William John Howey (January 19, 1876 - June 7, 1938) was an American real-estate developer, citrus…read moregrower, and Republican politician from Florida. He founded and served as mayor for the town of Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida where he developed and sold citrus groves, becoming one of Florida's greatest citrus developers. He was one of the first citrus growers to send fruit from Florida to England. In 1921 he opened Florida's first citrus juice plant. He ran for governor on the Republican ticket in 1928 and 1932. Mr. Howey's prominence led to many distinguished guests visiting the Howey mansion, These included Lord Bathhurst of England, H.B. McNeal, publisher of Golfer's Magazine, golf master Chick Evans, Kansas Governor Alfred Landon, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Phillip's of petroleum fame, and President Calvin Coolidge who was guest of honor at an all-male dinner party in February 1930. Mr. Howey's former home near Lake Wales, Florida became the site of Florida's Bok Tower at the Bok Tower Gardens. In 1925 Mr. Howey commissioned a 20 room mansion in the town he founded. The architect was Katherine Cotheal Budd. During WWI she designed temporary lodgings known as hostess homes for women who were visiting their husbands at military training camps. Budd is credited for creating 72 lodgings with a homelike atmosphere and the Howey House is one of a few existing examples of her work. The Howey Mansion was designed in the popular Mediterranean Revival style. The house is set back on a wide lawn with wrought iron gates and a long horseshoe drive. The entrance to the home features an elaborate, two story bas relief frontispiece .The massive front door and the woodwork on the first floor is made from peaky cypress. Leading to the second floor is a graceful curving stone stairway with a wrought iron banister. Other features of the home include three large fireplaces, a ballroom-size drawing room, enormous beamed ceilings, and a servant call-bell phone system. There is even a hidden passage behind a sliding bookshelf panel in the library. The original 15 acres grounds of the mansion were called The Park and included many botanical plants and shrubs. On March 6, 1927 The Park was the host site for an open air concert performed by the New York Civic Opera Company bringing the top opera singers of the day to the mansion for a concert for the community. The mansion was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Place on January 27, 1983. On April 12, 2017 it was listed for sale at $480,000. The new owners are Brad and Clay Cowherd, Orlando real estate investors who have made period-accurate restoration of the house. I visited the Howey Mansion for the Founders Day Festival. Admission for tours of the home was discounted to $10. The Howey Mansion is available for private rentals like weddings while historical tours are also available Monday through Friday at 11am. The Founder's Day event included a local market, food trucks, live music, and family activities. I enjoyed visiting the tents and touring the mansion including the hidden bar in the basement that was created during prohibition. Behind the mansion, is a trail through the woods that will take you to the Georgian marble mausoleum where the Howey family is interred including William J. Howey (1938), daughter, Lois Valerie Howey (1941), and Mary Hastings Howey (1981). This year Centennial Founder's Day Celebration, marked100 years since the town's founding in 1925.

What an incredible place! We really enjoyed the tour Fran and Mercy gave us. They were extremely…read moreknowledgeable about the property and you can tell they love what they do. The property itself is gorgeous. If you're looking for an event space, you're in luck they rent it out for weddings and other events.

The Citrus Tower in Clermont is one of those classic Florida roadside landmarks that still feels…read morerooted in the state's older tourism era. I've been to the Lake Placid tower, which is closed, so it was nice to see this one still operating. I passed through at 6am, well before sunrise, so the doors weren't open yet, but even from the outside the orange and white stripes and the height of the structure make it stand out. Built in 1956 as a 226 foot observation tower meant to showcase the miles of surrounding orange groves, it once drew up to 500,000 visitors a year when US 27 was the main north south route through Central Florida. Today the groves are mostly gone, but the tower remains open as a nostalgic attraction. Admission is usually around the ten dollar range for adults, depending on the season, and gets you access to the elevator ride up to the 360 degree observation deck. Considering the history behind it, including five million pounds of concrete, 149,000 pounds of steel, and a grand opening that drew representatives from Cypress Gardens and Silver Springs back in 1956, it's an inexpensive way to experience a piece of old Florida. Next time I'm passing through during actual business hours, I'll make a point to go up. [Review 1620 of 2025 - 2197 in Florida - 25168 overall]

