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Hollieanna Groves’ Maitland store still serving customers after 72 years

Hollieanna Groves’ Maitland store still serving customers after 72 years

There aren’t many patches of Old Florida left in the busy Orlando metro area. But smack dab in the heart of Maitland’s commercial district…
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Jason Byrne
Longwood Town Marshal Kidnapped by the KKK

Longwood Town Marshal Kidnapped by the KKK

The Ku Klux Klan is notorious for lynchings and bigotry, but their influence via terror was not confined by that space alone.
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Jason Byrne
Orlando’s Fort Gatlin and Council Oak

Orlando’s Fort Gatlin and Council Oak

For years historians have debated the location of the fabled landmark where Seminoles gathered. Let’s solve the puzzle.
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Jason Byrne
Old South Bar-B-Q Ranch

Old South Bar-B-Q Ranch

Weary travelers for four decades were kept awake by the funny signs and nourished by the taste of this Clewiston oasis.
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Jason Byrne
Popular Stories
Brighton, Florida: Ghost town that was almost a county seat

Brighton, Florida: Ghost town that was almost a county seat

“Here will soon be one of the busiest and most populous towns in Florida,” insisted one October 1925 announcement. Another advertisement…
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Jason Byrne
Fern Park, Florida and the Largest Industry Under One Roof

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.
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Jason Byrne
War of 17–92: Casselberry v. Fern Park

War of 17–92: Casselberry v. Fern Park

Gordon Barnett’s Fern Park was riding high until Hibbard Casselberry incorporated a new town smack dab in the middle.
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Jason Byrne
Southern States Feared Negro Domination

Southern States Feared Negro Domination

Nothing was more terrifying to wealthy landowners in the post-Confederate south than an empowered black electorate. The suffrage of the…
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Jason Byrne
Webb’s Citrus Candy: Central Florida Favorite since 1928

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.
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Jason Byrne
Winter Springs was almost called Semoran

Winter Springs was almost called Semoran

A late bloomer relative to its neighbors, Winter Springs went through some growing pains including an intense debate over what its name…
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Jason Byrne
Legend of Code Hill, the Sage of Bear Lake

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.
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Jason Byrne
Ocoee On Fire: The 1920 Election Day Massacre

Ocoee On Fire: The 1920 Election Day Massacre

A quiet Florida citrus town became the scene of a gruesome racial cleansing that purged the entire black population for over 60 years.
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Jason Byrne
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