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A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q S T V W Z
Choose the first letter of a city name to see its Great Floridians.
Okeechobee | Oldsmar | Orange City | Orchid | Orlando | Ormond Beach | Osprey
Okeechobee (Central East)
Peter Raulerson, Florida pioneer, was born in 1857 and came to what was then Tanti, and is now Okeechobee, in October 1896. He was the second postmaster for Tanti and carried the mail on horseback for 18 months from Ft. Drum to establish a Star Route. Governor Park Trammel appointed him the first mayor of Okeechobee City, which was incorporated June 4, 1915. He served as the first county commissioner from the area when St. Lucie County was first established and was a trustee for the first brick school constructed in 1916. Peter Raulerson died October 9, 1947. His Great Floridian plaque is located at Okeechobee City Hall, 55 S.E. 3rd Avenue, Okeechobee.
Oldsmar (Central West)
Ransom Eli Olds, born in 1864, was the inventor of the Oldsmobile and REO automobiles. In 1913, he purchased 37,541 acres of land in North Tampa Bay for $400,000. He designed a well-platted community, now known as Oldsmar, with tree-lined boulevards leading from the bay to downtown. Advertisements glorifying the virtues of Oldsmar were placed in Detroit papers, using the slogan "Oldsmar for Health, Wealth and Happiness." A sawmill and foundry that made cast iron engines for tractors and grove heaters were established. The mill produced the Olds Chair, a sturdy chair similar to the Adirondack Chair. Olds had more than $4.5 million invested in his city by 1923, when he started liquidating his assets, just as the Florida land boom was beginning. He suffered a financial loss of nearly $3,000,000, but his vision laid the foundation for the modern community of Oldsmar. Ransom Eli Olds died in 1950. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Oldsmar Public Library, 101 State Street, Oldsmar.
Orange City (East Central)
Dr. Francis Dickinson was born January 9, 1856 in Chicago, Illinois, where she became a doctor and surgeon. Dr. Dickinson came to Orange City to improve her health. She became a prominent citizen, benefactor and philanthropist. She was first associated with Lois Leavitt in the real estate business circa 1900. Later she bought 160 acres of land southwest of town and built a home and library. She cleared 100 acres for an airport and called it Betsy Ross Airport. Dickinson championed women’s voting rights. The result was Orange City was the first in the area where women were allowed to register and vote. Dr. Francis Dickinson died in 1945. Her Great Floridian plaque is located at the Albertus Cottage, corner of Rose and Holly Avenues, Orange City.
Dr. Seth French was born May 7, 1824. A physician from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, French purchased 8,000 acres in Volusia County adjacent to Blue Spring in 1874. He made several trips back to Eau Claire bringing with him settlers, known as the Wisconsin Company. This marked the beginning of Orange City. In 1876, the community organized the first public school in Volusia County. In 1879, Dr. French was elected to the Florida Senate, where he was instrumental in establishing the Florida Bureau of Immigration and publishing the booklet Florida As It Is. In 1881 Governor George Drew appointed him Commissioner of Immigration. When President Grant toured Florida in 1880, Dr. French accompanied him along with George Barbour of the Chicago Times. Barbour’s book, Florida for Tourists, Invalids and Settlers published in 1882, features Dr. French and was an early example of Florida promotional literature. Dr. French was also involved in the development of Sanford. He died January 29, 1896. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Seth French Home, 319 East Graves Avenue, Orange City.
Orchid (Central East)
Alfred Benjamin "A. B." Michael, considered the "Dean of the Florida Citrus Industry," was born August 28, 1877 in Paw Paw, West Virginia. He moved to Florida with his parents in 1886. At the age of 13, he became ship’s cook on a two-masted schooner and by the age of 17 was captain, a position he held until 1900. In 1902 he started a citrus grove on Orchid Isle near Wabasso. In 1917, he consolidated his holdings with the Deerfield Grove Co. of Cocoa and assumed full control of the company two years later. His Orchid Island grapefruit were shipped throughout the world. Michael was a founding director of the American Fruit Growers and the Florida Citrus Mutual, and was a charter member of the Indian River Citrus League. He also served on the Everglades National Park Commission and on the Florida State Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Alfred Benjamin Michael died February 26, 1964. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Town of Orchid Town Hall, 9970 North A1A, Orchid.
