"My First Trip to Tampa" Manuscript
Chase, Sydney Octavius, 1860-1941
Citrus fruit industry--Florida
Citrus--Florida
Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)
An original manuscript written by Sydney Octavius Chase about his first trip to Tampa, Florida, in 1879. The manuscript chronicles Chase's trip with topics including traveling to Florida's west coast to determine if it were a better location than Belair Grove in Sanford, traveling to Orlando to buy an ox and wagon for the trip and then deciding to continue on foot with Silas B. Carter, preparing to travel through snake country, spending a night with the Yates family near Platt Grove, camping site near the old Collins house in Tampa, Chase's purchase of land in Winter Haven years later, forgetting their powder and shot pouch on the way back to Orlando, and their safe return to Belair. Chase also discussed his second trip to Tampa a year or a year and a half later to conduct business errands for a "Mr. Ingraham," most likely referring to James Edmundson Ingraham, an entrepreneur and railroad company executive.
Chase & Company was established in 1884 by brothers Sydney Octavius Chase and Joshua Coffin Chase. The company sold insurance and later invested in storage facilities and fertilizer sales. Chase & Company was known mainly for its agricultural interests and maintained a series of citrus groves throughout Central Florida. The company was based out of Sanford and became one of the city's largest employers into the early twentieth century. Randall Chase joined in the family business soon after his brother, Sydney Chase, Jr., did in 1922. Randall became the president of Chase & Company from 1948-1965.
Chase, Sydney Octavius
Original manuscript by Sydney Octavius Chase: "My First Trip to Tampa," 1879: box 173, folder 9.52, <a href="http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/chase.htm" target="_blank">Chase Collection (MS 14)</a>, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
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Belair Grove, Lake Mary, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Kissimmee, Florida
Boggy Creek, Kissimmee, Florida
Davenport, Florida
Auburndale, Florida
Platt Grove, Plant City, Florida
Sixmile Creek, Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Manatee, Florida
Palmetto, Florida
Fort Meade, Florida
Bartow, Florida
Saddle Creek, Lakeland, Florida
Winter Haven, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Belair Grove, Lake Mary, Florida
It Was New Era in 1886
Sanford (Fla.)
Freezes (Meteorology)
Jacksonville (Fla.)
Oviedo (Fla.)
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company
Lake Mary (Fla.)
A newspaper article about Sanford, Florida, during the year of 1913. According to the article, the Sanford community had recovered from the Great Freeze of 1886 and was thriving economically by 1913. This page also included an article on the Ford Model A car and two stops on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) at Lake Mary.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.
Print reproduction of microfilmed newspaper article: "It Was New Era in 1887." <a href="http://mysanfordherald.com/" target="_blank"><em>The Sanford Herald</em></a>, April 26, 1968, Semi-Centennial Edition, page 4: <a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a>, Sanford, Florida.
<a href="http://mysanfordherald.com/" target="_blank"><em>The Sanford Herald</em></a>
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Sanford, Florida