MOUNT DORA: The First Mount Dorans - Part Four

 The first Mount Doran’s

Part 4 of my series: a stroll along historic 5th Avenue

 

Mount Dora Bank & Trust and the Simpson Building

Our stroll down Mount Dora’s 5^th Avenue paused in my last installment at the southeast corner of 5^th and Donnelly. Having begun a 1,538’ trek westward from Tremain Street, our walk thus far has covered nearly half the distance. One entire city block was the subject of Part 3, but the final half-block, you may recall, was an area I referred to as the start of a “Simpson Territory”. Monroe & Martha (Pike) Simpson, and later their son Otto, owned the half-block stretch from Royellou Alley west to the corner at Donnelly Street.

Today, after we cross Donnelly Street, still following the 1848 footsteps of Surveyor James M. Gould, we resume walking through “Simpson Territory”. James Simpson, a younger brother of Monroe, acquired the southwest corner of 5^th and Donnelly – and all land west to Dora Ann Drawdy Alley, on April 22, 1924. This parcel, located in Block 3 of John & Annie Donnelly’s town of Mount Dora, was where the Mount Doran Stowe family had built their residence at the turn of the 20^th century. That house was still standing, as best as I can determine, when James Simpson bought the land – but he had something totally different that a personal residence in mind.

 

Two Simpson brothers owned one entire city block of the southside of 5^th Avenue in the mid-1920s, a half-block on each side of Donnelly Street. Soon after buying the Block 3 parcel, James & Edna Simpson conveyed the corner lot at 5^th and Avenue. on August 5, 1925, to a new bank. After personally overseeing construction of a new bank building (see photo above), James Simpson served as the bank’s first President.

“When the Mount Dora Bank & Trust Company opens its doors next Monday,” reported Mount Dora Topic of March 25, 1926, “it will be found in new quarters. The work has been under the personal supervision of James Simpson, President of the Bank”. The article went on to say that one of the features of the new building will be “electric lighting”.

 

James Simpson Building, 5^th Avenue, Mount Dora Block 3

Next, adjacent to the bank building, James Simpson built the three-story Simpson Building, a brick structure having a hotel on the upper two floors, and a restaurant plus retail stores on ground level. When walking 5^th Avenue in this block look up – where you will see the weathered hotel sign still on display.

 

Simpson Hotel Sign, 5^th Avenue, Mount Dora Block 3

   

Americans during the Roaring 20s were changing how they traveled, trading trains for personal automobiles. That change also resulted in a shift in the center of downtown Mount Dora, and two Simpson brothers positioned themselves to be at the center of that change.

 

The Dora Canal completion in 1882 made it possible for steamboats to bring settlers and tourists to a new village of Mount Dora. A town center grew up around the wharf, and the town expanded outward, even more so after the first train arrived in 1886. The depot overlooked the Mount Dora wharf. By the 1920s however, snowbirds and tourists began arriving in Florida by car, many via a ‘Tavares to Mount Dora highway’, aka a route later designated as U. S. Route 441. The road from Tavares came into downtown Mount Dora along the lakeshore and then connecting with 5^th Avenue.

The personal automobile therefore shifted the city center of Mount Dora north, toward 5^th & Donnelly, where James Simpson had spearheaded the building of Mount Dora Bank & Trust, his hotel, and his brother’s novelty store across Donnelly Street.

Dubbed “old 441” today, 5^th Avenue was part of the historic Dixie Highway system, stretching from Michigan’s UP south to Miami Beach - and points in between.

Westbound on Mount Dora's 5th Avenue at Donnelly Street in the 1930s

Above: Mount Dora Bank & Trust on left, Donnelly Building on right

The two-story Donnelly Building, across on the northwest corner of 5^th & Donnelly Street, had preceded Simpson’s bank and hotel by nearly a dozen years. It too found new life as cars delivered newcomers to the town. Known as the Mardi Gras Building today, the building was home to numerous restaurants and shops throughout its 110 years at this intersection. Upstairs was divided into four apartments, while on ground level, when James Simpson opened wide the doors to his new bank across the street, Mount Dora Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons, reported Mount Dora Topic, “displayed a new electric sign on the Donnelly Building, corner 5^th & Donnelly. The sign is of the flashing type and attracts all.”

The historic Donnelly Building today goes by the name Mardi Gras Building, and is dressed for the name with its handsome New Orleans style ornamental iron exterior. Mount Dora Bank & Trust Building is now at times referred to as the Shamrock Building – named for the building's one-time occupant, Keith Shamrock Realty, who in 1991, acquired the Mount Dora office of Huskey Realty.

And so once again, our 1,538’ stroll along 5^th Avenue has advanced only one-half block in this installment. But I do have a good excuse this time. “City Block menaced as Princess Theater burns.” Part 5 of my series will continue once all the smoke clears.

AND NOW, A WORD FROM MY SPONSOR. ME!

This series is created from research for my next book, MOUNT DORA: The First Mount Dorans. I expect the book to be released in November, in time for the holiday gift giving season. Add your name now to receive a signed copy of the book once it is released. PAY NOTHING now, but reserve your copy my emailing me at LakeCountyLakes@CroninBooks.com You will receive one reply confirming your request, but your next email will not be until the book is released for purchase. You can then decide if you want to proceed with buying the book. MOUNT DORA: The First Mount Dorans will be a detailed history of the true origins of Lake County's beloved Mount Dora. 

This series was also 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.