Orlando Postcards

[JRS1]

holy cow. I remember the mid-eighties black glass bldg.; bigger than Ocean Center in DB at the time.

thank God they pursued the OCCC the way they did.

[SkyDave]

The OCCC is massive!!!! What a difference since the mid-eighties.

[Tim3167]

do you have any church street postcards? seems like the horse-drawn buggies would've made a cute picture!

These aren't very old but here's a couple from Church Street Station

And another random one for fun

[bic]

That last one is great.

[VistaLakes01]

The last one with the Lake Eola view is really cool. I remember the Southeast Bank Building and the original grey tinted glass. The Barnett Plaza must have been fairly new in this picture, I remember the excitement over it's construction and it's modern all-glass design and angular shape. I used to imagine "if they would just build it up 10 more floors, it would be like one of the new glass towers in Tampa." I have the circa 1971 postcard with the CNA tower set as the background on my computer. The CNA tower really stood out in those days, was Orlando's first large quality tower. Everyone knew Orlando by the CNA building. It was beautiful at night with the blue lighted lettering on all 4 sides. Don't know why but sometime in the 80's it bacame law that you could only have signage on two sides of a building. When it first opened, the Wachovia Building at Orange & Central was lit in blue letterings that said Atlantic Bank on all 4 sides. Downtown was so quiet and dead in those days. I remember the failure of Park Lake Towers for high rise condo living, you could barely give the units away. I bought a unit at 530 East Central in the late 80's for $16,000, the original owner took a 60% loss! I remember the doubts about Reeves House whether it would sell when it was constructed. I remember in the 70's when Seminole county meant status, and the "California Contemporary" designs with the wood and stone exteriors in the Wekiva/Sweetwater area. My parents bought a brand new "custom" home in Dover Manor for $38,900. It has a sunken living room with dark brown carpeting and the fireplace had strips of cedar and glass mirror angled across it and we had dark wood beams across the ceiling. The house smelled great with all that sweet wood. They bought our original home as newlyweds on Lido Street in a subdivision called Montclair Manor (basically a part of Monterey Homes but newer.) Semoran (Lake Barton Rd) was only two lanes and ended at Curry Ford. When they widened it, they tore down our "Montclair Manor" entrance sign. When Semoran was extended to the airport (the new SR436) it was renamed from a Sentinel Star road naming contest. The name Semoran won, it was composed of Seminole/Orange county, hence Semoran. They quickly started building apartments along the new airport extension (Lake Fredrica, Eden East, Wibledon) and Orlando went through a major overbuilding or rental units and they gave away fully furnished rooms, 6 months rent free and all kind of incentives to get the apartments rented. For years the only retail on Semoran between Curry Ford and the airport was K-Mart on the East side and Woolco on the west side. I remember the opening of the East-West (408) and how for years (all through the 80's) locals refused to use it and pay the toll. (20 cents at the main east toll plaza) I remember when they raised it to a quarter, one of the lanes still worked with 20 cents and I used that for a couple of years. The expressway ran out of money during construction and many parts had no emergency lane, the grass grew right up to main lanes of the highway. Goldenrod Rd. was the last interchange (no reentry eastbound or exit to Goldenrod when heading west. As there was no overpass at Chickasaw Trail, there was a flashing red light and you had to manually cross the road, the same for Millinocket Lane right before it ended at Colonial. What memories! There was no traffic lights at the Goldenrod exit and there was a single old fashioned traffic light at Lake Underhill at Goldenrod. There was only a flashing yellow warning light at Goldenrod and Curry Ford. Curry Ford East passed Goldenrod was a narrow, barely paved (wasn't asphalt) country road and Chickasaw trail south of Curry Ford was dirt and ended right after Liberty Junior High.

