Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha has so many interesting memorials and statues including a replica…read moreof the Liberty Bell! I actually had to do a double take. Seeing such an iconic American symbol in the middle of a cemetery wasn't something I was expecting, and I had to find out how it ended up here. While the original Liberty Bell hangs on Market Street in Philadelphia, there are actually more than 50 full size replicas scattered across the United States, along with one that was gifted to Japan. They can be found in places like schools, restaurants, casinos, parks, and in private collections. The bell at Woodlawn is one of four replicas in Florida and one of six located in cemeteries across the country. In 1972, Woodlawn commissioned this full size, fully functional replica from the renowned Paccard Bell Foundry in France. It is the same foundry that cast the Liberty Bells distributed by the U.S. Treasury in 1950. The cemetery intended to use the bell as a promotional centerpiece leading up to America's Bicentennial celebration in 1976. After the festivities concluded, it was permanently installed in the Garden of Eternal Liberty atop a three tiered concrete pedestal beneath a wooden steeple. Before finding its permanent home, the bell traveled throughout Central Florida. A 1972 edition of the Orlando Sentinel reported that it was displayed at the Orange County Courthouse, where Mayor Carl Langford and County Commission Chairman Paul Pickett planned to ring it upon the signing of the Vietnam peace treaty. On Columbus Day in 1975, the bell was displayed at a middle school in St. Cloud as part of a celebration honoring America's heritage, where members of the public were invited to participate. I love stumbling across unexpected pieces of history like this. It's amazing to think that a replica built to celebrate the nation's 200th birthday is still standing nearly 50 years later. Discovering the bell hidden in the back of a cemetery yet in plain site during America's 250th anniversary made it even more special to me.

This is located within Greenwood Cemetery and remembers a respected family that resided here in…read moreOrange County, Florida and can trace their lineage to Thomas Jefferson. I have said it before, but it bears repeating, we need to remember and acknowledge the footsteps from our past that brought us to where we stand today. This was a nice find in the historic cemetery known as Greenwood.

I was exploring the history of Orlando in the historic Greenwood Cemetery when I discovered this…read moremarker dedicated to the Eppes and Shine families buried here. I learned from the sign that they were descendants of Thomas Jefferson who made their mark on early Orlando. Francis Wayles Eppes VII, was 8 years old in 1809 when he spent Christmas in Virginia with his grandfather Thomas Jefferson who had just completed two terms as president. Francis's mother was Jefferson's beloved daughter Maria who died during child birth in 1804 when he was three. His father John Epps was a congressman who remarried and was often away in Washington, DC. so Francis grew up in the care of his grandfather. Francis was the only one of Maria's three children to live to adulthood. Jefferson had set aside the family outpost called Poplar Forest, a 300 acre estate near Lynchburg, Va. for Francis as his inheritance. When Francis turned 15, Jefferson sent him a letter with this advice "Above all things, and at all times, practice yourself in good humor. This, of all human qualities, is the most amiable and endearing to society." Thomas Jefferson died in 1826, when Francis Eppes was 25 and married to Elizabeth with two children. The Jefferson family ended up selling Monticello and Poplar Forest due to debts and legal problems. Francis Eppes landed in Tallahassee with his young family but his wife Elizabeth would pass here during child birth like his mother and two of his seven children died in infancy. Francis Eppes remarried Susan Margaret Ware (1815-1887), the daughter of a governor of Georgia. They lived at Pine Hill, a 1,900-acre plantation, and had six more children, four girls and two boys. Francis Eppes founded St John's Episcopal Church and went on to serve two terms as mayor of Tallahassee in the 1840s and 1850s. He was one of the founders of Florida State University when in the 1850s he helped establish the West Florida Seminary that would become the university where he would serve 11 years on the school's board, eight of them as president. The Civil War hit the Francis Eppes family hard. Eppes sold his land but it was purchased with worthless Confederate money. The family was broke and they moved further south into what would become Orlando, a frontier outpost that sprung up from Fort Gatlin, an outpost during the Seminole Wars. In Orlando Francis Eppes became a citrus farmer. Three of the Eppes daughters married three Shine brothers in 1866. Martha Virginia married Capt. Thomas Jabez Shine, called T.J., Capt. Tom Shine, a Confederate veteran, was the director of the First National Bank, a board of trade officer, an alderman, and commander of the Orlando Guards, later named Shine Guards. In 1879, Thomas built a home on Orange Avenue with the first indoor bathroom in Orlando. The first sidewalk in the city ran past the house and it had a tennis court. He named the cross street Jefferson Street in honor of his wife's family Caroline Matilda married David Shepard Shine who became deputy clerk of Orange County and was appointed postmaster. Caroline and her sister Martha served their communities as members of the Rosalind Club, Sorosis, and with other charities. The third Shine brother Dr. William F. Shine was married to Martha Eppes. Unlike the previous two couples, they did not live in Orlando. Dr. William F. Shine, served as a Civil War surgeon and practiced medicine in St. Augustine after the war. Maria Jefferson Eppes founded the St. Augustine Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution which bears her name. Francis Eppes died on May 30, 1881 a few months before his 80th birthday. Francis Eppes and Susan Ware Eppes are buried in Orlando's Greenwood Cemetery in a family plot with members of the Shine family, including T.J. Shine, and their descendants. The Shines are noted for being among Orlando's earliest civic minded families. Marker F-838 was erected in 2014 by The City of Orlando and the Florida Department of State.