Wow, Florida is flat! :-D…read more I added the Citrus Tower onto my "to see" list when I found out I was going to be in Clermont. You don't need a whole lot of time here, but really appreciate how authentic they've kept the Tower. Instead of modern signage at the top, they still have hand-painted directional signs. I loved that! I also appreciated how they have ample labeling that tells you what you're looking at. They should rent binoculars; it could help them get toward their fundraising goal to support the Tower. I would have paid to rent some (e.g. they could hold your ID whilst you use them). The little cafe downstairs was pretty good, too; I grabbed a tea from there. Nice way to spend a bit of time! 2025: 13/100

Located in Big Tree Park near the parking area and playground is a landmark bald cypress tree, The…read morePhoenix. Bald Cypress trees are a deciduous tree found in swamps, wet stream banks, and bottom lands in the southern part of the United States. They can reach heights of 80-130 feet and diameters of 8-13 feet. Cypress trees belong to the large group of plants called conifers meaning they produce cones that hold their seeds. Cypress wood is very durable resisting rotting and pests making it a popular choice for fences, docks, and other outdoor structures. Cypresses trees are also found in gardens and parks. They are notable for being one of the very few trees that can survive in standing water. What makes The Phoenix tree so special is that it is a clone of another cypress tree that used to be in the park, The Senator. The Senator was the Florida state champion Bald Cypress tree and was 3,500 years old. On January 16, 2012, The Senator was burned down in an arson fire by Winter Park resident, Sara Barnes. Some of the wood from The Senator was given to artists and you can see the pieces they created in the Seminole History Museum. Before The Senator was lost, the forward thinking Mr. Laymond Hardy, a high school teacher with a strong interest in cypress, worked with Mr. Marvin Buchannan of Central Florida Lands and Timber Nursery and Dr. Donald L. Rockwood of the University of Florida, to develop a seed orchard of selected cypress trees in the 1990's. Mr. Hardy thought to include The Senator and collected several of its branches for cloning. Branches were grafted onto root stock, propagated, and The Phoenix was planted in the park in 2013. The Phoenix has the exact genetic makeup of The Senator. Local schoolchildren chose the name The Phoenix after the bird that rises from the ashes. While the story of The Senator is a tragic one, The Phoenix represents new hope.

I remember when we lost the Senator and the Phoenix was first planted. Just a little sprig of wood…read morewith a fence around it. But look at her now!!!! She's growing up strong and getting bigger everyday. She's right next to the playground at the entrance of the park and is already home to so much wildlife. This is a big part of recent Florida history so bring your kids by to play on the playground and see the tree that has survived incredible odds! I am so proud of the Phoenix and give high praise to Florida for the tribute they have created for the Senator.

