History of Orlando

Pre-European history

Before European settlers arrived in 1836, Orlando was sparsely populated by the Creek and other Native American tribes. There are very few archaeological sites in the area today, except for the ruins of Fort Gatlin along the shores of modern-day Lake Gatlin south of downtown Orlando. There are also some instances where construction projects will yield an arrowhead or musket bullet unearthed during excavation.

Namesakes

Prior to being known by its current name, Orlando was known as Jernigan. This originates from the first permanent settler, Aaron Jernigan, a cattleman who acquired land along Lake Holden by the terms of the Armed Occupation Act of 1842.

Local legend says the name Orlando originated from a soldier named Orlando Reeves who died in the area during the Second Seminole War. There are conflicting legends, however, as Orlando Reeves (sometimes Rees) operated a sugar mill and plantation about 30 miles (50 km) to the north at Spring Garden in Volusia County. Pioneer settlers simply found his name carved into a tree as "Orlando Acosta" and assumed it was a marker for his grave site. They then referred to the area as "Orlando's grave" and later simply Orlando. According to written evidence, Orlando Acosta was also a soldier, but most details of his life are uncertain. A memorial beside Lake Eola designates the spot where the city's namesake fell.

Another popular local legend says the city was named after one of the main characters in the Shakespeare play As You Like It. One of the main streets in downtown Orlando is named Rosalind Avenue, after Rosalind, the heroine of the play.
During the Second Seminole War, the U.S. Army established an outpost at Fort Gatlin, a few miles south of the modern downtown, in 1838, but it was quickly abandoned when the war came to an end. Most pioneers did not arrive until after the Third Seminole War in the 1850s. Many early residents made their living by cattle ranching.

Incorporation

After Mosquito County was divided in 1845, Orlando became the county seat of the new Orange County in 1856. It remained a rural backwater during the Civil War, and suffered greatly during the Union blockade. The Reconstruction Era brought on a population explosion, which led to Orlando's incorporation as a town on July 31, 1875, and as a city in 1885.
The period from 1875 to 1895 is remembered as Orlando's Golden Era, when it became the hub of Florida's citrus industry. But the Great Freeze of 1894–95 forced many owners to give up their independent groves, thus consolidating holdings in the hands of a few "citrus barons" who shifted operations south, primarily around Lake Wales in Polk County.

Notable homesteaders in the area included the Curry family. Through their property in east Orlando flowed the Econlockhatchee River, which travelers crossed by fording. This would be commemorated by the street's name, Curry Ford Road. Also, just south of the airport in the Boggy Creek area was 150 acres (0.61 km2) of property homesteaded in the late 19th century by the Ward family. This property is still owned by the Ward family, and can be seen from flights out of MCO southbound immediately on the south side of SR-417.

After Industrial Revolution

Orlando, as Florida's largest inland city, became a popular resort during the years between the Spanish-American War and World War I. In the 1920s, Orlando experienced extensive housing development during the Florida Land Boom. Land prices soared. During this period several neighborhoods in downtown were constructed, endowing it with many bungalows. The boom ended when several hurricanes hit Florida in the late 1920s, along with the Great Depression.

During World War II, a number of Army personnel were stationed at the Orlando Army Air Base and nearby Pinecastle Army Air Field. Some of these servicemen stayed in Orlando to settle and raise families. In 1956 the aerospace and defense company Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) established a plant in the city. Orlando AAB and Pinecastle AAF were transferred to the United States Air Force in 1947 when it became a separate service and were re-designated as air force bases (AFB). In 1958, Pinecastle AFB was renamed McCoy Air Force Base after Colonel Michael N.W. McCoy, a former commander of the 320th Bombardment Wing at the installation, killed in the crash of a B-47 Stratojet bomber north of Orlando. In the 1960s, the base subsequently became home to the 306th Bombardment Wing of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), operating B-52 Stratofortress and KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft, in addition to detachment operations by EC-121 and U-2 aircraft. Read More ..

Orlando, Florida

Orlando (pronounced /ɔrˈlændoʊ/) is a major city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan region. The Orlando metropolitan area has a population of 2,082,628 and it is the 27th largest metropolitan area in the United States, the 5th largest metropolitan area in the Southeastern United States, and the 3rd largest metro area in Florida. The city-proper population is 235,860 making Orlando the 80th largest city in the United States. It is Florida's fifth largest city by population. Orlando was incorporated on July 31, 1875, and became a city in 1885.

Orlando and Orange County originally became the center of a major citrus growing region, and by the late 1890s was Florida's largest inland city. Orlando is now a World City heavily urbanized with various industries. The area is a major tourist destination and is the home of Universal Orlando Resort, and SeaWorld Orlando. Lake Buena Vista, Florida, located 21 miles (34 km) southwest of downtown Orlando, is the home of Walt Disney World. These attractions form the backbone of Orlando's tourism industry, making the city the first most visited American city in 2009. Like other major cities in the Sun Belt, Orlando grew rapidly during the 1980s and well into the first decade of the 21st century. Since the establishment of destination tourism in the 1970s, the local economy has diversified and today the region is the center of operations for companies servicing Central Florida. Orlando is also home to the University of Central Florida, the largest university campus by student enrollment in the state of Florida and the 2nd largest in the United States.

Source: wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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History of Brown's Hotel

Brown's Hotel was founded in 1837. In 1859, Brown's was purchased by the Ford family. Henry Ford installed fixed baths, electric lighting and a lift (one of the first in Britain). He also created the first public dining room in London - prior to this, hotel guests hired individual suites and dined privately.

In 1889, the Ford family purchased the St George's Hotel in Albemarle Street, which backed on to Brown's, and combined the two hotels, adding a fifth floor to both properties. On Albemarle Street, a new front of stucco and entrance portico were built, and two panels of blue and gold mosaic bearing the legend of Brown's and St George's were placed on the wall (both still exist today).

The hotel has hosted some notable people. Alexander Graham Bell went to stay in 1876 to demonstrate his new invention - the telephone - and the first successful telephone call in Great Britain was made from Brown's in 1876. The Niagara Room commemorates the meeting held there in 1890 by the International Niagara Commission, which agreed on 'the adoption of electrical methods as the chief means of distributing Niagara power'; the inauguration of the alternating current system resulted and has subsequently been adopted throughout the world.

In 1886, Theodore Roosevelt stayed at Brown's prior to his second marriage. Royal guests have included Napoleon III and Princess Eugenie in 1871, Queen Elizabeth of the Belgians (who took refuge in the hotel during World War I), Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia and King George II of the Hellenes, who stayed at Brown's for nine years after his exile from Greece in 1924.

Celebrities and writers who have loved Brown's include Cecil Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia, Rudyard Kipling (who completed The Jungle Book there) and Agatha Christie, who based her 1965 thriller At Bertram's Hotel on Brown's. Historian John Lothrop Motley stayed at the hotel in 1874, as shown in a letter he wrote on the 17th of June of that year, to Dutch historian Groen van Prinsterer.

The hotel became part of the Rocco Forte collection of luxury hotels on 3 July 2003, having once been managed by Raffles International Hotels. During 2004-2005 the hotel underwent a £24 million refurbishment and re-opened in December 2005

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