Gotha, Florida was established in 1885 and it amazes me to think about what this area looked like…read moreback then. This area just west of Orlando, Florida certainly has built up in just the last twenty years, much less since 1885 and it is important for us to remember the steps that led us to where we today stand. Today, this area is a lot of new housing developments and the accompanying businesses to serve the community.

While I am very familiar with the blue markers of the state wide Florida Historical Marker Program,…read moreoccasionally I will come across a county or city historic marker. On a recent walk through Overlook Park on Lake Jessup, I discovered that Seminole County has their own historic marker program. Historic markers are a great way to learn about the formative people, buildings, and events in a town's history. This marker was erected by Seminole County and recounts the history of White's Wharf at Clifton Springs. Just north of this spot, in 1765-1766 John and William Bartram discovered the springs during a search for the source during their excursion up the Saint Johns River. They set up camp next to the warm sulfur springs. The swampy shoreline of Lake Jessup became the site of at least three wharves and trading posts just after the Civil War. In the late 1870's, W.G. White built a store at this spot. White employed six clerks and traded with buyers who came by wagon and ox cart from all parts of Central Florida and as far south as Fort Christmas. Settlers gave meat, hides, and plumes from wild birds in exchange for flour, grits, cane syrup, molasses, rice, medicines, cloth, and hardware. White also owned a nearby grove that supplied his wharf. White's Wharf became an important stop for anyone traveling on the St. John River and those in the new city of Oviedo. The campground at White's Wharf became a community gathering place for church picnics until the 1950's. The site also became known as Clifton Springs, in honor of the hometown in New York of Dr. Henry Foster, a wealthy grower who spent winters at Lake Charm in Oviedo. In 1882, White formed the Lake Jessup Steamboat Company with the local postmaster and another merchant. The men purchased the Isis, a stern-wheeler that hauled fruit from the grove across the lake to the St. Johns and north to Jacksonville which boosted the popularity of Clifton Springs. The Isis eventually sank in Lake George during a bad storm, killing three crewman. The Lake Jessup Steamboat Company soon disbanded after the ship was destroyed. In the 1800's White moved his business to Orlando to take advantage of the railroads being built in Central Florida. In the early 2000's, Seminole County claimed this land and renamed White's Wharf to Overlook Park and opened it to the public. The park is surrounded by two sulfur springs, one to the east and one to the west. There is a picnic pavilion and a boardwalk on Lake Jessup for fishing.

