Sister City Series Part 1: Bloomfield of Lake County, Florida

BLOOMFIELD of Lake County, Florida

Sister City: RICHMOND of Wayne County, Indiana

 "One-half mile south of the lake (Harris) on a pretty knoll"

One Lake County deed of 28 June 1888, describing land auctioned at the courthouse, gave the location of the first Lake county courthouse as “Bloomfield”. A Sumter County “place” at the time Lake County was formed in 1887, a Bloomfield Post Office had opened three years prior, on April 21, 1884. Merchant William D. Mendenhall served as the first Postmaster.

A ghost town now, Bloomfield was at times confused with nearby Yalaha. But unlike towns Parkland and Yalaha, each founded ON Lake Harris, Bloomfield was “one-half mile south of the lake on a pretty knoll.” The knoll where Bloomfield once existed is still a pretty knoll today (see photo above) – a grassy slope rising from Lake Margaretta to the 1880s homestead of William Dulin Mendenhall (1829-1900).

Complicating my initial search for Bloomfield is existence of Bloomfield Avenue. One mile east of Mendenhall’s homestead and the 1882 town of Bloomfield he founded, the town over time expanded east, toward what is now Bloomfield Avenue, after additions by William P. Tillman and Joseph Hutchison. By the year 1884, Bloomfield consisted of “3 stores, a hotel, 2 saw-mills, a cabinet shop, and the handsomest post office in the county.”

Intersection of Bloomfield Avenue and Number Two Road, southeast of Mendenhall Homestead.

Mendenhall’s “pretty knoll” is accessed today via Number Two Road off Highway 48. The road curves first around Lake Margaretta before coming to appropriately named, ‘Gospel Hill Road.” This side road leads up to the crest of the one-time Mendenhall homestead. Continuing on Number Two Road eventually turns east and intersects with Bloomfield Avenue (intersection sign above).

All seven members of the Mendenhall family visited their hometown of Richmond, IN in 1889, where they attended the Whitewater Quaker Meeting. Town of Richmond had been founded by Quakers in 1806, and Mendenhall’s had long been residents before moving to Florida. Quakers, it seems, also had a number of connections with “Bloomfield” place names in the north.

The first meeting of Lake County Commissioners was held “August 2, 1887 at Bloomfield. The building in which they met was described in county archives as “long, narrow, and known as the Mendenhall Store.” A temporary Lake County courthouse opened in a house that “had been the residence of J. W. Hanner, Jr.” The Reverend J. W. Hanner, Jr. (1840-1907) had relocated in 1887 to Montverde, explaining why the house at Bloomfield was available.

Mendenhall Homestead south of Lake Margaretta. H. H. Duncan's homestead adjoined the lake to the east (right above). 

Mendenhall’s homestead adjoined the homestead of Henry H. Duncan. In 1887, Duncan, most often mentioned as associated with Yalaha, was a member of the State House representing Sumter County. He then became Lake County Clerk of Court, at Bloomfield and later Tavares, serving in that position for 33 years.

William Dulin Mendenhall is buried at Yalaha Cemetery. His wife, Ann Elizabeth (Warner) Mendenhall died in 1939 and is buried at Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Bloomfield existed beyond the death of its founder in 1900, but fell victim to Florida’s land bust of the 1920s. Care to know more? The transition from Bloomfield to Tavares is part pf my book, ‘Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County’, available at Amazon.

Our next 'Sister City' Blog will be Clermont, Florida and her Sister City

The holidays are quickly approaching. Why not give a lasting gift for the history buff in your family - Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County.

Perfect companions: First Road to Orlando; Beyond Gatlin; Orlando Lakes; The Rutland Mule Matter; CitrusLAND: Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains. Visit my CroninBooks.com website for details on each. 

Buy the Tavares book at Amazon by clicking on my book cover above.