Lake County History

The region of Central Florida that is now known as Lake County has been inhabited for thousands of years. For the same reasons that still bring people to this area, namely mild weather, excellent growing conditions, and an abundance of fish and game, the Timucuan Indians called this region home. Evidence of their presence is throughout Lake County. In fact, there are more than 1000 identified archeological sites in Lake County, as recognized by the state. In 1562 a French Huguenot colony was established at the present site of Astor on the St. Johns River. The entire colony was wiped out by the Spanish is 1566. During the late 1560's the Spanish established a system of missions throughout the Lake County area with the goal of converting the Indians to Catholicism. What they accomplished, instead was to massacre uncooperative villages and spread European diseases to the rest. By 1763 when James Spalding established a trading post at Astor, there were few Indians left in the area. British Royal botanist, William Bartram came to the area to study the "flora and fauna." He made the first sighting of a royal palm tree in North America in Lake County in 1774. During the Revolutionary War all of Florida belonged to the British and residents were loyal to that country. A few white hunters and traders lived in Lake County, along with runaway slaves and Freedmen who found hiding in the scrub to be very effective means of evading the Slave Hunters. In 1782, Spain re-occupied Florida and began awarding large tracts of land to reward favors. In 1819 Moses Levy received such a land grant from the Spanish. He established a plantation along the St. Johns River in Lake County, which was to be a settlement for oppressed European Jews. He was the father of David Levy, who later changed his name to "Yulee." Mr. Yulee was Florida's first senator after it acquired its statehood. During the first Seminole Indian War, the Seminole Indians burned the plantation to the ground. Forts were built throughout the county, known then as Mosquito County, to defend the settlers against the Seminole Indians. In 1823, at the Treaty of Moultie Creek, the Seminoles were ordered to live in a reservation, most of which was in Lake County. At the close of the Seminole War in 1842, Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act. It offered 160 acres to any man who would bear arms to protect the area against potential renewed hostilities, if he would build a habitable dwelling, live on the property for five years and cultivate at least five acres of his homestead. Many men accepted the challenge and joined the blacks already engaged in farming here. Towns grew and vanished. Other towns took their places.  When the Civil War started in 1861, there were several large plantations and many small farms in Lake County. Florida became one of the states to secede from the Union. The Statute of April 1862 forced most white males between the ages of 18 and 35 into involuntary service to the Confederacy. By September of that year the age limit was increased to 45 and soon 17-year-old young men were conscripted. This left only women and their slaves to run the plantations and farms.  Even at that, Lake County has able to provide beef and other provisions to the army. The people left at home simply "went without." By the end of the Civil War in 1865, another homesteading act was in place, again offering 160 acres of land to settlers who would live on the land for five years and improve it. Soldiers, both Rebel and Yankee were eager to get on with their lives. The attractive Homesteading Act offered a fresh start and many men took advantage of the opportunity and came to Lake County to make their homes. In July 1887, Lake County became a county. It was carved from Orange and Sumter counties. The courthouse, known as the Pioneer Building was dedicated in 1889. Contracts were let for the construction of the first hard surface roads in Lake County in 1915. Prior to that most transportation was on the waterways with special hybrid steam/paddlewheel boats. An elaborate system of railroads was also developed. A militia group was established during the Spanish-American War. It was called the 'Leesburg Rifles" and were ready to bravely defend our country. Many young Lake County men enlisted in the Armed Services of this and other countries during the First World War. Others stayed at home and served in the Home Guard. World War II took many Lake County men to war. Again, a Home Guard was established which combed the evening skies for enemy planes. The civilian effort was strong in support of the war. Lake County was famous for the number of war bonds sold here and scrap metal collected. In fact, the first war bond sold in the United States was sold in Leesburg. Lake County was the site of a Prisoner of War camp during the Second World War, as well. Early industry consisted of reliance on the land: farming, citrus growing, lumber, turpentine, etc. All of this to some degree or another relied on the weather and time and time again big freezes killed not only crops and citrus, but also hopes and dreams. Back-to-back freezes in 1894 and 1895 devastated large and small farms alike. Some farmers replanted and others settled here, making their living at farming. Lake County was known worldwide for its record crops of peaches, tomatoes, watermelon, ferns, and, of course, citrus. Other industries moved into Lake County and the economy grew. Lake County's history is rich and diverse. It sparkles with the ingenuity of its' people. Colorful stories abound.  