Mount Dora Historic Inn - Part 3 of 3

 

The Mount Dora Historic Inn

Part 3 of 3: The Doctor is in the House

 

Built by Ivan Franklin in 1910 for his family’s personal home, the charming dwelling at 221 E. Fourth Avenue has, for 122 of Mount Dora’s 141 years of existence, been an eyewitness to the evolution of an alluring lakeside village. The house that Ivan built has been home to many a Mount Doran who played an active role in the making of Mount Dora. 

Historic homes are a gem to any community, but the real treasure of each is knowing the role each gem played in the evolution of the town in which it proudly stands.

Known now as the Mount Dora Historic Inn, in past years this dwelling has gone by the “Geer Cottage” and, for almost seventeen years, the ‘Miss Eleanor G. Shaw home.” The house has served as both a full-time residence of local citizens and a winter retreat of families from the North, prominent snowbirds whose presence, even for only six months each year, enhanced the intriguing story of how Mount Dora came to be.

The house Ivan built on 4^th Avenue served for about a year as home to a beloved Mount Dora physician, Dr. Osmer L. Callahan. The Callahan’s lived in this cottage from August of 1920 until April 1921, a temporary lodging while the doctor’s wife, Rose (McNeal) Callahan, oversaw the building of their new home and medical office across from 221 – on the southwest corner of Fourth & Baker Street. The origin of Mount Dora Hospital was at 142 E. Fourth Avenue, and the building is still known today by the year it was built, the 1921 Building.

The 1921 building, 142 E. Fourth St., Mount Dora Hospital

Chapter 24: The Medical Professionals of Fourth Avenue

Mount Dora: The Lure. The Funding. The Founders.

By Richard Lee Cronin

 

The Callahan’s sold to Miss Eleanor G. Shaw, a Massachusetts native who migrated first to Gainesville, Florida. Miss Shaw acquired the house Ivan built in 1921, and continued owning the home until 1938, years during which she enjoyed bringing family and friends to Mount Dora for long visits. Of periods during which Eleanor wasn’t using this house, the Mount Dora Topic often cited snowbirds who had rented the “Miss Eleanor G. Shaw home on Fourth Avenue for the season.”

A member of the Philharmonic Society of Gainesville, Eleanor was described in the Topic as a great lover of music and was said to have “composed music for a number of songs, one of which ‘No Night There, was sung at her Gainesville funeral service.” (As of this writing the claim that Miss Shaw composed the music of ‘No Night There’ has not been verified. Although timing is about right, another individual is listed as the composer of this sheet music.)

Eleanor G. Shaw (1867-1940), while a resident in the 1920s, was an active member of Congregational Church (now Mount Dora’s oldest structure), where she was a choir member. She was also a member of an outstanding Mount Dora civic organization known as the King’s Daughters, which, during the Great Depression, provided clothing for Mount Dorans and ran a soup kitchen to feed the needy.

Two years before her death in 1940, Eleanor sold the house Ivan built to Mount Dorans Albert & Amy Waltz. “A valued citizen,” said the Topic of Albert Waltz, one-time Mayor and Chamber of Commerce President of Mount Dora, the Waltz’ owned the cottage at 221 E. 4^th Avenue for twenty years, deeding the home, on 26 December 1941, to their daughter and son-in-law, Edward & Florence (Waltz) Nutter. Albert was the founder of Mount Dora Builders Supply Company, and for a time, his son-in-law was an employee. As a builder, Albert Waltz, in 1926, was awarded a contract to expand the Lakeside Inn.

And so, having traced the occupants of 221 E. 4^th Avenue for its first 30 years, we appear to have come full circle. Edward Earl Nutter, like that of Ivan Franklin the home builder, was a carpenter and builder here in the village of Mount Dora.

Watch the comments section of my Facebook page for memories others have of

Mount Dora Historic Inn 

Also... 

Do you recall Mount Dora of 1969? A Christmas Day 1969 Model Railroad display on Donnelly Street? I would truly appreciate hearing from you if you do recall the event. You can email me at Rick@CroninBooks.com

WHERE THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE TRACKS MEET

Have you ever wondered about the history of your Lake County home? Perhaps I can help! I will be at Tavares History Museum, in the restored train station at Ruby Street and St. Clair-Abrams Avenue, from 10 AM to 2 PM on Thursday, May 26, 2022. The museum is celebrating their first Anniversary. Come on out and visit the museum that day, look over my Tavares and Mount Dora history books, and ask me about how to go about researching the history of your home.

Tavares History Museum is at the convergence of the Golden Triangle railroad tracks, a meeting place for Tavares trains from Eustis and Mount Dora.

On sale at the History Museum’s Anniversary Open House

Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County

Mount Dora: The Lure. The Founding. The Founders.

 

Books by Historian Richard Lee Cronin

Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County

The Rutland Mule Matter – A Civil War Novel

First Road to Orlando: The Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin Trail

Citrusland: Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains

Beyond Gatlin: A History of South Orange County

Orlando Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes

Citrusland, DC: District of Columbians of Central Florida

Florida’s Indian River Duchess

Seven Honorable Floridians: Seven Voted NO!

