MOUNT DORA: The First Mount Dorans - Part TWO

 

The first Mount Dorans – Part 2

 

City Hall, inspired by the historic ‘Guller House’

Perhaps he went next door to borrow a cup of sugar from a neighbor, but however John met Annie, the two married in 1882. John Donnelly and Annie Stone became neighbors the month she sold ten acres of her 1878 homestead in June of 1881. Annie’s homestead became Mount Dora, and 13^th Avenue of today was the north boundary line of her property. John P. Donnelly bought the land on the north side of 13^th Avenue, closing on that purchase June 4, 1881.

Unlike Annie’s choice property, Donnelly’s land did not have Lake Dora frontage. His land did however border the Hawley property to the east, namesake of Mount Dora’s original north-south Hawley Street. In 1882, Hawley Street became the east line of the newly established town of Mount Dora. The street name changed to Tremain soon after the death of pioneer Ross C. Tremain (1841-1912).

As late as 1920, Sanborn Insurance Company surveys referenced “Hawley Street”, but then, the Mount Dora City Directory of 1924 listed the resident at the “southwest corner of 5^th Avenue and Tremain” as Albert & Amy Waltz (see below exhibit). In survey lingo, this could also be called the “Northeast corner of Section 31” – where our westbound 5^th Avenue walk begins.

Mount Dora 1926 City Directory

Albert J. Waltz was described in 1924 as Chamber of Commerce President and Mount Dora Mayor. Waltz, “a valued citizen” said Mount Dora Topic when reporting his death in 1954, had been a prominent citizen throughout his four decades as a Mount Doran. A home builder prior to leaving Medina, Ohio, the Waltz family came to Mount Dora in 1911. His obituary described him as a builder who had “constructed many of the city’s residences and business buildings and established the Mount Dora Builders Supply company.” His A. J. Waltz Company, in 1926, was awarded the job to expand the historic Lakeside Inn – Florida’s oldest continuous operating hotel today. Albert was also a charter member of the Mount Dora Historical Society.

To the west of the Waltz residence, at the corner of 5^th & Baker, stood the original Methodist Church of Mount Dora (see 1895 photo below, courtesy the Methodist website). Organized in 1882 with twelve members, the members first worshiped at the schoolhouse according to a history of the Mount Dora Methodists published in 1940. The church building as shown was begun in 1883, but construction was slow, and the membership finally dedicated the new organ in 1888. The church was reportedly completed finally in 1896, and in 1912, the year the Albert Waltz moved in next door, electric lights were added in the church building. (Albert was also said to be active in the Methodist Church).

Sanborn Insurance Company survey of 1920 at right above 

August 1940 saw the final church service at 5^th and Baker, and subject to requirements of the property buyer, demolition began the following day. Sunoco Gas Station, opened in 1941, was run first by E. C. Frost prior to being acquired later in 1941 by James E. Avery.

America became involved in the World War that year, and within a few years, a young Naval Petty Officer attached with the First Marines landed on Guadalcanal. “He is a survivor of three torpedoed vessels and was also wounded while on Guadalcanal,” reported Mount Dora Topic of September 20, 1945. Twice he received a Presidential citation before returning to the States for medical care. “He liked Mount Dora when he passed through the town from hospital to hospital and stopped overnight at cabins.” After being all around the world, Petty Officer Jerry Morgan chose Mount Dora to live, and in September 1945, acquired the Sunoco Station at the corner of 5^th and Baker.

Today, Sun Bank occupies land where once stood Jerry Morgan’s Sunoco Station. The bank also sits on land where once stood the home of Mount Dora Mayor, Albert J. Waltz.

Sanborn Insurance 1912 survey of Mount Dora Town Block 60 and 61

Block 60 is currently Donnelly Park in downtown Mount Dora

Mayor Waltz would have had a short commute since City Hall sat across 5^th Avenue from his residence. Remembered historically as the Guller House, Mount Dora City Hall occupied one of the first homes ever built in John & Annie Donnelly’s town of Mount Dora.

