Orlando History

[JFW657]

1 minute ago, spenser1058 said:

I looked as close as I could and it didn’t appear to have any gas pumps. There definitely seems to be a big pile of trash in front of the house and it looks a bit tumbledown. Do we know what year it was? Rutland’s was built in the early ‘40’s, I think.

Looks to be 1930's. 

Maybe early 40's. 

Maybe the pic was taken as they were gutting the house to prepare for its demolition and construction to begin on Rutland's. 

Which might explain the pile of debris. 

The canopy might be the remains of a gas station that previously occupied the corner and just hadn't been demo'd yet. 

[angela1117]

On 11/23/2021 at 12:00 PM, smileguy said:

That $6 would be equivalent to about $50 today - still a steal!
 

Definitely! 

[spenser1058]

Today, we’re proud to look at history that lives on:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-fe-joy-wallace-dickinson-1128-20211128-kk22ol7pv5cvfancokn2dne2re-story.htm

Joy Wallace Dickinson from the Sentinel waxes nostalgic about the stunning gem that is Orlando’s Amtrak station. She also takes a look at the “Eola” citrus label that’s now a wonderful new mural on the side of Eola General (which, incidentally, gives a nod to the man who probably did more than anyone else to foster public broadcasting in Central Florida).

From there, it’s a shout-out to the Sisters of Hope, who worked to make the lives of Lake Apopka’s migrant workers better when most of the area ignored them.

Finally, it’s the Cracker Christmas in the town named for the fort named for the holiday. It’s a tradition that has reminded us of our rural past for decades now.

Edited November 28, 2021 by spenser1058

[JFW657]

Found a set of very interesting, high quality aerial photos of DTO from the 1960's which I had never seen before.

Old main entrance to Orlando Public Library on Rosalind...

[spenser1058]

I like the shot of Penney’s in the first pic. The second has an incredible view of American Fire and Casualty (that one really should have been saved) plus the Downtowner. I’m intrigued by that big parking lot where CNA ended up (I didn’t remember that at all). The killer photo is the third one with a splendid shot of the microwave tower and, of course, the Royal Castle on Church Street.

In the sixth pic, there’s a shot of the rear of St. Luke’s Episcopal Cathedral. The building was undergoing an expansion that stopped during the collapse of the Florida land boom in the mid ‘20’s. It wasn’t completed until the mid ‘80’s so the pic shows it without the flying buttresses and other additions we know today.

The ramp on the mid-60’s library gave it a presence that the at-grade street entrance on Central doesn’t have.

Otoh, that ramp had an incline more severe than it appears in the pic and I can only imagine what a hassle it would be in a wheelchair. As a typical Florida kid, I was intrigued by the idea of a “basement” (that’s where the children’s section was). It took me a few years to realize it wasn’t a basement at all - it was the ground floor (although it dropped below street level a few feet). Because of the ramp, you entered on the second.

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by spenser1058

[JFW657]

[spenser1058]

I’m wondering if the empty lot on S. Orange was where the Sentinel was. I believe it was after they had moved to their new building that their old offices had burned (I think someone else owned it). If so, apparently it just wasn’t replaced until CNA came along.

[JFW657]

In the two pics that show the block of Church St between Orange and Magnolia, if you zoom in close you can see the Don Mott sign sticking up off the roof on the side facing west.

Also, if you zoom in close on the picture looking south towards City Hall and Lake Lucerne from Sun Bank, you can see smoke rising up from the tree tops down around Gore St. Either something was on fire or it was possibly some industrial output. 

[codypet]

5 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

I like the shot of Penney’s in the first pic.

The ramp on the mid-60’s library gave it a presence that the at-grade street entrance on Central doesn’t have.

 

The building behind the Dolive has this courtyard that would be an amazing jem today if it weren't a parking lot.

Wow you can see the ramp scar on the library building today.

Edit: I totally missed the AT&T building expansion in these pics.  HOLY CRAP!

[spenser1058]

If @HankStrongwere here, he’d be devastated that we don’t seem to have a shot of American Federal and its fabulous brise!

[spenser1058]

Say it ain’t so! What would life be like without the giant scale at the front of Publix?

As it turns out, shoppers at stores outside Florida never got to weigh themselves- they stopped at the 2/3 of Publii in Florida.

Now, the manufacturer of the scales, Toledo (honest weight!) is no longer making them and the grocer is holding them together with spare parts.

For now, that seems to be enough. But this 80-year old beloved Florida tradition will one day be gone for good.

https://www.theledger.com/story/news/local/2021/11/29/publix-scales-disappearing-no-longer-manufactured-by-mettler-toledo-supermarket-history/8738785002/

From the News Journal 

[spenser1058]

This week, Joy Wallace Dickinson highlights a former school in Okahumpka for Black students funded by the Rosenwald Fund (Julius Rosenwald was a longtime Sears CEO who launched it to the peak of its retail power) in the Jim Crow South.

Importantly, she discusses why preservation of buildings is vital  to our communities. Sometimes, the structures are anything but grand but remind us of the values that allow us to be our better selves, not just constantly lusting after money.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-fe-joy-wallace-dickinson-1205-20211205-3fu5labnfze2nce24hfmzca6ru-story.html

From The Sentinel 
 

Edited December 5, 2021 by spenser1058

[JFW657]

 

 

[spenser1058]

Kissimmee’s fabulous Monument of States:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-fe-joy-wallace-dickinson-1212-20211212-w7xn7kp5wfaadgq4mnmggqrme4-story.html

From Joy Wallace Dickinson at The Sentinel 
 

[spenser1058]

This week, the Sentinel’s Joy Wallace Dickinson looks at the New Year’s Eve goings on in and around Orlando.