[Tim3167]

Here's an "official" Chruch Street Station postcard

and another random selection

[gibby]

The last one with the Lake Eola view is really cool. I remember the Southeast Bank Building and the original grey tinted glass. The Barnett Plaza must have been fairly new in this picture, I remember the excitement over it's construction and it's modern all-glass design and angular shape. I used to imagine "if they would just build it up 10 more floors, it would be like one of the new glass towers in Tampa." I have the circa 1971 postcard with the CNA tower set as the background on my computer. The CNA tower really stood out in those days, was Orlando's first large quality tower. Everyone knew Orlando by the CNA building. It was beautiful at night with the blue lighted lettering on all 4 sides. Don't know why but sometime in the 80's it bacame law that you could only have signage on two sides of a building. When it first opened, the Wachovia Building at Orange & Central was lit in blue letterings that said Atlantic Bank on all 4 sides. Downtown was so quiet and dead in those days. I remember the failure of Park Lake Towers for high rise condo living, you could barely give the units away. I bought a unit at 530 East Central in the late 80's for $16,000, the original owner took a 60% loss! I remember the doubts about Reeves House whether it would sell when it was constructed. I remember in the 70's when Seminole county meant status, and the "California Contemporary" designs with the wood and stone exteriors in the Wekiva/Sweetwater area. My parents bought a brand new "custom" home in Dover Manor for $38,900. It has a sunken living room with dark brown carpeting and the fireplace had strips of cedar and glass mirror angled across it and we had dark wood beams across the ceiling. The house smelled great with all that sweet wood. They bought our original home as newlyweds on Lido Street in a subdivision called Montclair Manor (basically a part of Monterey Homes but newer.) Semoran (Lake Barton Rd) was only two lanes and ended at Curry Ford. When they widened it, they tore down our "Montclair Manor" entrance sign. When Semoran was extended to the airport (the new SR436) it was renamed from a Sentinel Star road naming contest. The name Semoran won, it was composed of Seminole/Orange county, hence Semoran. They quickly started building apartments along the new airport extension (Lake Fredrica, Eden East, Wibledon) and Orlando went through a major overbuilding or rental units and they gave away fully furnished rooms, 6 months rent free and all kind of incentives to get the apartments rented. For years the only retail on Semoran between Curry Ford and the airport was K-Mart on the East side and Woolco on the west side. I remember the opening of the East-West (408) and how for years (all through the 80's) locals refused to use it and pay the toll. (20 cents at the main east toll plaza) I remember when they raised it to a quarter, one of the lanes still worked with 20 cents and I used that for a couple of years. The expressway ran out of money during construction and many parts had no emergency lane, the grass grew right up to main lanes of the highway. Goldenrod Rd. was the last interchange (no reentry eastbound or exit to Goldenrod when heading west. As there was no overpass at Chickasaw Trail, there was a flashing red light and you had to manually cross the road, the same for Millinocket Lane right before it ended at Colonial. What memories! There was no traffic lights at the Goldenrod exit and there was a single old fashioned traffic light at Lake Underhill at Goldenrod. There was only a flashing yellow warning light at Goldenrod and Curry Ford. Curry Ford East passed Goldenrod was a narrow, barely paved (wasn't asphalt) country road and Chickasaw trail south of Curry Ford was dirt and ended right after Liberty Junior High.

I've never once given thought to the name "Semoran" until now and I've lived here since 1981. Great post.

[Tim3167]

This one looks like it includes a shot looking east down Church before the street was turned into an attraction.

[uncreativeusername]

This one looks like it includes a shot looking east down Church before the street was turned into an attraction.

Didn't realize SunTrust was Sun First National before it was SunBank. Talk about an identity issue...

[JFW657]

Some more views. A couple aren't postcards, but photos I took myself.

View from I4 westbound at Lake Ivanhoe circa 1984

View across Lake Eola looking south. Note grey glass on Southeast Bank bldg. (Now Capital Plaza 1)

Looking west on Central with old wall mural.

Final days of the Orange Court prior to demolishion.

Night shuttle launch over downtown.

Looking north up Orange Ave. with old City Hall.

Nice aerial view with arena in foreground.

[gibby]

Some more views. A couple aren't postcards, but photos I took myself.

View from I4 westbound at Lake Ivanhoe circa 1984

View across Lake Eola looking south. Note grey glass on Southeast Bank bldg. (Now Capital Plaza 1)

Looking west on Central with old wall mural.

Final days of the Orange Court prior to demolishion.

Night shuttle launch over downtown.

Looking north up Orange Ave. with old City Hall.

Nice aerial view with arena in foreground.

That shuttle photo is awesome.

[VistaLakes01]

Some more views. A couple aren't postcards, but photos I took myself.

