History of Mount Dora, Florida

The Central Florida town was settled in 1874 by David M. Simpson, his wife and 2 children. In 1880, it was named "Royellou" by the postmaster, Ross Tremain, after his children Roy, Ella and Louis. In 1883, The Alexander House opened, a 2 story hotel with 10 rooms, and the community was renamed "Mount Dora." It took the name of Lake Dora, which had been named by surveyors in 1846 for Dora Ann Drawdy, who lived with her husband 2 miles south of Mount Dora. The arrival of the railroad in 1887 stimulated the economy, carrying tourists and freight. A popular winter retreat for hunting, fishing and boating, The Alexander House would be renamed The Lake House in 1893. Mount Dora was incorporated in 1910, with a railway depot built in 1915.

R.C. Tremain & Son built the first orange packing house in 1891, although surrounding groves would be destroyed by the great freezes of 1894 and 1895. Box and fertilizer factories were established, as well as a cannery. In 1903, The Lake House was renamed Lakeside Inn, and remains in operation. Visitors included President Calvin Coolidge, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The John P. Donnelly House, a Queen Anne style landmark built in 1893 by the first mayor, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The town today is noted for its crafts and antique shops. The 1981 movie Honky Tonk Freeway was filmed here.

Chronological History of Mount Dora

1846 - Lake Dora is named for Dora Ann Drawdy. She and her husband homesteaded two miles south of Mount Dora.

1874 - David M. Simpson, his wife and two children were the first to homestead in what is now Mount Dora.

1880 - The town’s first name was Royellou, named after the three children of Postmaster R. C. Tremain--Roy, Ella, and Louis.

1882 - The first school in Mount Dora was established.

1883 - The town was renamed Mount Dora.

1886 - Mount Dora’s first newspaper was published, a copy of which is on display in the Royellou Museum in town. There were 174 residents in the community.

1887 - The first railroad service through Mount Dora began and by 1915 there were two passenger trains daily in each direction.

1893 - The Donnelly House was built. It is now the home of Mount Dora Lodge 238, F.& A.M.

1910 - The town of Mount Dora was incorporated, and J. P. Donnelly was elected the first mayor. At that time there were no paved streets or sidewalks.

1915 - The railroad depot was built. It is now the Chamber of Commerce office.

1924 - Donnelly Park was created in the center of the city on land obtained from J. P. Donnelly for $45,000.

1930 - President Calvin Coolidge and his wife spent the month of February vacationing at the Lakeside Inn.

Mount Dora is situated in a county that has 1400 named lakes, and its elevation of 184 feet above sea level qualifies it as a Mount in the State of Florida. At one time citrus was the major industry in the area, with a great deal shipped from Mount Dora.

R.C. Tremain & Son built the first orange packinghouse in 1891, although surrounding groves would be destroyed by the great freezes of 1894 and 1895. Box and fertilizer factories were established, as well as a cannery. In 1903, The Lake House was renamed Lakeside Inn, and remains in operation. Visitors included President Calvin Coolidge, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The John P. Donnelly House, a Queen Anne style landmark built in 1893 by the first mayor, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. In 1898, Witherspoon Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, No.111, Prince Hall Affiliate, The Witherspoon Lodge was founded in Mount Dora, and is one of the oldest still active African-American Masonic Lodges in FL. Also on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1902 the members of the Witherspoon Lodge bought the two story frame building at 1470 Clayton St. Mount Dora, FL. 32757, and the Masonic Lodge meetings have been held there since. In the early 1920's the members made the 1st floor of the building as a classroom for the black children of Mount Dora. In 1926 Milner - Rosenwald Academy was built at 1560 Highland Street. It is named after Julius Rosenwald, Chicago (1862-1932), President of Sears and Roebuck. He befriended Booker T. Washington and made him aware of the deplorable conditions of black schools in the South. Rosenwald contributed money to over 5000 schools in eleven southern states and Mount Dora's Milner-Rosenwald was just one of the other contributions given to Lake County, FL. This money established a foundation to build newer and better schools. A substantial amount of the money contributed was also given by a retired Mount Dora Presbyterian Minister, Rev. Duncan C. Milner (1841-1928). A committed foe of racial discrimination, Milner was a Civil War Veteran who fought in the Battle of Chickamuga. The Academy succeeded in producing many successful alumni. The town today is noted for its crafts and antique shops, historical buildings, and beautiful scenery. The 1981 movie Honky Tonk Freeway was filmed here with the Historical Lakeside Inn which was painted pink for the film, and an Indian Elephant was shipped in and taught to water ski on Lake Dora.

