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 5th 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:
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
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