I have always admired this sculpture at the entrance to Loch Haven Park off of Princeton in Orlando…read morebut I only recently learned about its connection to space. Loch Haven Park is located between three lakes and is home to the art and science museums, a firefighting museum and two theaters. Rocket Thrower is a 1963 bronze sculpture by American sculptor Donald De Lue (October 5, 1897- August 26, 1988). It resides in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens New York City. De Lue was a sculptor best known for his public monuments. He studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and for five years in Paris. In 1941, he won a competition to create sculpture for the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse Building in Philadelphia. De Lue's won many awards throughout is acclaimed art career and his works can be found in many museums across America. Rock Thrower was created for the 1964 World's Fair to celebrate man's entrance into space. The statue depicts a God like man crouching on one leg as he launches a small sphere into the sky with trail of flames. His left hand reaches for the sky as a swirl of stars encircle the path of the rocket. De Lue explained the work as "the spiritual concept of man's relationship to space and his venturesome spirit backed up by all the powers of his intelligence for the exploration of a new dimension." At the time it was released not all of the art critics were as enamored of it as I am. This replica of Rocket Thrower was commissioned for Loch Haven Park but was modified before it was installed in 1987. On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. Stars representing each of the Challenger Space Shuttle Astronauts were added to the tail of the comet. This touching tribute to the Challenger crew is a poignant reminder of their sacrifice and of Orlando's connection to the space program.

I always love catching a glimpse of the Disney Springs water tower whenever I drive by. Standing at…read morethe entrance to Disney Springs, it has become one of the area's most recognizable landmarks. It was installed in 2016 as part of the reimagining of Disney Springs, formerly Downtown Disney, and the tower sets the stage for the new story line. Like so many details throughout Disney property, this isn't just a decorative structure, it tells a story. Disney Imagineers created the water tower as part of the fictional backstory that Disney Springs is a thriving turn of the-century Florida boomtown built around a set of natural springs. Designed to resemble the kind of water tower that would have served a small town in the early 1900s, it helps bring that image to life. The tower is actually a bit of engineering marvel. It was actually constructed about an hour away, then transported to Disney Springs in the middle of the night in four separate pieces before being assembled in its permanent home. One of my favorite details is the ghost sign painted on the tower. Just beneath the Disney Springs lettering is a faded "Come Visit the Springs" graphic, making it appear as though the tower had been repurposed from an earlier era. It's a subtle touch that adds to the town's fictional history while highlighting Disney's attention to detail. This is not just a faux water tower. It tells a hidden story and every time I visit Disney Springs, it's one of the first landmarks I look for. It is a reminder that Disney magic is often found in the smallest details.

The Fletcher Park Monument is a historical marker that commemorates Austin B. Fletchers…read morecontribution to the state of Florida. Austin B. Fletcher was born in 1852 in Massachusetts as a descendant of the Bay Colony Settlers. He graduated from Tufts College as a lawyer in 1872. Subsequently Fletcher came to own 38 acres of land between Haines and Kissimmee Florida. Hidden in the land was an orange grove that was s well kept secret of the Seminole Indians. When Fletcher passed away in 1923 he left his estate to Tufts who then deeded the land to Florida in 1935 to protect the cypress trees. The marker was moved from its original location on the old Tampa highway when they were widening and it now resides next to the Osceola County Welcome Center & History Museum.

This fountain is located in Lake Eola and is a popular subject for photos. It was built in 1957 for…read morethe 100 anniversary of Orlando's anniversary so it was named the Centennial Fountain. Local banker Linton E. Allen was responsible for convincing the mayor to place the fountain in the lake. Allen founded the First National Bank in Orlando during the Great depression. He was a veteran of both World Wars and he was also an avid traveler. He fell in love with the fountains of Europe and was determined to create something like that for Orlando. Upon his passing in 1965, the fountain was renamed the Linton E. Allen Memorial Fountain in his honor. The fountain has become an unofficial symbol of Orlando. In 2009 the fountain was damaged by a lightening strike but it was completely refurbished in 2011. Although lovely by day the fountain comes alive at night with a water and light show. It is very nice to walk around the lake in the evenings and watch the colorful jets stream the water high in the air.

I just found out that the iconic fountain at Lake Eola had a name (I was today years old when I…read morefound this out, lol). The fountain in Lake Eola is called the Linton E. Allen Memorial Fountain. The fountain was rebuilt in 2009 after a devastating lightning strike destroyed it. Something else I did not know. Lake Eola Park is my favorite park on Orlando and this fountain in so many ways is the central point of the park, both figuratively and literally. At night, it is bathed in colors, thanks to the lights in the fountain. Definitely very cool. Lake Eola Park is a wonderful addition to Orlando, Florida and this particular fountain (now I know it as the Linton E. Allen Fountain) is a jewel in the Lake Eola Park's crown. Overall, this fountain deserves a five-star rating.