Henry Guller (1847-1919) had been an 1880 neighbor of Annie Stone and John Donnelly. In fact, the Donnelly’s sale to Henry Guller occurred so early in the organization of the city that the parcel was not described by a lot number. Filed at Orange County, the parcel was instead described as the: “SE ¼ of the SE ¼ of the SE ¼ of SE ¼ of Section 30”, less a right of way allowance on each of the four sides for public roads. The Guller House today is known simply as located in “Block 61” (Note 1912 survey of Guller House with "Windmill" in Block 61 above).

Like that of the old Methodist Church of 1940, City Hall, aka Guller House, was also demolished.  A new City Hall, “similar in style and appeal,” wrote Jacqueline Bowman in 1964, was dedicated April 13, 1964. The new City Hall incorporated into its design the original Guller House columns.

Mount Dora City Hall, Then and Now

  

Today, Mount Dora City Hall continues to grace the entire north side of 5th Avenue, or Block 61, across from Block 1, but City Hall faces Baker Street, in a block long used as a gathering spot for Mount Dorans. Thousands had gathered here, reported the Mount Dora Topic of November 7, 1929, the prior Saturday evening – there to enjoy the first annual Mount Dora Halloween Frolic. “The Parade began,” said the newspaper, “on Baker Street in front of City Hall.”

Cited as “the most unique and comical entry” in the Halloween Parade was a 1914 vintage Ford “carrying two tin-can tourists from the frozen North to the glorious sunshine in Florida.”

Reality of the stock market crash of only a few days prior had yet to register among those who attended the Baker Street festivities, and Baker Street is also where we will gather next, in Part Three of, The first Mount Dorans.

This series was created from research generated while writing my book, Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County. Chapter 26 of my book is MOUNT DORA: The Eastern Gateway. 

CLICK ON BOOK COVER TO BUY IT AT AMAZON

 Lake County, established May 27, 1887, was carved from portions of Orange and Sumter counties. The Legislature had defined borders but allowed the 2,200 plus registered voters to decide where to place the county seat. Four elections and a courthouse battle later, Tavares, on August 10, 1888, finally became the official seat. The selection process lasted 440 days from start to finish.

TAVARES: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake county, is a history of how Florida's Great Lake region transitioned from a wilderness into a vibrant Citrus Belt district. Amazing pioneers dared to dream big - dared to imagine such places as Leesburg, Lady Lake, Mount Dora, Montverde, Eldorado, Eustis, Umatilla, Astor, Clermont, Yalaha and Tavares, to name a few. A section on each place name will be found in this book.

RATED 5 STARS from Four Amazon verified readers, this is a story of triumph over tragedy; of homesteaders becoming town builders; of steamboats and railroads forging a new homeland, and of remarkable men and women who made it happen. There is even a touch of mystery and intrigue.

The story of the earliest days of settlement of Florida's Lake County, a history you can buy now at Amazon simply by clicking on the book cover above.

MOUNT DORA: The first Mount Dorans - Part One

Enchanting Mount Dora, Florida

Much has been written of the origin of enchanting Mount Dora, but how accurate are the traditional beliefs about Lake County’s charming village along the east shore of Lake Dora? Today, a leisure stroll of 1583 feet can provide many surprising answers about the FIRST Mount Doran’s, and so I invite you to join me on just such a stroll - a walk of 1583 feet along 5th Avenue in downtown Mount Dora. I will even do the walking, so all you need do is sit back, relax, and enjoy reading about 175 years of Mount Dora's fascinating history. And awaiting us at the end of this southbound 5^th Avenue stroll is a true story that is bound to astonish you.

First steps of the FIRST Mount Doran:

Our walk begins at a place which will seem, at first, an unlikely starting point. None-the-less, to fully appreciate the town’s real origin, our walk of 1,538 feet needs to commence at the crossroads of 5^th Avenue & Hawley Street. If you do not recognize the latter street name it is because the road now goes by the name, Tremain Street.

There are no retail stores to be found at this intersection, and the oldest existing structure here was not built until 1940. Still, 5^th & Hawley is vital to the telling of Mount Dora’s history, for the area’s first-ever recorded footsteps occurred at this exact spot. Here? Yes, here!

“I began at the northeast corner of Section 31” was the exact sentence penned 173 years ago by Surveyor James M. Gould. Believe me, I have no intention of making a land surveyor out of you, but the importance of Gould’s 1848 notation cannot be overstated in its relationship to the founding of a town 33 years later. The exact spot Surveyor Gould was writing about in 1848 is now the intersection of 5^th Avenue & Tremain Street. And you need not rely merely on my word for that fact.