Orlando (Central)
Martin Andersen, born in 1897, was a high school dropout from Mississippi who became the editor and owner of The Orlando Sentinel. At the age of 15, he quit school and worked for several newspapers in the South and Southwest. There he met Texas newspaper magnate Charles E. Marsh who sent him to run The Orlando Morning Sentinel and the Evening Reporter-Star. Within a few years Anderson owned the newspapers. He exerted his personal and editorial influence with elected officials and the public. Anderson demanded and got a road network and airport for central Florida, which helped persuade Walt Disney to locate Walt Disney World and EPCOT in the state. He also revived interest in a port at Cape Canaveral. Through his friendship with President Lyndon B. Johnson, Orlando received a Naval Recruit Training Station. In 1958, Florida Trend magazine named Andersen as one of Florida’s six most influential men. Martin Andersen died in 1986. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Orlando Sentinel building, 633 North Orange Avenue, Orlando.
William A. (Bill) McCree, Jr. was born in Newton, Texas in 1913 and came to Orlando in 1926. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1936 with a degree in civil engineering. He became a general contractor with his father and became president of W.A. McCree, Inc., General Contractors, in 1953. His company built custom residences, churches and commercial projects, including an addition to the Citrus Bowl. McCree served on Orlando’s Municipal Planning Board beginning in 1954 and became chairman in 1958. During his chairmanship the board accepted its first comprehensive development plan and the first arterial street plan for the city. He also prepared a comprehensive capital improvements program and served on the Interstate-4 planning committee. William McCree died in 1996. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Loch Haven Park Neighborhood Center, 610 Lake Formosa Drive, Orlando.
Walter C. Meloon was born in 1893 and brought his family to central Florida in 1925. That year he founded the Florida Variety Boat Company which in 1936 became Correct Craft. Correct Craft boats were featured in the first water-ski show and tournament. During World War II Correct Craft produced 400 boats for the Army, all ahead of schedule. For this, the company was awarded the Army and Navy "E" award in 1945. The company introduced Ski Nautique in 1951, revolutionizing the industry. In April 2000, Correct Craft celebrated its 75th anniversary, making it the oldest family-owned and operated boat manufacturer in the world. Walter C. Melon died in 1974. His Great Floridian plaque is located at Correct Craft, Inc., 5717 South Orange Avenue, Orlando.
Ormond Beach (Central East)
Oakes Ames, born in 1874, was considered the world’s leading authority on orchids. Professor Ames was on the Harvard faculty from 1900 through the 1940s. He was a founding director of the American Orchid Society. From 1920 through 1950 he maintained a residence in Ormond Beach where he pursued his study of orchids and other plants. In 1947, he and his wife Blanche Ames collaborated on the book Drawings of Florida Orchids, still considered a classic. Professor Ames authored over twenty books and hundreds of articles on orchids and economic botany. He was director of the Arnold Arboretum and curator and director of the Harvard Botanical Museum. He was a friend of David Fairchild, for whom the Miami Fairchild Garden was named. The Oakes Ames Herbarium at Harvard University is considered the most important collection of orchid specimens in the world. He died in 1950. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Ames Park Cottage, 173 South Beach Street, Ormond Beach.
John Anderson, born August 6, 1853, is considered Ormond Beach’s greatest promoter. He came to the city, then called New Britain, in 1876 from New York City. From 1876 to 1878 and 1881 to 1882 he was Volusia County tax assessor. He built the Santa Lucia Plantation and, in 1888, the Hotel Ormond. Anderson also built Volusia County’s first golf course. His friendship with James Ormond III led to the proposal to name the community after the Ormond family, rather than to use the name New Britain. In 1902, along with Joseph Price, he organized the first auto-racing tournament on the beach. He later promoted a professional baseball team in Ormond Beach. John Anderson died February 17, 1911. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Hotel Ormond Cupola, Fortunato Park, 2 John Anderson Highway, Ormond Beach.
Eileen Butts was born in 1897 in Detroit, Michigan. She and her husband moved to Ormond Beach in 1936 and purchased the Lindsay Estate. Mrs. Butts collected botanical specimens. There are more than 3,000 specimens of Florida wildflowers currently listed in her name in the Gray (Oaks Ames) Herbarium at Harvard University. In Ormond Beach, she helped create Tomoka State Park, erect the Fred Dana Marsh Fountain in the park, preserve the Bulow Ruins (Bulow State Park) and construct the Ormond Memorial Art Gallery. In the 1970s, when John D. Rockefeller’s home, The Casements, faced demolition, Butts helped raise money to restore it. She was a member of the Halifax Historical Society, Civic Music Association, Daytona Beach Symphony, Bethune-Cookman College Advisory Board and chairman of the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials. In 1973 the Florida Senate and House recognized her for lifetime service to Ormond Beach and to the State of Florida. Eileen Butts died in 1991. Her Great Floridian plaque is located at Lisnaroe, 253 John Anderson Highway, Ormond Beach.