History of the Lakeside Inn

The charming, heirloom town of Mount Dora owes its genteel development to Lakeside Inn. They grew up together and remain inseparable in the minds of the townspeople. Throughout the Lakeside estate, the names of Mount Dora pioneers echo through the decades -- a postmaster named Tremain, a homesteader named Dora, an inventor named Edgerton, a president named Coolidge.

Snake Hunts & Orange Juice

In the early 1880s, the wee town of Royellou consisted of little more than a post office. Its postmaster, Ross Tremain, named the lakeside outpost after his three children, Roy, Ella and Louis. The sixteen families who lived along Lake Dora, named for the area's first homesteader, decided Royallou needed a hotel. When the town's name changed to Mount Dora -- the "mount" part for its dizzying height (for Florida) of 184 feet above sea level - town father John Alexander entered into a partnership with Annie MacDonald Stone Donnelly, her husband John P. Donnelly, and Colonel John A. McDonald. They opened Alexander House in 1883, which still stands as Lakeside Inn's most historic building.

The first guests of the two-story, 10-room Alexander House were intrepid sports enthusiasts who arrived by a series of long boat trips from the cold north. For the most adventurous of the guests, snake hunts were organized, but most guests were content with the superb lake fishing. The ladies, attired in the long dresses of the day's fashion, enjoyed picnics with fresh orange juice, considered a delicacy at the time.

In 1893, the Inn was sold to Miss Emma Boone who changed its name to Lake House. Charles Edgerton, who would soon have a major influence on the Inn's growth, visited Mount Dora with his family from Philadelphia every year. They fell in love with Lake House and its new wrap-around verandah, everyone's favorite meeting spot, where guests relaxed "on tilted chairs and puffed their cigars." Eventually the railroad brought the Edgertons and other visitors right to the Inn's back door. The Inn's trusty porter, Old Jim, met the trains with a handcart and pulled their trunks up the hill to the hotel. In 1903, Lake House was renamed Lakeside Inn by Emma Boone and her new husband George D. Thayer

Bathtub Gin & Sailing Rigs

During the 1920s, the Gatsby Era was in full swing and Lakeside Inn enjoyed its heyday despite Prohibition. Rumor has it that Lakeside served as a speak-easy. A trap door at the base of the lobby's reception desk stirs speculation of the Inn's clandestine past. Lake Dora's reputation as a boating mecca was no secret, however, to anyone who knew Mount Dora back then, and drew many anglers and boaters from points north. The annual sailing regatta and antique boat show are testament to the town's boating tradition.

Presidents & an Elephant on Skis

In 1924, Charles Edgerton bought Lakeside Inn and remained its owner for the next 55 years. He and his partners built an Olympic-sized swimming pool and two new guesthouse buildings named The Gables and The Terrace. In 1930, President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the new buildings during his month of post-retirement relaxation at Lakeside Inn with his wife.

The Edgertons entertained governors, senators, and such illuminati as Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Charles' son Richard eventually took over ownership and the family continued to contribute both to the growth of the city and its anchor, Lakeside Inn.

In 1979, during Edgerton's last year as owner, the Inn closed down for the winter season for the filming of Honky Tonk Freeway, a John Schlesinger picture (Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man). The Inn was painted pink for the occasion and an Indian elephant was shipped in and taught to water-ski on Lake Dora.

Redemption & Perseverance

After Richard Edgerton's retirement, rumors swirled that Lakeside Inn would be demolished. He came to its defense, saying, "Mount Dora desperately needs the Inn to be open. It performed a vital function in bringing families of substance to live here and help form Mount Dora's present quality of life."

Lakeside Inn dodged the wrecking ball to survive as one of Florida's few historic wooden hotels and as the heart of its community. With such a glamorous backdrop and relaxed atmosphere, guests wouldn't be out of place here in spats. Or flip-flops. Here is Florida at its roots, a place where play and relaxation never went out of style.

History of Lake County

Lake County is some of the oldest inhabited land in Florida. Thousands of years ago the mild weather, excellent growing conditions, and abundance of fish and game, drew the Timucuan Indians to call this region their home. Evidence of their presence is throughout Lake County. In fact, there are more than 1000 identified archeological sites in Lake County.

In 1562 a French Huguenot colony was established at the present site of Astor on the St. Johns River. The entire colony was wiped out by the Spanish is 1566.

During the late 1560's the Spanish established a system of missions throughout the Lake County area with the goal of converting the Indians to Catholicism. What they accomplished, instead was to massacre uncooperative villages and spread European diseases to the rest.

By 1763 when James Spalding established a trading post at Astor, there were few Indians left in the area.