View from I4 westbound at Lake Ivanhoe circa 1984

View across Lake Eola looking south. Note grey glass on Southeast Bank bldg. (Now Capital Plaza 1)

Looking west on Central with old wall mural.

Final days of the Orange Court prior to demolishion.

All photos are awesome, shuttle phote is great! Too bad the Orange Court was demolished, seems like it could have been incorporated in to the new Camden Orange Court apartments....maybe it was full of asbestos or something?....or nobody at that time cared.....

Night shuttle launch over downtown.

Looking north up Orange Ave. with old City Hall.

Nice aerial view with arena in foreground.

[OrlandoMagic3]

some great pics there:)

[shardoon]

if you want a nice view of east west during the 80's and the 20 cent tolls...... rent out the movie D.A.R.Y.L.

[JRS1]

born in Chicago, I resented the parents moving to FLA. DB had no downtown to speak of. ORL was the closest "real city" (by DB standards) to home. having office bldgs. of any size was a big plus from my perspective back then. CNA was special b/c the CNA bldg. in Chicago was/is that big 600' red steel one on Mich. Ave.-- it had sentimental value to me (the company name).

[neon9]

if you want a nice view of east west during the 80's and the 20 cent tolls...... rent out the movie D.A.R.Y.L.

I saw that a few months ago and noticed the (now) beeline during the car chases...however it's strange they shot that here but where were the military base shots taken...surely not here? Or were they?

[VistaLakes01]

I saw that a few months ago and noticed the (now) beeline during the car chases...however it's strange they shot that here but where were the military base shots taken...surely not here? Or were they?

Seems like the military base shots were possibly in the Cape Canaveral area?

[demon]

I saw that a few months ago and noticed the (now) beeline during the car chases...however it's strange they shot that here but where were the military base shots taken...surely not here? Or were they?

It's not odd at all. There were a lot of movies shot in Orlando in the late 80's & early 90's. Another movie with some interesting shots of downtown is Earnest Saves Christmas.

[JFW657]

if you want a nice view of east west during the 80's and the 20 cent tolls...... rent out the movie D.A.R.Y.L.

I was living on E. Pine St. just off Summerlin at that time. I remember walking down to Mills and the E/W late one night and watching them set up for those expressway shots. They had the E/W shut down and were doing something to the westbound on ramp at Mills.

A few days or so later I was out riding my bike around the Lake Davis and Lake Cherokee area, and happened by Euclid Ave. That's where the house is that they used in the movie. They were shooting a scene where the kid runs outside and down the walkway. They shot that thing over and over and over some more. I hung around for about an hour or so, and they must've done 6 or 7 takes.

Speaking of movies shot in Orlando, I also remember watching them film "Ernest Saves Christmas" on Orange Ave. one afternoon. They were shooting the scene where the girl runs out of the store and jumps into Ernest's Taxi. I hung out in front of Dan's Sandwich Shop next to Jim Varney for awhile... exchanged pleasantries and whatnot. Then I went over and stood in the doorway of McCrory's hoping to get into a scene that made the final cut, but to no avail. I didn't make it to the big screen.

My final Orlando movie story involves the movie "Parenthood". I was working at Winter Park 9th grade Center at the time when they were using the field out behind the school for one of the scenes. During lunch, word spread that Ron Howard was supposed to show up. All the kids knew who he was from his TV days as Opie and Richie Cunningham. Everyone was waiting & waiting around for him to show. It was almost time for the bell to ring sending everyone back to class, when suddenly this old beat up Datsun B-210 pulls up and who gets out of the passenger side but the man himself. All the kids were waving and yelling OPIE!!! OPIE!!! He just gave a big good natured grin and waved back. Then as if scripted and right on cue, the bell rang and everyone went back to class.

[VistaLakes01]

I was living on E. Pine St. just off Summerlin at that time. I remember walking down to Mills and the E/W late one night and watching them set up for those expressway shots. They had the E/W shut down and were doing something to the westbound on ramp at Mills.

A few days or so later I was out riding my bike around the Lake Davis and Lake Cherokee area, and happened by Euclid Ave. That's where the house is that they used in the movie. They were shooting a scene where the kid runs outside and down the walkway. They shot that thing over and over and over some more. I hung around for about an hour or so, and they must've done 6 or 7 takes.

