ORLANDO'S OAK RIDGE?

Was there a Ridge of Oaks in South Orange County? 

Central Floridians by the thousands drive or cross OAK RIDGE ROAD in South Orange County daily, yet none ever get to view the real Oak Ridge. A key east-west artery, Oak Ridge Road crosses four major roadways: Orange Avenue (Route 527); South Orange Blossom Trail US 441); John Young Parkway (Route 423; as well as world famous, International Drive.

Any one of the four major north-south crossroads would provide a perfect dividing line for separating East Oak Ridge from West, but instead, the division occurs at Jason Street. A lesser-known north-south artery, connecting Lancaster Road with Oak Ridge Road, why choose Jason Street as the east-west division point for Oak Ridge Road?

East of Jason Street, Oak Ridge ends at Pine Castle. West of Jason, Oak Ridge crosses busy South Orange Blossom Trail. If you were to head southbound on Orange Blossom Trail, after a mile or so, you would come to yet another busy intersection at Sand Lake Road. Florida Mall can be found there, as well as a fascinating mystery of central Florida history.

Barely noticeable on the northwest corner of busy Sand Lake Road and Orange Blossom Trail is Oak Ridge Cemetery, a historic graveyard that is located a mile and a half to the south of Oak Ridge Road. A fascinating mystery? Oak Ridge Cemetery appears on a 1953 Orange County Oak Ridge Manor Plat as fronting on Oak Ridge Road!

1953 “Existing” Oak Ridge Cemetery on Oak Ridge Road.

Beyond Gatlin; Exhibit 73 of 97

Two logical starting places in my search for a Ridge of Oaks became Jason Street and the 1953 Oak Ridge Cemetery.

Orange County Commissioners, I learned, had a field day in the 1950s changing street names. “Oakridge Road” was changed January 20, 1958, to “McCoy Road.” One section of McCoy, closer to McCoy Airport (now OIA), still exists. But closer to Orange Blossom Trail, that Oakridge was changed, twice, later becoming Sand Lake Road. 

At year end 1953 though, the road out front of Oak Ridge Cemetery was known as Oak Ridge Road, as evidenced by the above plat..

On April 13, 1930 a census taker noted that Ralph & Ada Macy lived on Oakridge Road over in Pinecastle (both place names written as one word). Another fascinating mystery of central Florida history, Orange County Commissioners changed, in 1955, nearly every existing street name in the old Town of Pine Castle. Macy Street officially became Oak Ridge Road! Odd, that a quarter century after the 1930 census taker’s notation, Orange County had finally made the name change official.

First laid out in 1884, the northernmost road in Pine Castle was Macy Street, named by town founder Clement R. Tiner for early resident and Macy Hotel founders, William & Martha Macy.

Attorney William R. Anno doubled in size Clement Tiner’s town the very same year, adding 80 acres toward the west. Three north-south streets were laid out by Anno in 1884: West Avenue; Maud Avenue; and Blanch Avenue.

Orange County Commissioners again went to work on August 16, 1955 changing names. They changed West Avenue to Anno Avenue; Maud, a street that had been named for Anno’s daughter, became Dumont. Blanch Avenue, also named for a daughter of W. R. Anno, became – Jason Street. Today, 100 East Oak Ridge, the first parcel on East Oak Ridge Road, is described in legal terms as: Lot 4; Block 4 of W. R. Anno’s Add to Pine Castle.

North portion of W. R. Anno’s Add to Pine Castle

Beyond Gatlin, Exhibit 72 of 97

In my book, Beyond Gatlin, A History of South Orange County, The Oak Ridge is one of 26 Chapters detailing the many challenges and misfortunes of early settlers in the remote wilderness south of Orlando. “Oak Ridge the name traces to June 15, 1903,” as I state on page 178; “although likely existed even before that date. F. A. Adden deeded 70 square yards, identifying the one acre parcel as the present corner of Oak Ridge Cemetery.” The property changed hands four times during one decade, so that between 1893 and 1903, the story of this historic place was nearly lost, for one land speculator after another sold the property, first acquired for unpaid taxes.

The fascinating story of the Oak Ridge was not entirely lost though. Chapter 26 traces the origin of Willis & Avey (Ava, Arey) Tiner's Homestead. A brother of Pine Castle founder Clement, Willis Tiner relocated west from Pine Castle, following the “present very old road,” shown above Lot 4; Block 4 of W. R. Anno’s Addition (see above), a road shown on a 1890 map as veering sharply south, toward a ridge of trees. The family settled on 80 acres in the early 1880s, but then Willis died, March 19, 1885, leaving behind a Widow and eight (8) small children.

“Between two beautiful lakes and projecting into a third,” central Florida’s Fort Gatlin, established in 1838, became the hub for settlements south of Orlando. BEYOND GATLIN is the history of true-life courageous pioneers, hardy men and women who endured an endless barrage of challenges to establish the 19^th century settlements of: Kissimmee City; Shingle Creek; Pine Castle; Mackinnon; Troy; Gatlin; Conway; Campbell City; Runnymede; and 20^th century communities of Taft; Prosper Colony; Edgewood; and Belle Isle.

BEYOND GATLIN also goes in search of the real Fort Davenport, the ridge of Oaks, the naming of Lake Jessamine, and much more. 97 Exhibits, and a detailed bibliography, support this first-ever history of how South Orange County and Osceola County came to be.

BEYOND GATLIN, now available now at Amazon.com - visit my Amazon book page for a closer look: 

https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Gatlin-Orange-Florida-History/dp/1977714730/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507043881&sr=8-1&keywords=Beyond+Gatlin

Further details at www.CroninBooks.com