In 1879 John P. Donnelly came to Mount Dora from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. At the time it was a…read morepopular winter destination for wealthy northerners. Donnelly has made his fortune in real estate and citrus business ventures. In 1881 he married local resident Annie McDonald Stone. Annie was a divorced single mom who ran the boarding house Donnelly was staying in and she also happened to be the daughter of his boss. In 1893 Donnelly had this gorgeous Queen Anne style house built as a gift to his wife. The plans for the house were chosen from 59 plans in the Cottage Souvenir No. 2 book sold by Tennessee architect George Franklin Barber. It is estimated Barber sold 20,000 plans in his career. The yellow and white Victorian house with stained glass windows was dubbed the Gingerbread House. The original property was a city block in size and included a barn and tenants house. Mount Dora was granted it's first charter in 1910 and Captain John Philip Donnelly became it's first mayor. At that time the population of Mt. Dora was 371 people. Donnelly was also one of the founders of the yacht club. The couple lived in the house until Annie's death in 1908. In 1924 Donnelly sold a corner of his property to the city for $45,000 to be turned into Donnelly Park. John P. Donnelly died in 1930. After his death the house was purchased by another prominent Mount Dora citizen, D. F. Gorman. After Gorman died the house was sold to the masons. Today more than 13,000 residents call Mt. Dora home. The Donnelly home was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 1975. It is one of the most photographed buildings in the city. It is now owned by a Masonic temple, Mount Dora lodge #238 F & AM. To pay for the upkeep of the house the masons rent out the first floor for private events. A visit to Mount Dora would not be complete without a visit to this magnificent and historic home.

All that is here now is an empty field and an interpretive sign that explains how this lot used to…read morebe the Rehbaum Warehouse. Alfred Rehbaum Sr. came to Mount Dora in 1915 from Cincinnati Ohio. He was hired at the age of 20 to run J.P. Donnelly's hardware store. Rehbaum eventually purchased the business designed in an Industrial Vernacular style and renamed it Rehbaum Hardware. The Rehbaum Hardware store was in operation from 1915 to 1984. The Rehbaum Warehouse stood on this site from 1927 until 2019. Well know for their warehouse the Rehbaum family was also respected their civic service. Alfred Rehbaum Sr. was one of eight founding members of the Mount Dora Development Company. He was elected school board trustee and became the president of the Chamber of Commerce in 1925. He also served several terms on the City Council. Rehbaum Hardware was a three generation family business. Alfred Rehbaum Jr. joined the business after returning home from WWII. His son Alfred "Sonny" Rehbaum III started working at the hardware store in 1950 at the age of 11. He was also very civic minded and served on the city council and was a founding member of the agency in charge of revitalizing downtown Mount Dora. After 44 years he sold the family business in 1994 and retired. He died the next year of a heart attack while changing a tire. There are now plans by the CFL Property Group to add retail space offices where the hardware store once stood. It's ironic the the groundwork Sonny Laius down during his lifetime to redevelop his beloved town was what led to the demolition of his former family business.

Located in Big Tree Park near the parking area and playground is a landmark bald cypress tree, The…read morePhoenix. Bald Cypress trees are a deciduous tree found in swamps, wet stream banks, and bottom lands in the southern part of the United States. They can reach heights of 80-130 feet and diameters of 8-13 feet. Cypress trees belong to the large group of plants called conifers meaning they produce cones that hold their seeds. Cypress wood is very durable resisting rotting and pests making it a popular choice for fences, docks, and other outdoor structures. Cypresses trees are also found in gardens and parks. They are notable for being one of the very few trees that can survive in standing water. What makes The Phoenix tree so special is that it is a clone of another cypress tree that used to be in the park, The Senator. The Senator was the Florida state champion Bald Cypress tree and was 3,500 years old. On January 16, 2012, The Senator was burned down in an arson fire by Winter Park resident, Sara Barnes. Some of the wood from The Senator was given to artists and you can see the pieces they created in the Seminole History Museum. Before The Senator was lost, the forward thinking Mr. Laymond Hardy, a high school teacher with a strong interest in cypress, worked with Mr. Marvin Buchannan of Central Florida Lands and Timber Nursery and Dr. Donald L. Rockwood of the University of Florida, to develop a seed orchard of selected cypress trees in the 1990's. Mr. Hardy thought to include The Senator and collected several of its branches for cloning. Branches were grafted onto root stock, propagated, and The Phoenix was planted in the park in 2013. The Phoenix has the exact genetic makeup of The Senator. Local schoolchildren chose the name The Phoenix after the bird that rises from the ashes. While the story of The Senator is a tragic one, The Phoenix represents new hope.

