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LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDAJul 27, 1887 |
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Painting was hung over the fireplace in the lobby at the Fountain Inn Hotel in Eustis, Lake, Fl. around 1923.
| LANDING
OF PONCE DE LEON
In the early morning of April 8, 1521, Juan Ponce de Leon, then Governor of the Island of Porto Rico, made his second landing on the coast of Florida, casting anchor in Charlotte's Harbor.Eight years previously the seeker after the Fountain of Perpetual Youth had first set foot upon the shores of the Land of Flowers. His second coming was for the purpose of carrying out the commands of the Spanish sovereign to conquer and colonize Florida, which then was believed to be an island. With two ships and two hundred men he sailed from Porto Rico and after a quick and pleasant voyage once more reached the Florida coast. It is a matter of history that he was welcomed by the Seminoles, the native Indians. It was not until the Spaniards began to build a settlement on the shores of what is now Charlotte's Harbor that the Indians rebelled against this seizure of their land by the white visitors. They attacked the Spaniards fiercely and drove them back to their ships. In the fight Ponce de Leon was wounded in the knee by a Seminole arrow and died from the wound before reaching Porto Rico. The atrist has taken for her subject the arrival of |
the Spaniards in Charlotte's Harbor at sunrise. A party of Seminoles has gathered on the shore. Their chief is giving the traditional Indian sign of friendship, the right hand raised high. A huge, young warrior stands with his back half turned to the Spanish ship. It is evident tht he is not in thorough accord with his chief. He fears the strangers and is not disposed to join in welcoming them. Miss Pratt has successfully put upon the canvas her imporssions of a sunrise on the Florida coast. The soft mist of early morning rests upon the land. The light of the rising sun tinges the tall palms and other semi-tropical verdure, and touches with rosy hues the stalwart bodies of the savages and the sails of the galleon with the crimson cross of Spain on its bellying canvas. The ship is just rounding to, preparatory to dropping anchor. The second ship is seen on the horizon, coming in from the open sea. The effect of great distance is cleverly handled. The mural is painted in the modern purist style, the pastel colors being preserved in all their simplicity while giving the impression of warmth and life. |
I am your county coordinator, Ray Richard. Glorianne Fahs is the assistant county coordinator. If you are interested only in what might appear in the Lake Co. site you may use the Lake Co. Search engine below for Lake Co FLGenWeb. Your search results will appear under the search box.
The FLGenWeb is proud of our ability to provide you with this FREE site. It is our hope that if you have information about Lake County, you will contact me. I will be happy to add your information. Because people are willing to help people and share their information we are able to maintain our status of the largest FREE internet genealogy group of websites. Pictures, bios, articles of interest, etc. make interesting reading for others. A new section is being added for those whose family members were cremated. This is the only way future generations will find where our loved ones are if they are not listed in a cemetery. If your loved one was born in Lake, lived, died or was interred here, email me with the information.
A Brief History of
Lake County
Lake County became a legal entity on July 27, 1887. It was carved out of portions of Orange and Sumter counties. The first County Commission meeting was held in Yalaha at Mendenhall's store and the board rented a two story house as a courthouse in Bloomfield on the south side of Lake Harris.
It was named Lake County because there were over 1400 lakes within its proposed boundaries. Tavares became the county seat after 3 elections that included political maneuvering and outright corruption.
As a part of his effort to have Tavares named as County Seat, Major St. Clair Abrams, who founded Tavares, borrowed $10,000 and built a courthouse, which later was known as the Pioneer Building. In 1922 the county floated a $250,000 Bond Issue and built a new courthouse which is now known as the Historic Courthouse.
The first Post Office was established in Okahumpka on January 2, 1845 when Florida was still a territory. Chetwynd, north of Fruitland Park, was the first Post Office after the county was formed but was discontinued in 1891 and taken over by Fruitland Park.
In 1890, the first census was formed and there were 8,034 people in the county. As of the 1990 census, there were approximately 140,000 people.
Agriculture was the main industry until the freezes of 1983, 1985, and 1989. The agribusiness figure reached $101 Million dollars.
Walt Disney's parents were married in a small town named Kismet, which no longer exists, on December 27, 1887. As a child, Walt used to spend vacations visiting his Aunt Jessie Perkins in Paisley.
With our 1400 named lakes, the roads take interesting ways. We have nice high spots as well as very low that tend to flood with heavy rains. A major recharge area for the state is in our south end named the Green Swamp.
What's
New
This Month
Early 1900 Voter
Info and Registration Lists
Recent Additions
Genealogies
COUNTY EVENTS
Are you a descendent of a Leesburg (and vicinity) pioneer family? If so, we're looking for you. In fact, we're hoping to reach all of Leesburg's Pioneer Descendant families, so we can honor them in our celebration of Leesburg's Sesquicentennial.
The Leesburg Pioneer Certification, sponsored by the Leesburg
Sesquicentennial
Celebration Committee, honors Leesburg pioneers and their descendants
who
arrived by the time Leesburg was chartered
July
12, 1875.
Applications and instructions are available at Leesburg Heritage
Society,
Certificates will be awarded all during the
Sesquicentennial Year as your application
is
approved.
Lake
County Home Page
Where is Lake
County
Birth,
Marriage &
Death Certificates
Lake
County Libraries
Post
Offices est. 1845-1961
Lake
County Funeral Homes
Towns in Brief and links
Eustis
Groveland
Leesburg
Mt. Dora
Sorrento
Tavares
Umatilla
Vanished Towns
Villa City
Florida
Facts and History
Migrations
(add your ancestors here)
Origin
of Florida Place Names
List
of
Florida Family History Centers
Florida
War History
Cyndi's List of
Florida Genealogy Web Sites
Where
To Write for Vital Records - Florida
ROOTS-L U.S. Resources: Florida
Census
Project
Census
Project
Florida Tombstone Project
Florida
African American Roots
Florida Digital
Library and Archives
Textual
Collections of Florida
USGenWeb
Florida
Archives
Genealogist's Index to the World Wide Web
If you would like to become a part of this project, please contact
Florida State Coordinator, for more information.
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will be welcomed.