Building the Celery City (1896-1913)

Following the devastation of  "The Great Fire of 1887" and "The Great Freeze of 1894-95," the city of Sanford made a concerted effort to rebuild and revise the city's identity. This overhaul saw the rise of several prominent buisnessmen such as J.N. Whitner and W.H. Underwood, to name a few. Additonally the Sanford and PICO hotels would become important Sanford landmarks, laying host to several visiting U.S. Presidents. The section is capped off with two images of a festival held on First Street in 1910 as well as a street view from the same year, in a near identical location as a similar photograph had been taken in 1877.