The Lake County Property Appraiser identifies each corner of 5^th & Tremain as located in a different "Survey Section”. The northwest corner, says the Appraiser, is in Section 30, whereas the northeast corner is in Section 29. A law office on the southeast corner is, according to the County appraiser, in Section 30, while the bank on the southwest corner is in Section 31. To be more specific, the bank is in “the northeast corner of Section 31.” I've added a survey of the four corners below, which I'll get to in a moment. 

Surveyor James Gould, in 1848, added that after starting at the northeast corner of Section 31, he then began walking “23.30 chains,” the equivalent of 1,537.8 feet, due west to “Lake Dora.” If one desired to duplicate Gould’s walk today, as I plan to do in this series, it would be relatively easy – walk west – downhill -on 5^th Avenue until you reach the Lake Dora shoreline.

Of importance is this: the Survey completed in 1848 became the source for writing a homestead deed thereafter. In fact, thirty-four years after Surveyor Gould wrote of the northeast corner of Section 31, a different surveyor, paid to stake out a new town, identified this same spot as “Block One of the Town of Mount Dora.” A square known as Block One today is nearly identical to Block One of 1882. The only significant difference is Baker Street of today was Hawley Street back in 1882.

You now know where our 5^th Avenue stroll begins. Remote wilderness in 1848, our walk of 1,537.8 feet today heads west to Lake Dora, but all along the way is a rich history of the earliest days of this town. This series intends to share that history, and then, upon reaching the lake, I will challenge the validity of the traditional “legend” about the naming of Lake Dora.

Annie – the SECOND Mount Doran:

Land west of 5^th Avenue & Tremain Street, prior to the town of Mount Dora being established, belonged to one of the bravest frontierswomen of 19^th century central Florida. Her name was Annie Stone, and in 1880, it did not matter if you looked north, south, or west from today’s intersection of 5^th & Donnelly, you would still be gazing on Annie Stone’s Homestead of 182 lakeside acres.

Talk about a lady worthy of recognition during Women's History Month!

It was Annie, not John P. Donnelly, who established a town at this location. Annie Stone’s town however was named Glencoe. Now, I realize such a statement is contrary to traditional history, but then, such is often the case when it comes to researching central Florida’s true history. 

And I do not expect you to accept my historical version as accurate without proving such a claim.

1848 survey versus Annie Stone Homestead of 1878-1883

So, first, allow me to remove all doubt about my claim, a task easily accomplished. My exhibit above shows James Gould’s survey of 1848 twice. The left side is the survey as James Gould sketched it. The right side has a few notations to assist in better understanding his document. 

My red arrow above points to where the intersection of 5^th & Tremain is today. Note how Sections 29, 30, 31 and 32 converge at this spot. Section 29, northeast of the intersection, is shown to be one mile by one mile, as is Section 32 below it. Sections 30 and 31 both have less than a square mile of landmass, that is because of Lake Dora.

James Gould’s survey of 1848 was used as reference in 1883 to write a homestead deed to Annie E. Stone after she had completed a five-year residency requirement, which places Annie Stone on the lakeshore of Lake Dora as of 1878. Using the 1848 survey, Annie was deeded the land I outlined in orange, property described as being the south half Section 30, and all of the landmass in Section 31 of Township 19 South, Range 27 East.

The line dividing Section 30 and 31 on Gould’s survey became Mount Dora’s 5^th Avenue in 1882.

Annie Stone herself wrote a deed June 30, 1881 for a sale of part of her homestead. That deed has the following language: “Block #23 in Section 30, Township 19 South of Range 27 East, in the town plat of Glencoe as laid out on Mrs. Annie Stone’s Homestead in Orange County.” (As of 1881, Mount Dora was still part of Orange County).

After selling a small parcel of her homestead in 1881, Annie married John P. Donnelly, and in March 1882, newlyweds John & Annie Donnelly issued another deed having this language: “In a plat of a village on the Homestead of said Annie E. Stone in Section 30, Township 19 South of Range 27 East.” 

On the exhibit above, the Section 30 number is circled in red for your convenience in locating. 