I remember when we lost the Senator and the Phoenix was first planted. Just a little sprig of wood…read morewith a fence around it. But look at her now!!!! She's growing up strong and getting bigger everyday. She's right next to the playground at the entrance of the park and is already home to so much wildlife. This is a big part of recent Florida history so bring your kids by to play on the playground and see the tree that has survived incredible odds! I am so proud of the Phoenix and give high praise to Florida for the tribute they have created for the Senator.

As a fan of historic architecture I couldn't help but notice the Thursby House in beautiful Blue…read moreSprings State Park. I came for the annual manatee festival and this historic home is maintained in the park to educate visitors about pioneer life in Central Florida. This area has been a significant Native American archaeological site for thousands of years. The 1872, two story, wooden Thursby house was built on an ancient Timucua shell midden for Louis Thursby, a European settler who came to this area with his family in 1857. Thursby purchased 160 acres under the Armed Occupation Act and initially the family lived in a log cabin while three kinds of center-cut pine were milled in Savannah, Georgia and transported by boat to the site for construction. Thursby used his proximity to the Blue Springs Run that enters the St. John's River to start and orange grove and riverboat business. The family sold oranges and hosted travelers to the area. The house was bought by the state in 1971 from Thursby's descendants and is now preserved to look as it did around the turn of the 20th century. The Thursby'S family dinnerware was preserved along with a china cupboard, original heart-pine floors, a widow's walk, and a separate, historic kitchen viewing area. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 11, 2000. To reach the house take the .3 mile boardwalk from the parking lot. The Thursby House is open for self-guided tours Wednesday through Sunday, usually from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., subject to ranger availability. In order to view the house you need to pay the $6 per car admission to Blue Springs.

RIP to the Senator "Big Tree". I remember coming to this…read morepark many times as a kid. I remember watching the news report the day it happened! The park still has a great amount of trees and animals to view and is still a nice park to walk around. There are offspring of the Big Tree still growing in the park around there kids park area.

Big Tree is a historic marker in Big Tree Park in Longwood. It was erected by Seminole County to…read morecommemorate Big Tree which was later known as The Senator. Big Tree was an ancient bald cypress tree that once majestically stood here. Big Tree was the Florida State Champion Bald Cypress tree and was believed to be 3,500 years old. Native Americans like the Seminoles used the tree as a landmark and it was a tourist attraction throughout the 1800's. In 1925 a hurricane reduced the height of the tree from 165 feet to 118 feet. For most of it's life, Big Tree was located in a swamp and could only be reached by jumping from log to log. After the Great Depression , the Works Progress Administration built a boardwalk to the tree. In 1929 former President Calvin Coolidge and his wife who were frequent visitors to Mount Dora dedicated a bronze plaque at Big Tree. The plaque and portions of an iron fence were stolen by vandals in 1945. In 1927, after the death of Florida State Senator M.O. Overstreet, the tree and surrounding land was donated for a park to Seminole County. The Overstreet family owned the Overstreet Turpentine Co and were major landowners during the lumber and turpentine era. The donation from Senator Overstreet led to Big Tree's often-used nickname, The Senator. On January 16, 2012, The Senator was burned down in a drug fueled arson fire by Winter Park resident, Sara Barnes. Barnes started a fire to keep warm while smoking crystal meth in a hollow space in the trunk. In October 2013, Seminole County officials allowed a small, select group of artists and woodworkers to take pieces of wood from The Senator and create art from it that is now displayed in the Museum of Seminole County History. Today a memorial has been set up around the remaining trunk of The Senator. In the playground there is a play piece that mimics a bald cypress tree stump. Next to the playground a clone tree of The Senator was planted named The Phoenix.

