Muskmelons and Gun Powder: The Origins of Fort Maitland

Long before modern sailboats defined the shore, Lake Maitland was known as "Muskmelon Place," an indigenous sanctuary transformed into a tactical military outpost during the Second Seminole War. Discover the story of a lost 1838 stockade and the incredible archival detective work that unearthed its location a century later to preserve a pivotal chapter of Florida’s past.

Dr. Washington Kilmer: A Journey of Resilience and Service

Imagine facing a grim prognosis, given merely a year to live by your own medical colleagues. This was the stark reality for Dr. Washington Kilmer in 1872, then a physician in Ironton, Ohio, suffering from a severe physical breakdown induced by his tireless professional labors. But Dr. Kilmer was no ordinary man. Instead of succumbing, he embarked on an extraordinary 1,500-mile journey to Florida, on foot, hoping its famed climate and natural springs would restore his health.

A Pioneer Memory: Poem by Bessie M. Peeples

This poem was provided to me by Merrilou Joanne Wilder Inks, granddaughter of Fannie Green Lastinger. The Lastinger family was the first to homestead in Lake Placid around 1890. A PIONEER MEMORYBy: Bessie Mae Lastinger Peeples-Deckhut(Daughter of Joshua Lastinger, who homesteaded the...

Mayaca-Jororo, the native people of Orlando

If you ask most residents who lived in Central Florida when the Spanish arrived, they’d probably tell you the Seminoles. However, the Seminoles didn't even exist when the Spanish arrived. Instead, they were bands of refugees fleeing to Florida long...

Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes: Founder of the Lykes Brothers

Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes was born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1846. He moved to Spring Hill, in the Brooksville area, with his family at a young age. He served with the Confederate Army during the Civil War; he was...

Osceola Ghost Town

The company town of Osceola was a bustling and modern city from 1916-1940. When the company relocated to south Florida, it literally dismantled the town board by board.

Petty’s Market of Longwood

Siblings Jay and Mary Alysson Pettigrew were twenty-something entrepreneurs passionate about food. Their first venture was running a typical high-volume supermarket owned by their parents (Jerry and Rosemary) in St. Cloud. They sold that market around 1976 when a buyer...