British Royal botanist, William Bartram came to the area to study the "flora and fauna." He made the first sighting of a royal palm tree in North America in Lake County in 1774.

During the Revolutionary War all of Florida belonged to the British and residents were loyal to that country. A few white hunters and traders lived in Lake County, along with runaway slaves and Freedmen who found hiding in the scrub to be very effective means of evading the Slave Hunters.

In 1782, Spain re-occupied Florida and began awarding large tracts of land to reward favors. In 1819 Moses Levy received such a land grant from the Spanish. He established a plantation along the St. Johns River in Lake County, which was to be a settlement for oppressed European Jews. He was the father of David Levy, who later changed his name to "Yulee." Mr. Yulee was Florida's first senator after it acquired its statehood. During the first Seminole Indian War, the Seminole Indians burned the plantation to the ground.

Forts were built throughout the county, known then as Mosquito County, to defend the settlers against the Seminole Indians. In 1823, at the Treaty of Moultie Creek, the Seminoles were ordered to live in a reservation, most of which was in Lake County.

At the close of the Seminole War in 1842, Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act. It offered 160 acres to any man who would bear arms to protect the area against potential renewed hostilities, if he would build a habitable dwelling, live on the property for five years and cultivate at least five acres of his homestead. Many men accepted the challenge and joined the blacks already engaged in farming here.

Towns grew and vanished. Other towns took their places. When the Civil War started in 1861, there were several large plantations and many small farms in Lake County. Florida became one of the states to secede from the Union. The Statute of April 1862 forced most white males between the ages of 18 and 35 into involuntary service to the Confederacy. By September of that year the age limit was increased to 45 and soon 17-year-old young men were conscripted. This left only women and their slaves to run the plantations and farms. Even at that, Lake County has able to provide beef and other provisions to the army. The people left at home simply "went without."

By the end of the Civil War in 1865, another homesteading act was in place, again offering 160 acres of land to settlers who would live on the land for five years and improve it. Soldiers, both Rebel and Yankee were eager to get on with their lives. The attractive Homesteading Act offered a fresh start and many men took advantage of the opportunity and came to Lake County to make their homes.

In July 1887, Lake County became a county. It was carved from Orange and Sumter counties.

The courthouse, known as the Pioneer Building was dedicated in 1889.

Contracts were let for the construction of the first hard surface roads in Lake County in 1915. Prior to that most transportation was on the waterways with special hybrid steam/paddlewheel boats. An elaborate system of railroads was also developed.

A militia group was established during the Spanish-American War. It was called the 'Leesburg Rifles" and were ready to bravely defend our country.

Many young Lake County men enlisted in the Armed Services of this and other countries during the First World War. Others stayed at home and served in the Home Guard.

World War II took many Lake County men to war. Again, a Home Guard was established which combed the evening skies for enemy planes. The civilian effort was strong in support of the war. Lake County was famous for the number of war bonds sold here and scrap metal collected. In fact, the first war bond sold in the United States was sold in Leesburg.

Lake County was the site of a Prisoner of War camp during the Second World War, as well.

Early industry consisted of reliance on the land: farming, citrus growing, lumber, turpentine, etc. All of this to some degree or another relied on the weather and time and time again big freezes killed not only crops and citrus, but also hopes and dreams. Back-to-back freezes in 1894 and 1895 devastated large and small farms alike. Some farmers replanted and others settled here, making their living at farming. Lake County was known worldwide for its record crops of peaches, tomatoes, watermelon, ferns, and, of course, citrus.

Other industries moved into Lake County and the economy grew.

Lake County's history is rich and diverse. It sparkles with the ingenuity of its' people. Colorful stories abound. Today, as in the past, Lake County is a pleasant place to live and work.

Historic and Interesting facts:

Lake County became a legal entity on July 27, 1887 when it was created out of portions of Orange and Sumter counties.

It was named Lake County because there were over 1400 lakes within its proposed boundaries. Tavares became the county seat after 3 elections that included political maneuvering and outright corruption.

As part of his effort to have Tavares named as County Seat, Major St. Clair Abrams, who founded Tavares, borrowed $10,000 and built a courthouse, which later was known as the Pioneer Building. In 1922 the county floated a $250,000 Bond Issue and built a new courthouse that is now known as the Historic Courthouse.

The first Post Office was established in Okahumpka in 1845 when Florida was still a territory. In 1890, the first census was formed and there were 8,034 people in the county.

Agriculture was the main industry until the freezes of 1983, 1985 and 1989.

Walt Disney's parents were married in a small town named Kismet, which no longer exists, on December 27, 1887. As a child, Walt used to spend vacations visiting his Aunt Jessie Perkins in Paisley.