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Florida History
Tales about Florida’s past and how it relates to our present.
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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…
Jason Byrne
Dec 30, 2021
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.
Jason Byrne
Nov 28, 2021
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.
Jason Byrne
Nov 20, 2021
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.
Jason Byrne
May 30, 2021
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…
Jason Byrne
Jun 25, 2016
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.
Jason Byrne
Mar 4, 2019
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.
Jason Byrne
Oct 6, 2019
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…
Jason Byrne
Feb 6, 2017
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.
Jason Byrne
Dec 24, 2019
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…
Jason Byrne
Feb 26, 2017
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.
Jason Byrne
Jul 26, 2018
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.
Jason Byrne
Nov 23, 2014
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