Around 1855, Judge James G. Spear planted orange groves and built his home around Lake Apopka. Called Oakland, Speer's home served as a location for Christians to assemble daily for prayer and for Sunday services conducted by the judge himself. The first group of Presbyterians to arrive in Fort Read after the Seminole War were Dr. Andrew C. Caldwell and his family, who migrated to Florida from Greensboro, North Carolina, in May 1867.

In 1869, Reverend John W. Montgomery, the Evangelist of Florida Presbytery, organized the Sumter Church in Sumter County. The name of the church was later changed to the Leesburg Presbyterian Church and a building was constructed in 1884. Plans to organize and build a church at Fort Read began in 1869, with Reverend F. F. Montgomery conducting services. Silver Lake Church was officially organized in February 1870 and the church building was completed the following year. St. Johns Presbytery was organized at Silver Lake Church on March 9, 1878. In 1900, after much of the population shifted toward the growing Town of Sanford, the church dissolved.]]>
Chase Collection (MS 14), box 173, folder 9.52, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.]]> Sanford Country Club and Golf Course Collection, Sanford Collection, Chase Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.]]> Chase Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.]]> http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/chase.htm.]]> Adobe Acrobat Reader]]> 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.]]> 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.]]>

The present-day Sanford area was originally inhabited by the Mayaca/Joroco natives by the time that Europeans arrived. The tribe was decimated by war and disease by 1760 and was replaced by the Seminole tribe. In 1821, the United States acquired Florida from Spain and Americans began to settle in the state. Camp Monroe was established in the mid-1830s to defend the area against Seminoles during the Seminole Wars. In 1836, the U.S. Army built a road (present-day Mellonville Avenue) to Camp Monroe during the Second Seminole War. Following an attack on February 8, 1837, the camp was renamed Fort Mellon in honor of the battle's only American casualty, Captain Charles Mellon (1794-1837). The town of Mellonville was founded nearby in 1842 by Daniel Stewart. When Florida became a state three years later, Mellonville became the county seat of Orange County, which was originally a portion of Mosquito County. Citrus was the first cash crop in the area and the first fruit packing plant was constructed in 1869.

In 1870, a lawyer from Connecticut by the name of Henry Shelton Sanford (1823-1891) purchased 12,548 acres of open land west of Mellonville. His vision was to make this new land a major port city, both railway and by water. Sitting on Lake Monroe, at the head of the St. Johns River, the city of Sanford earned the nickname of the Gate City of South Florida. Sanford became not only a transportation hub, but a leading citrus industry in Florida, and eventually across the globe. The Great Fire of 1887 devastated the city, which also suffered from a statewide epidemic of yellow fever the following year. The citrus industry flourished until the Great Freezes of 1894 and 1895, causing planters to begin growing celery in 1896 as an alternative. Celery replaced citrus as the city's cash crop and Sanford was nicknamed Celery City. In 1913, Sanford became the county seat of Seminole County, once part of Orange County. Agriculture dominated the region until Walt Disney World opened in October of 1971, effectively shifting the Central Florida economy towards tourism and residential development.]]>
The Sanford Herald, April 26, 1968, Semi-Centennial Edition, page 4: Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.]]> The Sanford Herald]]> The Sanford Herald, April 26, 1968, Semi-Centennial Edition, page 4.: Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.]]> The Sanford Herald, April 26, 1968, Semi-Centennial Edition, page 4.]]> Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.]]> Sanford Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.]]> The Sanford Herald.]]> The Sanford Herald and is provided here by RICHES of Central Florida for educational purposes only.]]>