Why Orlando Grew

A postcard of the Municipal Pier on Lake Tohopekaliga Circa 1920's

Orlando is a watershed. On its north side all the lakes and rivers flow into the St Johns River and empty into the Atlantic a few miles east of downtown Jacksonville. On the south side, the same waters move down through the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee and empty through the Calosahatchee River into the gulf at Fort Meyers. So in its earliest days, the town served as the natural overland transhipment point between these two heads of navigation, namely Sanford and Kisssimmee. Sanford was the larger and more navigable port and accommodated large steamships that made their way up the St Johns with cargoes of lumber and citrus to be shipped from Jacksonville to the north. My great grandfather, Leo Egerton Fosgate, formed a partnership with Dr. Philips for a lumber mill in Forrest City in what is now Altamonte Springs . There they milled wood that would be shipped up the Wekiva River to a point a little west of Sanford, where the pristine spring-fed waters of the river empty into the St Johns. When the trees ran out, my great uncle converted the lumber mill into a citrus processing plant which was eventually sold to Minute Maid. It stood very near the now busy intersection of state roads 434 and 436 and eventually served as the terminus of the Tavares and Eustis Railroad spur. Only the water tower from the original plant still stands, I have an aerial photo of the plant taken in the early fifties showing it surrounded by citrus groves. Today it is the site of numerous shopping centers but the Little Wekiva still flows on its southern border.
The south side of Orlando flourished because of the cattle trade, first with Cuba and later with other parts of the United States. To this day it remains one of the primary sources of breeder cattle for the rest of the country.

South of St. Cloud a view of one of the many cow ranches

The railroads changed everything for Orlamdo as they did for most of the country and lines serving the cities of Tampa and Miami soon transected in Orlando because of its previously established role as entrepot and the abundance of high and dry land on which to construct track. More importantly citrus and produce could now be transported to the north in a timely manner and there was a boom that brought people from all over. This included a sizable emigre community of younger sons of the British aristocracy to the Conway Area. They established a polo club and a yacht club. The latter existed down to the early sixties and I have fond memories of racing our family's "C" skow there on Sunday afternoons when I was growing up .
Devastating freezes all but wiped out the citrus business in the 1890's, but by then many people had started to vacation here and the pull of the place was inexorable. The citrus industry came roaring back and the demand for oranges even allowed it to prosper in the thirties, in contrast to much of the nation.





A steam boat named "City of Jacksonville" on Lake Monroe in Sanford. This steamer was 160.5ft long and 32.5ft wide. Circa 1908.


In 1914 the town had recovered enough that my great great uncle Charles P Dow and his associates could found the People's National Bank and in 1917 they changed its name to the First National Bank of Orlando. Its successor bank, after the reorganization of 1933, eventually became the SunTrust Bank, the tenth largest bank in the U S today. The first chairman of that bank , Joel Wells, was a family friend and his brother Charlie, who was the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court at the time of the controversial Bush v Gore decision that decided the 2000 presidential election, was even closer. His former wife, Andrea Lunsford, distinguished professor at Stanford and one of the country's foremost authorities on writing, has been one of my most influential friends and mentors.
As the citrus, produce and cattle businesses grew, Orlando became the banking, insurance and service center of the region. When World War II came along, Florida ,as an extremity of the country was viewed as vulnerable and Orlando became the home of what would eventually become two air force bases.
For years a select group of wealthy northerners had chosen Orlando and Winter Park as their winter home. In those days it was customary for people of means to come for the season, which traditionally was any time between Christmas and Easter. They would rent little cottages and employ staff to help with cooking and cleaning. Many fell in love with the area and moved here for their retirement along with their fortunes. By the mid fifties, Orlando had become a comfortable mid sized city which took its nickname "The City Beautiful" seriously. The events of the next ten years would change its direction in ways that the residents then could hardly imagine.