Speaking of movies shot in Orlando, I also remember watching them film "Ernest Saves Christmas" on Orange Ave. one afternoon. They were shooting the scene where the girl runs out of the store and jumps into Ernest's Taxi. I hung out in front of Dan's Sandwich Shop next to Jim Varney for awhile... exchanged pleasantries and whatnot. Then I went over and stood in the doorway of McCrory's hoping to get into a scene that made the final cut, but to no avail. I didn't make it to the big screen.

My final Orlando movie story involves the movie "Parenthood". I was working at Winter Park 9th grade Center at the time when they were using the field out behind the school for one of the scenes. During lunch, word spread that Ron Howard was supposed to show up. All the kids knew who he was from his TV days as Opie and Richie Cunningham. Everyone was waiting & waiting around for him to show. It was almost time for the bell to ring sending everyone back to class, when suddenly this old beat up Datsun B-210 pulls up and who gets out of the passenger side but the man himself. All the kids were waving and yelling OPIE!!! OPIE!!! He just gave a big good natured grin and waved back. Then as if scripted and right on cue, the bell rang and everyone went back to class.

I remember a scene in "Parenthood" where they were driving down I-4 (I believe the movie was supposed to take place in St. Louis) and this was way before the Conroy Rd interchange, and you could see out the rear of the vehicle the High "Q" hotel on International drive in the background on that stretch of highway between the old "33rd St." exit and the Turnpike. Also, remember Kaley Elementary School in "Problem Child" with John Ritter. And there was another cheap movie that was filmed on the 408 that they closed it down for, can't remember the name but I think it had something to do with a town fighting a freeway being built or an interchange or something really cheesy. I remember Jamie Lee Curtis coming in to "Big Bang" on Orange Ave, which was Orlando's first little hip night club on Orange. I believe there was a blurb in the Sentinel that Steve Martin hated Orlando and said it was a very dull, boring town. Then there was the movie "Monster" where you see the actress (name escapes me), sitting under the overpass of the Beachline and John Young Parkway, pretty sure alot of scenes from that movie were shot in Orlando, even the scenes that were supposed to be Daytona. Remember when Orlando was gonna be "Hollywood East?" The chamber of commerce really was pushing that for several years....what happened?? Why would a city want to be smething "East" or "West" , etc, instead of just being known for its own identity. Orlando should mean Orlando. (Oh yeah, remember the demolition of the old city hall that was used in Lethal Weapon III? I went downtown to catch a glimps of that action!)

[JFW657]

Remember when Orlando was gonna be "Hollywood East?" The chamber of commerce really was pushing that for several years....what happened??....Why would a city want to be smething "East" or "West" , etc, instead of just being known for its own identity. Orlando should mean Orlando. (Oh yeah, remember the demolition of the old city hall that was used in Lethal Weapon III? I went downtown to catch a glimps of that action!)

Yeah, I remember that "Hollywood East" thing. A few saner folks in the local media were pretty quick to sort of dispell that theory by pointing out that Hollywood has movie studio soundstages numbering in the hundreds, while Orlando has something like seven.

But I too was at the City Hall implosion. Stood around for hours in front of Sun Bank Center waiting for it to happen, then finally, BOOM!!!!, and it was over. Everyone was getting reeeeaaaallllly antsy as I recall.

I have some pics I took that afternoon....

The old City Hall building's last day on Earth. Twelve hours later it was a pile of rubble.

[VistaLakes01]

Yeah, I remember that "Hollywood East" thing. A few saner folks in the local media were pretty quick to sort of dispell that theory by pointing out that Hollywood has movie studio soundstages numbering in the hundreds, while Orlando has something like seven.

But I too was at the City Hall implosion. Stood around for hours in front of Sun Bank Center waiting for it to happen, then finally, BOOM!!!!, and it was over. Everyone was getting reeeeaaaallllly antsy as I recall.

I have some pics I took that afternoon....

The old City Hall building's last day on Earth. Twelve hours later it was a pile of rubble.

cool pics...i remember that day too, seems like it took forever! thanks again for the pics!

[F-L-A]

Man, that thing was ugly...

And can someone explain why there's a Coke ad on city hall?

[orlandonative]

I think it was for the movie.

[VistaLakes01]

Man, that thing was ugly...

And can someone explain why there's a Coke ad on city hall?

For the movie....and for Coca Cola advertising of course!