Today, as in the past, Lake County is a pleasant place to live and work. MORE ASTOR FLORIDA HISTORY-THE TOWN THAT DIED TWICE... AND LIVES AGAIN... Astor, a little town with a big name, is like the proverbial cat with many lives. It has thrived, died twice and lives again - all in a period of 150 years. This is not to say that the community on the St. Johns River, between Lakes Dexter and George in Lake County, Florida, has become a thriving metropolis. But it has been experiencing a second rebirth as a sportsman's mecca. Ultra-modern fishing camps have sprung up everywhere and real estate, far out in the woods, is being sold. Today's tourists see little to indicate that this was once the site of ambitious dreams of two financial giants - Moses Levy, of a distinguished Portuguese-Jewish family, and William Astor, grandson of John Jacob Astor who came from Germany in 1784 with 50 cents in his pocket an died at 82 worth $30 million dollars. Yet even the money and power of these pioneers of this picturesque community, couldn't hurry or change the destiny of the hunting and  fishing grounds of the fierce Timucuan Indians and later the Seminoles. In modern day parlance, we would call Moses Levy the pioneer developer of present day Astor. It was he who braved the terrors of malaria, wild beasts and pillaging Indians to establish a colony for oppressed Jews from Europe. But since the settlement received its name and experienced its greatest prosperity during the Astor regime, the story of Astor should probably be told in reverse. William Astor purchased the Moses Levy tract of around 80,000 acres along the St. Johns River in 1874. At that time the vast acreage with its virgin forests and dark swamplands had lain idle for nearly three decades, with little evidence of Moses Levy's ill-fated colony. No doubt the hunting, fishing and excellent water routes appealed to the new owner. He must have felt also that here was an opportunity to add to his already huge fortune, for soon after the purchase, he started an extensive building program. Hotels, including Astor House, wharves and warehouses were built, a railroad purchased, a telegraph office opened. Some historians suggest, however, that William Astor developed Astor like Ferncliff (his famous estate on the Hudson River) as an escape from his wife's endless round of social formalities on Fifth Avenue.  Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, acknowledged queen of society and leader of the exclusive Four Hundred, clutched the scepter tightly. William scorned the social whirl that surrounded his wife, and he also detested the office-bound life of his brother, John Jacob Astor III. Whenever he tired of Ferncliff, he stole away on his yacht, the Ambassadress, to spend the winters in Jacksonville and his thriving new town of Astor. On these trips, he practically lived aboard his yacht even when it was in port, since he disliked hotels. The story goes that one day the yacht Ambassadress--the largest yacht afloat at the time--got stuck on the bar at the mouth of the St. Johns and Astor engaged the Mabey and Oyster Bay tugs to tow her off. He complained bitterly that the bill was exorbitant, but he finally paid it. However, he determined to have personal satisfaction, so he brought his own tug, the Seth Low, into the harbor and ordered it to tow all vessels in and out free of charge. This arrangement naturally upset the towing business. Dr. L'Engle, owner of the tugs which had extricated the Ambassadress, decided the best thing he could do was to buy the offending boat.  Astor agreed to the sale but insisted that he go to New York for it. This L'Engle did. When the transaction was closed, Astor wrote across the bill, "Dog eat dog". William Astor liked fair play and, although negligent in many ways and things, he gave generously to all community projects in his new settlement. He donated the first church, and also aided in the building of the schoolhouse. Both buildings are still standing. The church is still in use and the schoolhouse is now used  for a church youth group. The steamboat era reached its peak on the St. Johns by that time. The Debary, Baya and Clyde lines brought in mail, freight and tourists to the settlements along the river. The Palmetto and the Astor homes were listed in a Clyde Line pamphlet as the two hotels at Astor, with rates of $2 per day. William Astor's railroad later known as the St. Johns and Lake Eustis Line, ran from Astor to the "Great Lakes Region" of Florida--touching Lakes Eustis, Dora, Harris and Griffin. For a time it earned an eight per cent dividend. The boat from Jacksonville to Astor connected with the train inland as far West as Leesburg. One of the early settlers in this area, J. G. Cade, remembered