Orlando Florida Origins

ORLANDO, FLORIDA ORIGINS: Mystery, intrigue and history at its finest! For 160 years, the origin of Orange County’s Seat of Government has remained a mystery. No one could explain with certainty how the city came to be, or who had named the town. Some said ORLANDO was a soldier, killed by Indians at Lake Eola one moonlit night in 1835. Others claimed ORLANDO owned a 2,020 acre plantation in Volusia County, and his mill and residence were burned to the ground by Indians in 1836. Still others were convinced ORLANDO was named for a character in a William Shakespeare play. There were those who said the Postmaster did it, while “gray haired old timers” swore their city had been named for a friend of Judge Speer. In each version, ORLANDO is always a man’s first name – unusual since towns named for a legendary figure typically go by the person’s last name. FIVE (5) differing versions have been handed down through the ages, competing tales beginning in 1915, most all passed along by prominent Orange County pioneers. After 1950, authors of ORLANDO antiquity simply accepted the town’s origins as an unresolved mystery. But now, for the first time ever, all five historic versions of how ORLANDO came to be are examined in depth, complete with factual new information that introduces intriguing pioneers never before mentioned in Central Florida history. Who was Thomas H. HARRIS? How was it Lady ISAPHOENIA vanished from Central Florida’s history? ORLANDO FLORIDA ORIGINS is a quest – a journey to learn the truth, a search for ORLANDO”S beginning, and a finding that ORLANDO’S story is in fact a microcosm of America’s extraordinary history. By the author of Central Florida’s CitrusLAND Series, 18 Exhibits and a bibliography of hundreds of itemized references assists in bringing to light the REAL story of how ORLANDO came to be.