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Winter Park, Florida

Winter Park is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,090 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 28,083. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is home to Rollins College, Full Sail University and the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, which houses the largest collection of Tiffany glass on Earth. Winter Park enjoys more park space per capita than any other city in Florida.

Winter Park was founded as a resort destination by wealthy New England industrialists before the turn of the 20th century. It is recognized as the first centrally planned community in Florida; its main street includes not only public civic buildings and retail, but also art galleries, a private liberal arts college, museums, a park, a train station, a golf course country club, a historic cemetery, and a beach and boat launch. Winter Park is celebrated for a sense of place and history, uncommon to many parts of Central Florida. Many structures are more than 100 years old. The scenic Olde Winter Park area is punctuated by small, winding brick streets, and a canopy of old Southern Live Oak and Camphor trees, draped with Spanish Moss. The city draws thousands of visitors to annual festivals including the Bach Festival, the nationally ranked Sidewalk Art Festival, and the Winter Park

Concours d'Elegance.

The site was first inhabited by Europeans in 1858, when David Mizell Jr. bought an 8-acre (32,000 m2) homestead between Lakes Virginia, Mizell and Berry. A settlement, called Lake View by the inhabitants, grew up around Mizell's plot. It got a post office and a new name—Osceola—in 1870.

The area did not develop rapidly until 1880, when a South Florida Railroad track connecting Orlando and Sanford was laid a few miles west of Osceola. Shortly afterwards, Loring Chase came to Orange County from Chicago to recuperate from a lung disease. In his travels, he discovered the pretty group of lakes just east of the railbed. He enlisted a wealthy New Englander, Oliver E. Chapman, and they assembled a very large tract of land, upon which they planned the town of Winter Park. Over the next four years they plotted the town, opened streets, built a town hall and a store, planted orange trees, and required all buildings to meet stylistic and architectural standards. They promoted it heavily. During this time, the railroad constructed a depot (1882), connected to Osceola by a dirt road.

In 1885, a group of businessmen started the Winter Park Company and incorporated it with the Florida Legislature, Chase and Chapman sold the town to the new company. In a land bubble characteristic of Florida history, land prices soared from less than $2 per acre to over $200, with at least one sale recorded at $300 per acre.

In 1885, the Congregational Assembly of Florida started Rollins College, the state's first four-year college. The following year saw the opening of The Seminole Hotel on Lake Osceola, a grand resort complete with the luxuries of the day: gas lights, steam heating, a string orchestra, a formal dining room, a bowling alley, and long covered porches.

Veranda at The Hotel Alabama, converted to condominiums in c.1922

Presidential visits

The first president to visit was Chester A. Arthur, who reported that Winter Park was "the prettiest place I have seen in Florida". President Grover Cleveland visited the area and was given a huge reception at the Seminole Hotel on February 23 of 1888. He enjoyed the Bounding Horse Cart ride and stated that it was the most pleasant diversion of his Florida Trip. The New York Times reported on his visit and stated that, " The Philadelphian and Bostonian founders had done a good job with the town". The following four years both hotel and the town became a fashionable winter resort for Northern visitors. The next President to visit the area was Franklin D. Roosevelt in March 1936. He was conferred an honorary degree in literature at Rollins College.

The Winter Park Sinkhole

In May 1981, during a period of record-low water levels in Florida's limestone aquifer, a massive sinkhole opened up near the corner of Denning Drive and Fairbanks Avenue. In a single day the hole widened to 320 feet (98 m) and to a depth of 90 feet (27 m), destroying an import car dealership, a public pool, and large portions of Denning Drive. In addition, the sinkhole "ate" an entire two-story home. The deepest part of the limestone cavern must have been directly under the house as not even the peak of its roof could be seen after the sinkhole stabilized. Fortunately, no one was in the house at the time the cavern roof collapsed. City engineers managed to stabilize the sinkhole, which drew national attention and became a popular tourist attraction during the summer of 1981. A carnival-like atmosphere arose around the area, with vendors selling food, balloons, and t-shirts to visitors. Eventually the novelty wore off as the city repaired the damage and turned the sinkhole into man-made Lake Rose, seen in this aerial view.

The Langford Resort Hotel

The Langford Hotel served as a gateway to 'Old Florida' attractions in Central Florida and a community social hub for decades.

Famous guests included Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Larry King, Hugh Hefner, John Denver, Langford winter resident Lady Bird Johnson, and President Ronald Reagan and his wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan who celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary there.

The Langford was celebrated in a party late 1999, closed, and was demolished. A portion of the former Langford Property (as of mid 2009) has been developed into luxury mid-rise condominiums. The remaining parcel is now vacant and is the future site of a hotel to be owned and operated by Rollins College.

The Temple Grove

An orange grove, known as The Temple Grove, stood on the south side of Palmer Avenue just east of Temple Drive. The temple orange was grown on the old Wyeth grove on Palmer Avenue (later Temple Grove) owned at the time by Louis A. Hakes, whose son was the first to notify Temple of the different quality of the new orange. The orange was introduced and cataloged by Buckeye Nursery in 1917, the year W. C. Temple died. Myron E. Gillett and his son D. Collins Gillett later went on to plant the largest orange grove in the world in the 1920s (5,000 acres (2,000 ha)) in Temple Terrace, Florida.

The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival

The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival is one of the nation’s oldest, largest and most prestigious juried outdoor art festivals, consistently rated among the top shows by Sunshine Artist and American Style magazines. Each year more than 350,000 visitors enjoy the show. This year about 1,200 artists from around the world applied for entry and an independent panel of judges selected 225 national and international artists to attend the show. The National Endowment for the Arts, The White House, Congress and many others have lauded the Festival for promoting art and art education in Central Florida. An all volunteer board of directors runs the annual Festival, now celebrating its 50th year

Top employers

According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report the top employers in the city are:

1 Winter Park Memorial Hospital - 1,400

2 Rollins College - 665

3 Orange County Public Schools - 627

4 City of Winter Park - 538

5 Publix - 420

6 Bonnier - 411

Notable natives and residents

• Casey Affleck, actor

• Michael Barimo, singer

• Amanda Bearse, actress

• Kevin Beary, sheriff

• James Bonamy, country musician

• Delbert Black, First Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy

• George Brett, general

• JC Crissey, film producer

• Meg Crofton, business executive

• Nick Faldo, golfer & broadcaster

• Louis Frey, Jr., congressman

• Paula Hawkins, politician

• Gina Hecht, actress

• Orel Hershiser, professional baseball player

• Davey Johnson, professional baseball player

• Arielle Kebbel, actress

• Matt Kuchar, golfer

• Rashard Lewis, professional basketball player (Washington Wizards )

• Spencer Locke, actress

• Patty Maloney, actress

• Michael James Nelson, writer/actor

• Summer Phoenix, actress

• Albin Polasek, sculptor/educator

• Doc Rivers, basketball coach

• Gamble Rogers, folk musician

• Annie Russell, theatrical actress

• Allen Trovillion, politician

• Fred Tyler, swimmer/coach

• Darius Washington, Jr., professional basketball player

• Daniel Webster, congressman

• George Weigel, artist

Winter Park Zip Codes

ZIP Code 32789

ZIP Code 32790

ZIP Code 32792

ZIP Code 32793

10151 University Blvd. Suite 171, Orlando, FL 32817

Orlando (407) 574-5519 Fort Lauderdale (954) 282-9821

State License CPC1458004

Other Orange County Area's Served

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