the two Smyth Cousins then boarded a train, with their oranges, heading off to peddle produce not only in the North, but also by crossing the Atlantic aboard steamships, selling Florida citrus in Strasburg, Germany; Paris, France; and London, England. The cousins then returned to central Florida, preparing for yet another picking and packing season.

Oranges and railroads played huge roles in shaping the central Florida you know today. 

Promoted as America’s Paradise of the 19^th century, its story, this region’s heritage, lies beneath our feet every time we utilizes central Florida’s exceptional trail systems.

Of all Orange County towns on the line founded by Peter A. Demens in the 19^th century, only ONE still has a historic railroad depot standing alongside today’s phantom track. That town is Winter Garden, home actually to two railroad depots, both of which are museums today, part of the renowned Winter Garden Heritage Foundation.

The museums of Winter Garden should be on everyone’s must-see list of places to visit.

Stay tuned for a new RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or two, returning Wednesday, August 17, 2016. This summer series is sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains,’ a historical novel based on real-life Central Florida pioneers, and the feature of this week’s RAILS & TRAILS blog.

WIN 1 of TEN FREE autographed copies of GHOST TOWNS & PHANTOM TRAINS at GOODREADS.com – winners to be drawn by Goodreads on August 27, 2016.

This summer, Central Florida Railroad Museum, in historic Winter Garden, the Winter Garden History Center, and Bookmark it Orlando book stores, have each priced this book at a Rails & Trails special price of $15.00.

COMING THIS SEPTEMBER to Rick’s Blog:

Florida’s Forgotten Frontierswomen

Follow my Goodreads Author Page: Richard Lee Cronin www.Goodreads.com

Want to learn more about CitrusLAND? Visit www.CroninBooks.com. 

TAVARES FIRE SPREADS, and a Tug & Grunt Railroad folds!

A FLORIDA TOWN NEARLY WIPED OUT BY FIRE: Last week’s installment of this 2016 Summer Series told of litigation resulting from an April 9, 1888 fire, a lawsuit that exposed historical facts about three (3) TAVARES trains, each operated by a consortium known as Peninsular Land, Transportation & Mfg. Co.

Now an exceptional Winter Garden railroad museum, this building once received passengers and freight for the Tavares & Gulf Railroad.

The 1888 fire started when a spark from a train’s engine destroyed a locomotive owned by Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railroad. The damaged locomotive however was but a tiny part of a tragedy that struck Tavares that April 1888 morning.

“Jacksonville, April 10, 1888: Sparks from a railroad engine set fire to a saloon at TAVARES, and the entire building was quickly in flames. A strong west wind prevailed and the fire spread rapidly, and building after building succumbed. By noon every business block but two was in ashes. Among those burned were the PENINSULAR HOTEL, two other hotels, the Tavares Bank, Post Office and DEPOT. No fire apparatus was in the place, nor any means to fight the flames, and the dry buildings burned like so much tinder. Twenty firms were burned out, and the loss will be fully $180,000.” Fort Worth, Texas Gazette, April 11, 1888.

Tavares, central Florida’s land based railroad hub, still reeling from Florida’s horrific nightmare of 1887, was completely destroyed by the fire of 1888. Largely uninsured, a dream city first envisioned by Alexander St. Clair Abrams, would never fully recover.

Abrams was a resident of Orlando as well as a Lake Eustis landowner at the birth of central Florida’s railroad boom. While Boston investors began laying down track to run from the port town of Sanford to the county seat at Orlando, dreamers such as Alexander St. Clair Abrams had gone to work planning their very own trains. One of three planned by Abrams began as the Tavares, Orlando & Atlantic Railroad.

Florida’s third largest body of water, Lake Apopka, was centrally located between Orlando and Tavares, and the Abrams group plan was to run two of their three railroads along both the east and west shore of that lake.

The Tavares, Orlando & Atlantic Railroad intended to connect their land based hub at Tavares with Titusville, on the Atlantic coast. A plan for a second train, originally named Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad, was to link Tavares with the Gulf of Mexico.

Fondly nicknamed Tug & Grunt in later years, the Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad was organized October 10, 1881, and seems to have been cursed from its outset. During its early years, towns of ASTATULA, WEST APOPKA (later FERNDALE), MONTVERDE, MOHAWK, and MINNEOLA were each established along the west shore of Lake Apopka. Planned to enter CLERMONT, the train was to continue westbound to the Gulf of Mexico.

Now referred to as FERNDALE, this one-time WEST APOPKA Ghost Town on served by the Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad.

The TA&G advanced south from Tavares very slowly, and by the time it reached Clermont, existing track belonging to a competitor skirted the shoreline of Lake Minneola. Having been denied permission to cross their competitor’s track, the train was denied access to Clermont, and ended its westward push toward the Gulf of Mexico at this point.

Between Montverde and Mohawk, WAITS JUNCTION was established, allowing the TA&G to change its course, and head east into Orange County. The change in direction set sights on the up and coming Osceola County town of KISSIMMEE CITY.

By 1887, as stories of Florida’s Yellow Fever Epidemic began spreading in the North, the Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad was planning a route to pass through KILLARNEY, OAKLAND, and the brand new town of CRESTON, before proceeding to Kissimmee.

Yellow Fever cast a dark cloud over Florida, and resulted in many newly founded Citrus Belt towns becoming Ghost Towns. One railroad after another began to fail. The fever scare still afflicted the State’s economy on the day the locomotive spark ignited a fire that burned most all of TAVARES to the ground.

By 1890, while in receivership, the failed Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad was purchased by a 79 year old New Yorker, Peter A. H. JACKSON. Sons Henry and Stephen managed the railroad, extending track from OAKLAND into WINTER GARDEN, and changing its name to Tavares & Gulf Railroad.

Track was eventually extended to OCOEE, and the Tavares & Gulf Railroad continued operating well into the 20^th century, although all too often jumping track.

Stay tuned for a new RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or two, returning Wednesday, August 10, 2016. This summer series is sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains,’ a historical novel based on real-life Central Florida pioneers, and one historic 1894-95 devastating event that forever changed the Orange Belt.

WIN 1 of TEN FREE autographed copies of GHOST TOWNS & PHANTOM TRAINS at GOODREADS.com – winners to be drawn by Goodreads on August 27, 2016.

This summer, Central Florida Railroad Museum, in historic Winter Garden, the Winter Garden History Center, and Bookmark it Orlando book stores, have each priced this book at a Rails & Trails special price of $15.00.

COMING THIS FALL to CroninBooks.Com - an entirely NEW Mystery, an entirely NEW Genre! Watch for details: http://www.croninbooks.com/MYSTIQUE.html OR follow my Goodreads Author Page: Richard Lee Cronin www.Goodreads.com

Care to know more about CitrusLAND? Visit www.CroninBooks.com.