Palmetto Avenue and First Street

Palmetto Avenue and First Street

Palmetto Ave. and 1st Street

Streets--Florida

Grocers--United States

Docks--United States

Waterways--Florida

Buildings--Florida

Avenues

Sanford (Fla.)

When General Henry S. Sanford (1823-1891) first established the City of Sanford, Florida, he laid out the streets on a grid plan. Streets running toward Lake Monroe were given names of native Florida trees, while streets running parallel to the lake were numbered. The businesses and docks located at Palmetto Avenue were important locations for commerce and business.

Also pictured in the photograph is the Sanford General Store, founded by Henry Sanford (1823-1891) in March 1871. The store was created with hopes of bolstering the success of the Sanford Sawmill, opened the year prior. The creation of the store was the result of advising offered to Sanford by Edwin Eastman. Eastman advised that a general store would be the surest way to improve profitability of the ailing sawmill, as mill employees would be paid goods from the store. The general store’s initial years of operation were plagued by problems. The store suffered from periodic shortages of crucial supplies and local farmers, faced with poor agricultural production, had a difficult time turning their produce into the cash needed to purchase goods. The only way Sanford proved able to ensure consistent sales was through the extension of credit to local settlers. This approach proved untenable, however, as impoverished customers proved unable to pay their debts to the store. In January 1873, the store was owed $4,000 by delinquent customers, a number that ballooned to $25,000 by early 1879. As Sanford’s personal financial state suffered, maintaining the stock of groceries became increasingly difficult. By March 1879, Sanford, unable to continue the operation of the general store, disposed of the remaining supplies and leased the building, alongside the wharf and its attached warehouse, for three years terms at $550 per year.

Notes on back of photograph: "Small office building on left is where (s.o.c) worked and slept on 2nd floor for two years or more. Building struck by lightning in p.m. when I was in it, was shocked and laid up for couple months from effects."

Notes on back of photograph: "City dock foot of Sanford Ave.[;] Sanford dock foot of Palmetto Ave. [;] Sanford Office and Park in front of Sanford House 1878"

Chase & Company

Original 8.5 x 11 inch black and white photograph by Chase & Company, 1878: Chase Collection (MS 14), box 211, folder 3.30A, item no. 6, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

1878

Digital reproduction of original 8.5 x 11 inch black and white photograph by Chase & Company, 1878.

Chase Collection (MS 14), box 211, folder 3.30A, 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.

Sanford, page 26.

image/jpeg

147 KB

8.5 x 11 inch black and white photograph

eng

Still Image

Sanford, Florida

28.811725, -81.265966

1878-01-01/1878-12-31

Donation

SS.K.A.1.2; SS.K.C.2.1; SS.K.G.2.1; SS.1.A.1.1; SS.1.A.2.2; SS.1.A.2.4; SS.1.C.2.2; SS.1.C.2.3; SS.1.C.2.4; SS.1.E.1.3; SS.1.E.1.4; SS.2.A.1.1; SS.2.C.2.4; SS.3.A.1.1; SS.3.C.2.1; SS.3.G.1.1; SS.3.G.2.5; SS.3.G.2.6; SS.4.A.1.1; SS.4.A.6.1; SS.4.A.6.3; SS.4.C.2.2; SS.4.C.2.3; SS.4.E.1.2; SS.4.G.1.2; SS.5.A.1.1; SS.5.C.2.5; SS.5.G.1.4; SS.6.W.1.3; SS.7.E.2.4; SS.7.G.2.3; SS.8.A.1.2; SS.8.A.1.5; SS.8.E.2.1; SS.912.A.1.1; SS.912.A.1.4; SS.912.A.1.6; SS.912.A.3.4; SS.912.A.3.13; SS.912.E.1.5; SS.912.G.1.2; SS.912.G.1.4; SS.912.G.2.1; SS.912.W.1.3; SS.912.W.1.6; SS.912.W.6.2

History Teacher

Civics/Government Teacher

Economics Teacher

Geography Teacher

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

Marra, Katherine

Brochure, Sanford: Central Florida's Waterfront Gateway. Sanford, Florida: City of Sanford, 2005.

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

Henry Shelton Sanford Papers, General Sanford Memorial Library, Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.

The Seminole Herald. Sanford: Our First 125 Years. [Sanford, FL]: The Herald, 2002.

"Sanford: a Brief History." City of Sanford. http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=48.

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

"Sanford: A Brief History"

Sanford Store
Sanford Fla. 1882

1 black and white photograph

8.5 x 11 inch