Citrusland: Curse of Florida’s Paradise

 

Available at Amazon

Mount Dora Historic inn - Part 2

Part 2: Mattie's Place

The house Ivan built at 221 E. 4^th Avenue in 1910 became known as “Geer Cottage” in 1913. Charles & Ella (Brierly) Geer, snowbirds from Worcester, Massachusetts, had rented in Mount Dora for the winter of 1911, then purchased land in 1912 to build a home. The lot was on the northeast corner of 4^th and Baker, which is where the Geer’s settled, but they purchased Ivan Franklin’s home as a retreat for family and friends seeking an escape from the harsh Northern winters.

Charles A. Geer, born 1855 at Westerly, Rhode Island, was part owner of Whitaker Reed Co, a prominent maker of looms for the wool industry. By 1912 however he was ready to retire, and so he and wife Ella relocated full-time to Mount Dora. Charles became “an active officer in Mount Dora’s Yacht Club,” said Lake Eustis Region newspaper, and continued and active involvement until becoming bedridden. Following a “long and painful death,” Charles Geer died February 20, 1916.

For several years the Geer’s had been active in the community of Mount Dora, A 1913 ad in the Lake Eustis Region had listed his title as Rear Commodore of the Mount Dora Yacht Club.

Lake Eustis Region newspaper, February 20, 1913, C. A. Geer, Rear Commodore

 

Rick’s Blog beginning June 1, 2022: An Encore Presentation The day history was made at the Mount Dora Yacht Club

A Blog version of my 2022 Mount Dora Yacht Club on location presentation.

 

Several months prior to Geer’s death in 1916, the Widow Mattie B. Little of Mount Dora took title to both Geer homes, including the house at 221 E. 4^th Avenue built by Ivan Franklin. The deed to both homes were returned to Widow Ella Geer following her husband’s death, but this unusual transaction made Widow Matter Little the third owner of the Ivan Franklin house, even if only briefly. Most thought-provoking about this unusual short term ownership transaction is that it introduces a New England twist to this charming Mount Dora Historic Inn.

Mattie B. Little is a little-known Mount Doran who, during the early 1900s, played a big role, pardon the puns, in fashioning the sleepy little Central Florida town that had been adopted by a New England clan for use as winter residences. A decade before acquiring the Geer Cottage on 26 October 1915, Mattie and husband Charles had arrived at Mount Dora and purchased the Atterberry Store. Located at the southeast corner of 4^th and Donnelly, Charles & Mattie Little, of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, then converted the vacated general store into the historic Robert Burns Inn.

Robert Burns Inn, 4^th & Donnelly, Mount Dora

Mount Dora: The Lure. The Founding. The Founders. (Page 201)

 

As I said, the Little family affected Mount Dora in a large way, and much of the charm the city enjoys today is a result of Mattie and her exceptionally civic-minded daughter, Emma J. Tallant. The Little family’s influence even spilled over onto 221 E. 4^th Avenue.

Chapter 23: The Incomparable Emma J. Tallant

Mount Dora: The Lure. The Founding. The Founders.

 

George and Bertha S. Barnard, the fourth owner of the house on Fourth Avenue, took possession in April 1919. Snowbirds, the Barnard’s had been residents of Contoocook, a village in the city limits of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, the previous hometown of the Little’s of Mount Dora. So, to make myself clear, Mattie of Hopkinton bought the house Ivan built, sold it back, and then it was acquired a few years later by the Barnard’s of Hopkinton.

Fast forward a few years, Mattie Little was instrumental in forming The New Hampshire Club of Mount Dora. George E. Barnard was named the first Chairman of the Club, Mattie’s daughter, Mrs. Eugene A. (Little) Tallant, was named the clerk. Formed in 1930, the New Hampshire Club had four Charter Members, one having first arrived at Mount Dora in 1888.

The Mount Dora Historic Inn has been intricately involved in the development of Mount Dora from the moment Ivan Franklin moved his family in, but its rich history is just getting started.

 

This story resumes Sunday, May 22^nd with Part 3: The Doctor’s in the House.

 

Have you ever wondered about the history of your Lake County home? Perhaps I can help! I will be the Tavares History Museum, in the restored train station at Ruby Street and St. Clair-Abrams Avenue, from 10 AM to 2 PM on Thursday, May 26, 2022. The museum is celebrating their first Anniversary. Why not visit the museum that day, look over my Tavares and Mount Dora history books, and ask me about how to go about researching the history of your home.

On sale at the History Museum’s Anniversary Open House

Tavares History Museum at Tavares Union Depot

Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County

Mount Dora: The Lure. The Founding. The Founders. 

Books by Historian Richard Lee Cronin

Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County

The Rutland Mule Matter – A Civil War Novel

First Road to Orlando: The Fort Mellon to Fort Gatlin Trail

Citrusland: Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains

Beyond Gatlin: A History of South Orange County

Orlando Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes

Citrusland, DC: District of Columbians of Central Florida

Florida’s Indian River Duchess

Seven Honorable Floridians: Seven Voted NO!

