PINE CASTLE ORIGINS

Historic MELLONVILLE Road tunnels beneath timeless oaks a mile east of modern day SANFORD, Florida. Beginning at the road’s origin on Lake Monroe, driving south a little more than a mile will bring you to RANDOLPH Street, a rather inconspicuous intersection today, where one is hard pressed to comprehend that they are actually at the hub of 170 years of intriguing Florida history.

Mellonville Road at old Fort Reid

A FORT REID intersection, in the 1840s, met here at this location of RANDOLPH Street and old Fort MELLON to Fort GATLIN Road, the 28 mile trail ending where fortress GATLIN was originally established in 1838. Fortress GATLIN stood along the west shore of a lake known today as LAKE GEM MARY, originally named in the 1870s by William M. RANDOLPH for his wife, MARY E. (PITTS) RANDOLPH.

Continuing south beyond old Fortress GATLIN, tracing the western shoreline of Lakes GATLIN and CONWAY for yet another mile, one again arrives at another road named RANDOLPH. At this 1891 crossroads, RANDOLPH intersects with WALLACE Ave on the one-time homestead belonging to William Wallace HARNEY, builder of a home fronting on Lake CONWAY that he named the PINE CASTLE.

HARNEY’S residence led to the naming of a nearby Post Office, established in 1879. The pine residence was also the inspiration for an adjacent town, founded in 1884. The town hub of 1884 PINE CASTLE is not so easily discernable today, but the center was not far from the present day intersection of South Orange Avenue and Oak Ridge Road, the location of a 70 year presence of PINE CASTLE WOMAN’S CLUB.

One added note of interest. The land upon which the Pine Castle Woman's Club now stands was once owned by Mary E. RANDOLPH.

William & Mary (PITTS) RANDOLPH are but two of the earliest amazing pioneers who settled in CitrusLAND and played roles in shaping a central Florida landscape we know and love today. I am honored to present, Sunday, March 12, 2017, for the Pine Castle Woman’s Club, GATLIN vis-à-vis PINE CASTLE – the true story of how a secluded South Orange County town came to be. 

Free and open to the public, this event begins at 3 PM. Then, Rick’s FREE Blog will follow that very special event with additional insights of an intriguing land south of Orlando. 

Stay tuned for a history packed MARCH and APRIL of Blogs, concluding with a very special Blog: THE REAL MCKINNON!