that when he arrived as a lad of 11 with his parents from Kentucky in 1884, "Astor was so crowded that it was impossible to find lodging for that night. It took the incoming boat several hours to unload and reload for its return trip". With a successful railroad and booming community, Astor now turned his attention to growing citrus. He was among the first capitalists to subject himself to a squirt in the eye from the juicy grapefruit. He liked it so well that he added it to the breakfast table of the local Astor House and to the Astoria, later the Waldorf-Astoria, in New York. The popular Astor House also served such delicacies as broiled quail, baked duck, venison, bear steak and broiled bass, attracting many and millionaires from the North. Friends of the Astors also built small Winter cottages in the community. Persons of lesser means came, too -- some seeking health, others to establish permanent homes. There were two general stores in Astor in the late 1890's, one on each side of the river, which had to be crossed either by rowboat or ferry. In these mercantile establishments, you could buy groceries of all kinds, tobacco, snuff, firearms, harnesses, calomel, quinine, calico and brogan shoes. "At the rear of the stores stood three wooden barrels with faucets," Mr. Cade remembered. "One contained liquor, one vinegar and one cane syrup - all sold by the gallon. You had to furnish your own container and, furthermore, drink your $1 per gallon liquor at home," the old gentleman chuckled. "Often," he added, "no money passed over the counter. The proprietors took anything you had or raised on your place in trade -- sometimes a hen and a few chicks, a dozen eggs, fruit, as well as alligator, cow and deer hides." On William Astor's death in 1894, most of the estate went to his son, John Jacob Astor IV, who was an inventor, capitalist and lieutenant colonel during the Spanish-American War. In contrast to this father, John Jacob was a stickler for method and often rewrote a telegram to save a dime. During his ownership, some of the pine timber was leased for turpentine. John Jacob Astor perished in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, and his Florida property went to his son, William Vincent Astor. But with the coming of the railroad, now a part of the ACL, through the Central and Western part of the state in 1885, and Flagler's railroad to Florida's East Coast in the late 1890's the prosperity of Astor was doomed. Thus, steamboat travel declined, hotels were torn down and tourists went elsewhere. After the disastrous freeze of 1894-95 and the later abandonment of the St. Johns and Lake Eustis Railroad, many of the residents left for greener pastures. A few, including the Barney Dillard family, remained in the ghost town. They had faith in the future of their community and believed it would prosper again. Their faith paid off. In recent years, newcomers have opened up ultramodern fishing camps, motels, service stations and restaurants to cater to the ever-increasing business. Because of its name, Astor will always be associated with the Astor clan. But its history is incomplete without the dramatic story of its original owner, Moses Levy. Moses' father was at one time a high-ranking aide to the Sultan of Morocco but fled to Gibraltar following the Sultan's downfall. Here Moses was reared. In his early twenties, he immigrated to St. Thomas Island, where he married. David Levy was born June 12, 1810. (It is said that David Levy adopted the family Moorish title "Yulee" when he became Florida's first Senator after statehood, though it took a special act of the Florida Legislature.) When David was six, Moses moved to Havana where he amassed a considerable fortune in the lumber business. While there he learned of negotiations for the purchase of Florida from Spain. He visualized the brilliant future for so promising a country and dreamed of a refuge and religious community for his oppressed people. With this in mind, he visited the United States in 1819, placed his two sons in college, later obtained American citizenship and purchased large tracts of land, including a part of the Arrendondo Spanish Land Grant in Alachua and what is now Lake County. In 1822 he built a plantation home called Hope Hill at the then present day Astor. He raised sugar cane (said to be the first imported to this (country) and built a sugar processing plant. He also imported fruits and seeds from Southern France and cultivated them. He made several trips to Europe to induce oppressed Jews and others to settle on his lands, and only a few came. But the project soon failed, because the land was too wild and inhospitable for people accustomed only to the cities of the Old World. With the destruction of his plantations during the Seminole War, and beset with litigation in connection with his many land purchases, Moses finally gave up and went to Virginia, where he died in 1854. Although these two outstanding men, Moses Levy and William Astor, failed to make a thriving port and city out of Astor during their lifetimes, they helped to plant the seeds of tourism in that area, as well as in the rest of the state.