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 

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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