Fast forward to present day, and 13^th Avenue is the north boundary of Annie’s Stone’s 19^th century homestead. To the south, historic Lakeside Inn, built in 1883, occupies part of Annie’s original 182 acres. Annie owned nearly one mile of Lake Dora shoreline when she married John P. Donnelly, the one pioneer most often cited as founder of Mount Dora.

“Her residence and grove are nearly a half mile north of Mount Dora,” said a traveling reporter in 1882 in describing the home of newlywed Mrs. Donnelly, “but stands on ground high above the water, and the path from house to lake is a perfect little Eden of trees, vines, and moss a la nature.” This was the original home Annie Stone, not the historic Donnelly House of Mount Dora built on Donnelly Street in 1893. The original wharf was described as being near Lakeside Inn, so a half mile north would place her residence north of 5th Avenue.  

Annie (McDonald) Stone – Donnelly (1849-1908)

Born 1849 at Wood County, Ohio, Annie McDonald first married William Stone. After the birth in 1856 of Nellie, a daughter, the Stone family relocated to Louisville, Kentucky, where William worked as a railroad clerk. By 1880, Annie was divorced and residing on her homestead at Lake Dora, while a nearby neighbor, John P. Donnelly, had just settled on his land.

Lake Dora of 1880 was not easily reached. The nearest train was at Fort Mason, and the first train had finally arrived that spring. It was a long difficult 1881 land journey from Fort Mason to Annie Stone's Glencoe, but then, in 1882, the Dora Canal was dredged. Larger steamboats could navigate the canal to reach the new town of Tavares, and Lake Dora introduced travelers as well to Glencoe – aka Mount Dora.

Fifth and Tremain 

Intersection of 5th & Tremain Street, Mount Dora

And so, as we look west from the crossroads of 5^th & Tremain, aka 5^th & Hawley of 1882, we now know our downhill westbound stroll will be crossing land first owned by Annie (McDonald) Stone, an amazing 19^th century frontierswoman, and mother of a child not yet a teen when she first arrived in the wilderness of western Orange County. The same property, in 1882, became jointly owned by Annie’s groom, Mr. John P. Donnelly of Pennsylvania.

It is time to get moving, and as there is no better way to be greeted at any town than by the Mayor and or Chamber of Commerce President, this will be our greeting in the next segment of this series. One and the same, a Mount Dora Mayor and Chamber President lived here at the southwest corner of 5^th and Tremain. A bank is here now, where James Gould began his walk west in 1848, and where we will begin our walk wet when The First Mount Dorans resumes in Part 2.

This series was created from research generated while writing my book, Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County. Chapter 26 of my book is MOUNT DORA: The Eastern Gateway. 

CLICK ON BOOK COVER TO BUY IT AT AMAZON

 Lake County, established May 27, 1887, was carved from portions of Orange and Sumter counties. The Legislature had defined borders but allowed the 2,200 plus registered voters to decide where to place the county seat. Four elections and a courthouse battle later, Tavares, on August 10, 1888, finally became the official seat. The selection process lasted 440 days from start to finish.

TAVARES: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake county, is a history of how Florida's Great Lake region transitioned from a wilderness into a vibrant Citrus Belt district. Amazing pioneers dared to dream big - dared to imagine such places as Leesburg, Lady Lake, Mount Dora, Montverde, Eldorado, Eustis, Umatilla, Astor, Clermont, Yalaha and Tavares, to name a few. A section on each place name will be found in this book.

RATED 5 STARS from Four Amazon verified readers, this is a story of triumph over tragedy; of homesteaders becoming town builders; of steamboats and railroads forging a new homeland, and of remarkable men and women who made it happen. There is even a touch of mystery and intrigue.

The story of the earliest days of settlement of Florida's Lake County, a history you can buy now at Amazon simply by clicking on the book cover above.

Pine Castle Pioneers / Pine Castle Lakes - Part 4 of 4

 

Pine Castle Pioneers / Pine Castle Lakes

Celebrating Pine Castle Pioneer Days ONLINE – Part 4

  

 Northeast Pine Castle Township of 1890

Part 4: The Finale - Pine Castle Pioneers / The Pine Castle Lakes

The greatest concentration of lakes in the 36 square miles of Pine Castle Township are clustered within an area of 9 square miles around Lake Gatlin, the strategic 1838 location of Fort Gatlin, the Army outpost which then became, by 1843, the first Mosquito County settlement south of Lake Monroe.