As a fan of both architecture and history, I will sometimes come across a jewel like this two…read morestory, red brick building located at 209 North Oak Avenue on the corner of West Commercial Street, in Sanford. It is in Sanford's historic commercial district. The PICO Building is a historic two story redbrick building built in 1886-1887 for the Henry B. Plant of Plant Investment Co. Henry Plant was a prominent 19th-century businessman, entrepreneur, and investor who played a crucial role in developing Florida's transportation infrastructure and economy. He is best known for building a vast network of railroads and steamship lines, collectively known as the Plant System, that connected Florida to the rest of the United States and the Caribbean. He also built several hotels including the former Tampa Bay Hotel which is now home to the Henry B. Plant Museum and the University of Tampa. The Turkish style of the PICO Building resembles Plant's Tampa Bay Hotel. The purpose of the PICO building was to serve travelers arriving in Sanford on the Plant railroad and steamship lines. President Calvin Coolidge stayed at the Pico Hotel when he came to Seminole County in 1929. The building was designed by local architect William T. Cotter who drew inspiration from the Romanesque Revival and Moorish Revival styles of architecture. It was built by the H. M. Papworth Construction Company. You can see the Moorish influence in the intricate geometric patterns, including stars, polygons, and arabesques. The first floor of the hotel had a restaurant, a store, a reception area, and a guest's lounge. Guest's rooms were located on the second floor. On the right side of the building there is an entry to second floor with beautiful original door. The building is characterized by high ceilings, original wooden floors, and 9 fireplaces throughout the interior. The windows have horseshoe and ogee arches. Originally the PICO building was adorned with an onion shape dome on the right corner on top of a decorative bartizan tower but sometime in the 1950's it sustained significant storm damage and was ordered to be removed by the city. In 1906, the building was remodeled and sold to the Takach family, Hungarian immigrants who operated the restaurant next door. Mr. Plant was a fan of their food so he let them take over the PICO building for their restaurant which operated for the next 50 years. After that the building was used for law offices. On June 15, 1976 the PICO Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The building is currently for sale for $1,645,999 and it comes with an osprey nesting in the chimney! The property is fitted for office space but it could it also be turned back into a hotel or even a museum.

The Winter Park Downtown Historic District is a fantastic neighborhood with its roots tracing back…read moreto 1881. The neighborhood has some great restaurants and shopping options and is close enough to downtown Orlando to make it convenient, yet far enough away to embrace its own identity and be a lot more laid back. The streets are cobblestone and just adds to the ambiance. This is a nice upscale neighborhood and gives a cool, almost small-town feel in the midst of the city of Orlando, Florida. I would definitely recommend a visit to this cool neighborhood.

Winter Park began as 8 acres of land purchased by David Mizoram Jr. in 1858 who called his purchase…read moreLakeview. The town of Winter Park was plotted when Loring Chase and Oliver Chapman purchased 600 acres in 1881. Life was given to the new town when the railroad was persuaded to extend it's line. The railroad depot built in 1882 was the towns first building. A store was built at Park Ave and Morse Blvd that housed a mercantile, post office, and assembly room. The building still stands. The town was chartered in 1887 and became a retreat for wealthy northerners looking to escape the cold climate in the winter, hence the name of the town Winter Park. The towns economy was built on entertaining winter tourists. Rollins College, the oldest college in Florida was founded here in 1885. The city was incorporated in 1925 and is governed by four city commissioners and a mayor. Today Winter Park is 9 square miles and home to approximately 28,500 residents. The town is known for it's lakes, parks, museums, and shops and restaurants along historic Park Avenue. My favorite restaurant is the Briar Patch. The Winter Park Historic District includes buildings constructed from 1882 through 1965, and it runs along Park Avenue from Canton to Comstock Avenues. Winter Park has held on to its old small town charm. Popular past times here include a boat ride on Lake Osceola, a meal on Park Avenue, and a trip to the Morse Museum. Favorite festivals include the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival and the 4th of July Celebration in Central Park. The Winter Park Historic District is a delightful mixture of the new and the old and just like in the 1800's you can still arrive by train.

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.

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.

Howey-in-the-Hills was founded by William John Howey. On May 8, 1925 Howey-in-the-Hills was…read moreincorporated as the Town of Howey. In 1927 the name was officially changed to Howey-in-the-Hills, this was done to reflect the location of the town in an area of rolling hills. The town's iconic water tower stands at an elevation of 85 feet, the fate of the water tower that was built in the 1920s has been the topic of many conversations due to some possible structural issues under full load and the aging infrastructure, well with the recent upgrades to the city's water system and the addition of a new storage tank it seems this iconic tower will be around for years to come - it will be interesting to see how the restoration will go to preserve a big part of Florida's history.