She pays particular attention to the places to party out in the ‘burbs like Sheik’s, Kilroy’s, Limey Jim’s and the Villa Nova. She then covers how Rosie’s began to bring downtown back from the dead in 1974.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-fe-joy-wallace-dickinson-1226-20211226-m2gwisjuizcezonwid4ojhh2tm-story.html

Happy New Year all around The City Beautiful!
 

[JFW657]

From 1956....

[JFW657]

Not sure what year this is from, but according to some long time residents who worked and banked there, it was on the SW corner of Orange and Robinson....

Must have been torn down to make way for this building.... (edited)

Apparently, the old two story building in the top picture was covered with that ugly paneling.

.

Edited December 30, 2021 by JFW657

[spenser1058]

55 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

Not sure what year this is from, but according to some long time residents who worked and banked there, it was on the SW corner of Orange and Robinson....?

Must have been torn down to make way for this building....

Yes, the tower’s original anchor was Citizens, complete with big red letters on top (north and south sides).

There was a restaurant on the top called, appropriately enough, Top o’ Citizens. I believe it was the first vertical commercial tower downtown after First National (later Sun) was built in ‘59-‘60 or so. Florida National was built in the mid ‘60’s (but was much wider than it was tall) and Citizens came online at the end of the decade.

They were later swallowed up by Pan American Bank (South Florida) in the ‘70’s which was later absorbed by NCNB.

I’m not sure but I think the older building may have been absorbed into the tower complex (drive-in tellers were in the back with more added later across the street after the Citizens days). There was a building of that size on that corner after the tower was built, but it was reskinned with no windows and housed back-office functions. That part (which was really unattractive with no windows and had zero pedestrian appeal) was torn down years later in one of the redos of the tower.

Citizens was definitely the third bank in town behind First National and Florida National (the S&L’s were a whole different animal back then).

Edited December 30, 2021 by spenser1058

[JFW657]

33 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Yes, the tower’s original anchor was Citizens, complete with big red letters on top (north and south sides).

There was a restaurant on the top called, appropriately enough, Top o’ Citizens. I believe it was the first vertical commercial tower downtown after First National (later Sun) was built in ‘59-‘60 or so. Florida National was built in the mid ‘60’s (but was much wider than it was tall) and Citizens came online at the end of the decade.

They were later swallowed up by Pan American Bank (South Florida) in the ‘70’s which was later absorbed by NCNB.

I’m not sure but I think the older building may have been absorbed into the tower complex (drive-in tellers were in the back with more added later across the street after the Citizens days). There was a building of that size on that corner after the tower was built, but it was reskinned with no windows and housed back-office functions. That part (which was really unattractive with no windows and had zero pedestrian appeal) was torn down years later in one of the redos of the tower.

Citizens was definitely the third bank in town behind First National and Florida National (the S&L’s were a whole different animal back then).

I had actually posed the question as to whether or not that old building was converted into the vault section of the tower, but I deleted it figuring it was the wrong size....

Now looking at it, I see it looks about the right size and dimensions. 

But now we know what was underneath that ugly paneling. 

[spenser1058]

I always wondered why the tower wasn’t on the corner and it would answer that question. The original bank stayed open until the tower was built.

I don’t really remember the old building (I would have probably been under 10) and my parents banked at First National and First Federal so I never would have had a reason to go there.

[spenser1058]

Something I’ve wondered also is if Citizens was Doc Phillips’ bank. I’ve dug in a bit to the history of First National and he isn’t mentioned much which seems odd given how small Orlando was then and given he was pretty much numero uno among FFO.s.

Florida National was under the control of Ed Ball and the duPont money so that doesn’t seem a good fit.

Finally, most of that block over to Garland was controlled by Dr. Phillips so the pieces seem to fit. Off to OPL in my spare time for help from the trusty research librarians…

[spenser1058]

Great pic of Memorial High on the west side of Lake Eola. It was demolished in 1963 to build the Robert Meyer Motor Inn (today’s Metropolitan):

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-fe-joy-wallace-dickinson-010222-20220102-zoyx7dbluvfrlbjvpnty6wjoo4-story.html

From The Sentinel 

[JFW657]

[spenser1058]

The Yankees in Boston have been rewriting history again. Just like the first Thanksgiving by European settlers in North America was at Fort Caroline near Jacksonville, the Underground Railroad first ran south to Fort Mose near St. Augustine before it ever moved north:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-fe-joy-wallace-dickinson-0116-20220116-bfwgoygg4newfhkl6773ct737y-story.html

From Joy Wallace Dickinson at The Sentinel 

It’s also why East Florida was originally slated to enter the Union as a free state while West Florida would enter as a slave state. Politics intervened, however, and to make the numbers work East and West Florida were conjoined (despite the many cultural differences) and admitted as a slave state in 1845 along with Iowa (a free state).

The Panhandle - making peninsular Floridians miserable for over 150 years.

Have a memorable Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by spenser1058

[JFW657]

 

Lake Eola 1920