Fortress Gatlin was built on a spit of land surrounded by three lakes (see star on above map): Gatlin, Jennie Jewel, and Gem Mary. Each of these lakes were named prior to 1870 by pioneers who settled alongside them. Lake Conway, as mentioned earlier in this series, had been named in 1843 by Surveyor Benjamin Whitner in honor of his boss, Valentine Y. Conway, while a fifth lake, second largest body of water in the township, was first named Hogan until a name change in the 1880s made it Lake Jessamine. Hogan is a surname found in the Patrick family – one of the earliest of settlers to arrive in central Florida.

In 1890, Surveyor John Otto Fries prepared a detailed 1890 map often mentioned in this series

Access to water was a priority for every pioneer when selecting their homestead, and so it is easy to understand why the region around Fort Gatlin was among the first areas settled. And it is because this region was settled so early in the settlement of central Florida that we celebrate a Pioneers Days event today. Cypress Grove Park on Lake Jessamine, where the festivities take place when we are not having a pandemic, is also within one mile of where it all began in 1838 - Fortress Gatlin.

A variety of guest speakers were planning to present at the 2021 Pioneer Days event

Across from Cypress Grove Park to the north is historic Lake Holden. Aaron and Isaac Jernigan homesteaded half of Section 10 in 1873, within months of Surveyor Whitner completing this one-square mile section (green square on map above). After the Civil War, William H. Holden began buying land that was being auctioned off by the sheriff for unpaid taxes. He accumulated hundreds of acres including Isaac Jernigan’s old homestead. By 1882, William Holden had a grove of 3,000 orange trees alongside the lake that had by then adopted his name.

South of Section 10, Lakes Tyler (Aaron Jernigan’s son-in-law), Bumby (Immigrant Jesse of England), and Tyner (aka Tiner, the family of Leonard & Mary, including Clement, the son who in 1884 platted the first town site of Pine Castle).

Surveyor Whitner, after mapping 540 square miles of 1840s Mosquito County, selected one lake – Lake Gatlin adjacent to the abandoned fortress, to begin acquiring land in a new Orange County. He purchased two parcels before a town of Orlando was established further north. Whitner also brought members of the Randolph family to the shores of Lake Gatlin, Gem Mary, Jennie Jewel, and Conway. And it was because of Surveyor Whitner that South Florida Railroad, the first railroad to open South Orange County to settlements, laid track from Orlando south to Kissimmee through Pine Castle. Indeed, as far as this author is concerned, Surveyor Benjamin F Whitner was “The Architect” of South Orange County.

Much of this four-part series was extracted from two of my books on central Florida history. Orlando Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes, is an encyclopedia of 303 central Florida lakes – who settled each and why? Who named each and why? In 2017, Pine Castle Historical Society awarded me their 2017 Historian Award for my book, Beyond Gatlin: A History of South Orange County.

And there is still so much to talk about!

Next time, let’s meet in person at Pine Castle Pioneer Days

 ALSO,

I have TWO ON-LINE MARCH EVENTS coming up that you might want to watch:

On March 17, 2021, I will be the online guest speaker at the Orlando Remembered Group meeting which begins on Zoom at 9:30 AM. My talk is entitled, Harriett, Henrietta & Orlando’s Girl School, in honor of Women’s History Month (for details email Rick@CroninBooks.com ).

On March 25, 2021, Winter Garden Heritage Foundation is sponsoring my live on-line presentation of, When Winter Garden was Oakland. Details on how to tune in to this special West Orange County presentation will be posted as the date approaches.

IF YOU ENJOY CENTRAL FLORIDA HISTORY, YOU WILL LOVE

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Orlando Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes (2019)

THE AWARD WINNING - Beyond Gatlin: A History of South Orange County (2017)

First Road to Orlando (Second Edition 2015)

The Rutland Mule Matter – A Novel (2015)

CitrusLAND: Curse of Florida’s Paradise (Second Edition 2016)

TAVARES: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County (NEW in 2020)

 

Perfect for WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

 

FLORIDA’S INDIAN RIVER DUCHESS

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Author for Pine Castle Historical Society Publication:

Will Wallace Harney – Orlando’s First Renaissance Man