James Carnell was born September 30, 1849 in Leicester, England. His family moved to Connecticut in the 1850s. In 1875, he moved to Florida as a member of the New Britain settlement, which became the city of Ormond Beach in 1880. He married in 1879 and had three sons. Carnell’s first business in Ormond Beach was an orange grove which was destroyed in the freeze of 1895. He then organized the Carnell Jelly Factory that for 25 years produced guava jelly, citrus marmalades and preserved tropical fruits. He encouraged farmers to grow fruits, especially figs. He also operated a successful real estate business. He served on the City Council and as postmaster. He was one of the original members of the Ormond Yacht club. James Carnell died in 1917. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Veranda beauty Salon (former Carnell House), 40 North Beach Street, Ormond Beach.
Charles McNary was born February 20, 1845. When his father retired from the Corbin Lock Company in New Britain, Connecticut, the family moved to New Britain, Florida and built a home. One of McNary’s first jobs was to count the votes concerning incorporation of the community and the selection of its name. He was later elected alderman, councilman, mayor and justice of the peace. The first meeting of the Ormond City Council was held at the McNary home, May 8, 1880. Charles McNary died on August 16, 1921. His Great Floridian plaque is located at 166 North Beach Street, Ormond Beach.
Joseph Price was born in 1853 and came to Florida from Covington, Kentucky, where he had been a civil engineer. Upon his arrival in Ormond Beach (then New Britain) he met John Anderson, and the two men became friends and partners. After the St. Johns and Halifax River Railroad arrived in Ormond in 1886, Anderson and Price built the Hotel Ormond on the peninsula side of the river. The 75-room hotel opened in 1888 and was sold to Henry Flagler in 1891 who retained Price as manager. Price was also president of the Anderson & Price Hotel Company and owner of Bretton Hall, a hotel in New York City. In 1903 Price and Anderson promoted the world’s first automobile races on the beach at Ormond. Price served as County commissioner in 1880 and 1881 and was elected mayor of Ormond in 1911. He died in 1911. His Great Floridian plaque is located at 311 John Anderson Highway, Ormond Beach.
John D. Rockefeller, Sr., was born in 1839 in Richford, New York. Looking for a place to spend his winters, he settled on the community of Ormond on the Atlantic coast 1910. As a residence he chose the Hotel Ormond, owned by fellow oil magnate Henry Flagler. In 1918, Rockefeller purchased a home called "The Casements," where he lived until his death in 1937 at the age of 97. Until his move to Ormond, Rockefeller was less than admired due to his dealings in the oil refining business. But after retiring from Standard Oil and settling at The Casements, he was accepted by the locals and was greatly admired for his philanthropic gifts. John D. Rockefeller’s Great Floridian plaque is located at The Casements, 25 Riverside Drive, Ormond Beach.
Edith Stanton was born in 1875 and came to Ormond Beach with her uncle, William Foulke and his two daughters. The Foulkes lived in "Foulke Haven," the first permanent house built on the beach in Ormond. She attended Rollins College in Winter Park which necessitated a journey by surrey, sailboat and railroad. During the early 1890s she taught school at Seabreeze in a one-room schoolhouse, and then in the old courthouse at Enterprise. She later worked in Philadelphia as a bookkeeper and as an investigator for Children’s Aid in Baltimore. She returned to Ormond, married and wrote articles for newspapers and magazines about the pioneer days. In 1949 she published Ruins of the Early Plantations of the Halifax Area, after collecting data, letters and newspaper clippings about the early days of the Ormond colony. Edith Stanton died in 1962. Her Great Floridian plaque is located at 174 Grove Street, Ormond Beach.
Osprey (Southwest)
Elsa Scherer Burrows was born in 1884 and was responsible for the creation and preservation of the 1,384-acre Oscar Scherer Park, once part of the South Creek Ranch. The park, managed by the Florida Park Service, is almost completely surrounded by urban development. It is one of the few places in Sarasota County where the threatened Florida Scrub Jay has enough habitat to maintain a healthy population. Besides numerous passive recreational activities including canoeing, picnicking, hiking, swimming and nature study, the park is also a popular camping destination. More than 130,000 visitors see it each year. Mrs. Burrows willed the park, then 462 acres, to the State of Florida when she died in 1955, naming it in memory of her father, Oscar Scherer. Her Great Floridian plaque is located at the Oscar Scherer State Park, 1843 South Tamiami Trail, Osprey
A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q S T V W Z
Choose the first letter of a city name to see its Great Floridians.