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...
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Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes: Founder of the Lykes Brothers
Visit to Lake Harney’s Mansfield Island in 1891
In January 1891, photojournalist Clarence Bloomfield Moore traveled down the St. Johns River with a small crew. It had become an annual tradition since he first journeyed deep into the Florida wilderness in 1879. Moore was a Harvard-educated archeologist from...
Mary Toney was a bus driver turned six-term politician
Mary Toney was born in 1933 and moved to Sebring as a toddler. She graduated from E. O. Douglas High School in Sebring, class of 1951. At 48, she worked as a school bus driver and decided to run for...
Lyman Twins of Altamonte, famous Vaudeville stage actors
The comedians settled in Seminole County after retiring from a 15-year career, thrilling audiences nationwide. It’s not every day that genuine celebrities move to town! The citizens of tiny Altamonte Springs were delighted when the famous “Lyman Twins” decided to...
The Last Cowgirl of Lake Mary
Lillian Humphrey was born on her family’s Lake Mary homestead in 1928. She was the third generation to be born in what became Seminole County.
Webb’s Citrus Candy: Central Florida Favorite since 1928
What started as two women making tropical treats for their friends was made stalwart by the Taylor and Webb families. As a kid growing up in South-Central Florida there was always great promise venturing north on US 27 toward the...
Fern Park, Florida and the Largest Industry Under One Roof
Fern cultivation gave rise to a new town with the Haines, Barnett, Casselberry and Vaughn families its royal court. Before Seminole County was created in 1913, the area that is today known as Casselberry was referred to as the Concord...
Legend of Code Hill, the Sage of Bear Lake
His story is epic. Perhaps no one in Orlando was more universally loved than this charismatic pioneer from Lockhart.
Ginger Ale Springs
Every day thousands of cars zoom past on nearby Markham Woods Road. Its bubbling brook gurgles only a few hundred feet from Interstate 4 and State Road 434. Hiding off in the woods is a tiny boiling spring. Although unknown even to most lifelong residents, for decades, it has been called “Ginger Ale Spring” by insiders.
Winn-Dixie and the Davis Family
Boldness and tenacity took Winn-Dixie from a single store in Miami to a multi-billion dollar grocery empire.