Fourth of July Celebration Along Commercial Street in Sanford

Fourth of July Celebration Along Commercial Street in Sanford

4th of July on Commercial Street

Sanford (Fla.)

Hotels--Florida

Historical hotels

4th of July

July Fourth

Independence Day (U.S.)

Fourth of July

Fourth of July celebrations along Commercial Street in 1886. The large building on the right is the Sanford House Hotel, which was built by Henry Sanford (1823-1891) with the intent of attracting tourists and providing housing for would-be wealthy settlers to the city of Sanford. The Sanford House Hotel was joined by the Lake Monroe House, a lower-cost alternative geared towards laborers, both of which were completed in 1876. Facing the waterfront, the hotel was located at the intersection of Commercial Street and Palmetto Avenue. The Sanford House Hotel featured three stories - two of which included porches- and enough rooms to serve 150 guests. The hotel's landscaping included flower beds and citrus trees. A boardwalk led visitors straight from $15 to $20 per week. The 1887 fire came very close to the Sanford House, and it was feared that sparks would add it to the destruction. What saved it were wet blankets which were draped from the roof and windows. The Sanford House Hotel was torn down in May of 1920. At the turn of the century, the Sanford House Hotel was the center of all major city events and celebrations. While guide books from the period often included positive reference to the hotel, it failed to attract many visitors. The hotel did not make any profit during its first years of operation. By its third year, the 1879-1880 season, the hotel netted only $800 in profits. The hotel continued to make meager profits for the remainder of the nineteenth century. Nonetheless, it served as a central point of focus during city celebrations during the period.

Written on back of photograph, "July 4, 1887, Looking East, Commerical St., Sanford House"

Chase & Company

Original 8.5 x 11 inch black and white photograph by Chase & Company, July 4, 1886: Chase Collection (MS 14), box 211, folder 3.30B, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

1887-07-04

Digital reproduction of original 8.5 x 11 inch black and white photograph by Chase & Company, July 4, 1886.

Chase Collection (MS 14), box 211, folder 3.30B, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Sanford Collection, Chase Collection , RICHES of Central Florida.

Folder referenced in Chase Collection finding guide, http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/chase.htm.

image/jpeg

1.32 MB

8.5 x 11 inch black and white photograph

eng

Still Image

Sanford, Florida

28.812529, -81.265982

1887-07-04

Donation

SS.K.A.1.2; SS.K.A.2.2; SS.K.A.2.3; SS.K.A.2.5; SS.K.G.2.1; SS.1.A.1.1; SS.1.A.2.2; SS.1.A.2.3; SS.1.E.1.3; SS.1.G.1.5; SS.2.A.1.1; SS.2.G.1.2; SS.3.A.1.1; SS.3.G.1.1; SS.3.G.2.5; SS.3.G.2.6; SS.3.G.4.1; SS.3.G.4.2; SS.3.G.4.3; SS.4.A.1.1; SS.4.A.6.1; SS.4.E.1.2; SS.5.A.1.1; SS.5.G.1.4; SS.6.W.1.3; SS.7.G.2.3; SS.8.A.1.2; SS.8.A.1.5; SS.912.A.1.1; SS.912.A.1.4; SS.912.A.1.6; SS.912.A.3.4; SS.912.A.1.7; SS.912.E.2.12; SS.912.G.1.2; SS.912.G.1.4; SS.912.G.2.1; SS.912.G.5.1; SS.912.W.1.3; SS.912.W.1.6

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Entire Chase Collection is comprised of four separate accessions from various donors, including Cecilia Johnson, the granddaughter of Joshua Coffin Chase and the children of Randall Chase.

The displayed collection item is housed at Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Rights to this item belong to the said institution, and therefore inquiries about the item should be directed there. RICHES of Central Florida has obtained permission from Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida to display this item for educational purposes only.

Special and Area Studies Collections, University of Florida

Holmes, Kristen

Fry, Joseph A. Henry S. Sanford: Diplomacy and Business in Nineteenth Century America. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1982.

Sanford Historical Society, Inc. Sanford. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2003.

Mills, Jerry W., and F. Blair Reeves. A Chronology of the Development of the City of Sanford, Florida: With Major Emphasis on Early Growth, 1975.

Sanford, Fla.
July 4th./ 1886.

1 black and white photograph

8.5 x 11 inch