Citrusland: Curse of Florida’s Paradise

Also available at Amazon

Mount Dora Historic Inn - Part 1

Mount Dora Historic Inn (1910)

Part 1: The House Ivan Built

 

A recent social media request by the keeper of a charming Inn at 221 E. 4^th Avenue in Mount Dora asked if anyone knew of the history of their Inn? While I did not know of its story then, I do love just such a history challenge, and aware of how fascinating the story of Mount Dora is, I decided to see what all I could learn about an historic Inn in Block 1 of downtown Mount Dora.

The most historic building among several at the Inn was built in 1910 according to Lake County records. The date built appears accurate, for a home appears at this location on the 1920 Sanborn Insurance survey of Mount Dora, and the year built is supported too by several curious deeds that year for a parcel known today as 221 East Fourth Avenue, Mount Dora, Florida.

 

1920 Sanborn Insurance Survey of Mount Dora

Right and above the "4th" in 4th AV. above is

'The House Ivan Built in 1910'

A young Mount Dora carpenter had become a proud father of a baby girl on November 27, 1909, so, it was perhaps the birth of Clara V. Franklin that prodded the father to build a family home. The father, Ivan A. Franklin, married Grace Leach September 2, 1908, five months after Mount Dora learned of the death of their town founder, Annie (McDonald) Stone-Donnelly.

Annie’s death complicated Ivan’s dream of building a family home. Three years before Annie’s death, she and husband John Donnelly had buried Annie’s only daughter, Nellie (Stone) Griffith. Soon after, Nellie’s husband left town, so when John P. Donnelly became a widower in 1908, he also became the guardian of Annie’s three grandchildren, youngsters who in turn became half-owners of all unsold property in their grandmother’s town of Mount Dora.

On March 1, 1909, John P. Donnelly, guardian of minor children Lila K. and Charles D. Griffith, was granted permission by the Probate Court to sell Mount Dora town lots. And on July 5, 1910, he deeded “all of two thirds of one-half undivided interest” in a parcel described as located in Block One (1), the legal description of which matches the parcel where the residence at 221 E. 4^th Avenue now stands. Annie J. Griffith, the oldest of Annie Donnelly's grandchildren, at that time residing in Gainesville, signed “all of her one-third of one-half undivided interest” on June 29, 1910. John P. Donnelly, on 5 July 1910, then conveyed to Ivan Franklin a deed for his one-half interest, giving full ownership of the "East half of the Southwest Quarter of Mount Dora’s Block One" to Ivan & Grace Franklin.

During the summer of 1910, house carpenter Ivan A. Franklin (1881-1949) proceeded to build his family home at 221 East Fourth Avenue in Mount Dora. Grace (Leach) Franklin (1886-1963) died at Orange County. Clara V. Franklin Doster, the first child to occupy the Franklin residence, relocated to Winter Park in 1970, where she died 20 November 1985 at the age of 75.

The New England Connection:

The Franklin’s sold their 4^th Avenue home May 16, 1913. The buyers, snowbirds turned full-time Mount Dora residents, were Charles A. & Ella J. (Brierly) Geer. The Geer’s however already owned a residence at the northeast corner of 4^th and Hawley Street, and so the house that Ivan built at 221 E. 4^th Avenue became a rental cottage, occupied during the winter of 1916 by an Ohio family – the very winter Charles A. Geer laid dying in his home just a few doors east.

As explained in my Mount Dora book;

Hawley Street became Tremain Street

Woodland Avenue became 3rd Avenue

Mount Dora: The Lure. The Founding. The Founders.

A history of Mount Dora by Richard Lee Cronin

The second Geer residence also appears on the 1920 Sanborn Insurance map above. Locate again the house Ivan built, above and to the right of the "4th", now look to the right, across Hawley Street (now Tremain), and you will see the Geer main residence they purchased from the Tremain's. This historic home still stands as well.

A New England connection with the 4^th Avenue house Ivan built however was not about to end, nor was the intriguing story of the structure that was to become the appropriately named, Mount Dora Historic Inn.

This history will resume Wednesday, May 18^th with Part 2: Mattie’s Place.

Have you ever wondered about the history of your Lake County home? Perhaps I can help! I will be the Tavares History Museum, in the restored train station at Ruby Street and St. Clair-Abrams Avenue, from 10 AM to 2 PM on Thursday, May 26, 2022, as they celebrate the museum’s first Anniversary. Plan to tour the museum, look over my Tavares and Mount Dora history books (perhaps even buy one or two), and be sure to ask me about how to research your home’s history.

A MEET and GREET at the One Year Anniversary of

Tavares History Museum

History, mystery, door prizes, and so much more

10 AM to 2 PM, Ruby Street & St. Clair-Abrams

Where Eustis, Mount Dora and Tavares Track converge!

Downtown Tavares