On the night before CHRISTMAS (1871), after crossing the Atlantic and arriving at New York Harbor, John Otto Fries came south to Mellonville, on Lake Monroe’s south shore, a mile east of present-day SANFORD. Early the next morning he joined four others by climbing aboard a buckboard wagon belonging to Mr. George Lewis. Fries described his carriage: “A horse and a mule, harnessed largely with bits of rope, and an old lumber wagon on whose bed several small boxes were nailed down, to furnish seats for his passengers.”
Leaving Lake Monroe at 9 AM on CHRISTMAS morning, his sleigh-ride
followed a 30 years old sand rutted military trail, heading southbound. The
travelers arrived as the first town – a small village named Orlando, after
dark. Along the route, J. O. Fries said he saw only “one house and a little
store building at #Maitland.” That would have been the home and store of
Christopher Columbus Beasley, founder of Maitland.
Kena Fries, daughter of John Otto Fries
Author: Orlando of Long, Long Ago
A meticulous surveyor, John Otto Fries became witness to the
birth of central Florida’s Citrus-Belt firsthand. He was dedicated to his
craft, generating an abundance of detailed charts, maps and town plats. The
most precious of gifts John Otto Fries left for Central Florida was a
comprehensive 1890 Map of Orange County. Records produced by J. O. Fries
provide a priceless visual story of the origins of Central Florida.
His likeness IS uncanny - and yes, CitrusLANDfl does believe in
SANTA CLAUS!
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