I always stop to read a historical marker if I happen upon one. I have learned so many interesting…read morethings about Florida and its people this way. For some reason I always thought this marker was associated with the historic Eola House which it is near but when you actually stop to read you learn that it was put in place of a home that is no longer here. The John R. Mott House was the former 1920 Mediterranean-style bungalow home of past Nobel Peace Prize-winner John Raleigh Mott. Mott retired to Orlando in 1938 and purchased the home. It was torn down along with three other historic homes in 2013 to expand Lake Eola Park. The homes were known as the The Lake Eola Five. Lake Eola House located near this historic sign was the only one left standing to serve as the Lake Eola Park offices. John Raleigh Mott was a very influential humanitarian figure. He was a leader in the YMCA and the World Student Christian Federation. He helped to found the World Council of Churches in 1948. He held honorary degrees from six universities, including Yale, Edinburgh, Princeton, and Brown. In 1946 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his humanitarian work with international Protestant Christian student organizations that promoted peace. Mott authored The Evangelization of the World in this Generation and he became a popular recruiter of college students to foreign mission work. When he was offered free passage on the Titanic he had the good sense to decline in favor of a less luxurious ship more aligned with his austere taste. It was very sad to learn that Orlando tore down four historical homes to basically have a field where they can hold events in the downtown area. The bungalow was especially cute and attached to a historical figure. It could have served as museum. To ensure that Mott would not be forgotten, in 2017, the city of Orlando placed a two sided Florida Historical Marker F-932, at the site of where Mr. Mott's home once stood, in recognition of his life's work. The marker was paid for by Commissioner Patty Sheehan along with private donations from he Van Dusen and the Nollet families. One star for Orlando tearing down Mr. Mott's home and five stars for all of John R. Mott's great work.

The John R. Mott House Site is a piece of Orlando, Florida history located by a plaque on the edge…read moreof Lake Eola Park. It commemorates the house site of John Raleigh Mott, who was a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. In addition, Mott was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his relief work for prisoners of war. Whenever I see a local historic plaque, if possible, I pull over and check it out. We individually and as a society need to remember our history, the steps that brought us to where we stand today. Our society would not be what it is today had it not been for pioneers like this gentleman who strived to make the world a better place. I am grateful that I discovered this cool piece of history and I give it five stars.

Entrepreneurs in Central Florida have access to some great resources to help them start and grow…read moretheir businesses. One of the newer resources available is the Central Florida Disability Chamber. Unlike most chambers of commerce that I am aware of, the CFDC will actually help qualified individuals prepare a business plan and possibly even help them to locate some funding to help get things going. Beyond these great services, the CFDC also does a lot of awareness work by educating the public of the resources available specifically for individuals with differing abilities. The staff is friendly and passionate about serving the community. A great win for Central Floridians!

Stopping for a minute to read a historic marker is a great way to learn more about the history of…read morean area. I have gained so much knowledge about Florida from these blue historical markers that can you find all around the state. I found this one on the grassy plain at Lake Ivanhoe Park near Southwest Ivanhoe Boulevard and Columbo Circle in the neighborhood of College Park. The Lake Ivanhoe Marker commemorates that the Lake Ivanhoe Residential Historic District was the first subdivision in College Park created by developer Walter Rose in 1921. Rose was inspired to name the streets in his subdivisions for colleges and universities. In 1925, the Cooper-Atha-Barr Company (CABCO) added more college-named streets in the first of nine subdivisions to be named College Park. College Park is defined by boundaries of Texas Avenue to the West, Colonial Drive/Hwy 50 to the South, Fairbanks Avenue to the North, Orange Avenue to the East. The Lake Ivanhoe Residential Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. This development was built during Florida's 1920's land boom years when developers platted new housing developments at the edge of cities and builders erected a large numbers of residences of similar sizes and styles to provide shelter to the growing middle-class. After WWII another housing boom occurred when the GI's came home after World War II and looked to the warmer climate of Florida to recuperate from their injuries. The Lake Ivanhoe historic district is 262 acres and contains 1,000 buildings. The first resident of the area now known as College Park was in the 1800's. Citrus grower John Ericsson built his home at 19 West Princeton Street, in the middle of an 80-acre citrus grove. it is the only home left from pre-land boom in College Park. The marker was promised to the College Park Historical Society because the neighborhood experienced a lot of hardship and disruption when the Florida Department of Transportation expanded I-4. Marker F-1202 was dedicated on October 24, 2023 by City of Orlando Commissioner Robert F. Stuart, the College Park Historical Society of Orlando, Orange Preservation Trust, and the Florida Department of State.