People

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...

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...

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.

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...

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. William Milton Davis didn’t always win at business but wasn’t afraid of failure either. The founding father of the Winn-Dixie grocery empire was intense...