The History of Maitland- Part two

In 1842 Fort Maitland was abandoned, however the settlement remained; the first settlers came the next year[1]. Orlando area was not settled until 1846; however Orlando’s population would grow far and beyond that of Maitland’s. One possible reason was Maitland was a dry town, while Orlando would come to be the center of the cattle industry[2].

Even in 1885 Maitland lacked the population to file for incorporation. The cities’ founders, Major Josiah Eaton and Lewis Lawrence who had served in the Union navy and Joseph Clark, an African American who worked for Eaton, built a collegian between the two races that allowed the city to incorporate[3].

Only a few years later Eaton would give Clark the land to establish Eatonville the first African American community to incorporate.

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[1] Jim Robison and Mark Andrews, Flashbacks: The Story of Central Florida's Past, Orlando: Orange County Historical Society and the Orlando Sentinel, 1995.

[2] Eve Bacon, Orlando: A Centennial History. Chuluota, Fla: Mickler House, 1975.

[3] Olga Fenton Mitchell, Gloria Fenton Magbie, and Marion Civette Elden, The Life and Times of Joseph E. Clark: From Slavery to Town Father (Eatonville, Florida). Jonesboro, AR: Four-G Publishers, 2003.

The History of Maitland

I hope to start the research for my final document within the next weeks. So here is a little back ground on the history of Maitland Florida. There was little or nothing in the general area of Central Florida until the mid-1800s; other than runaway slaves and Seminole Indians. The area would not begin to see white men until the beginning of the Second Seminole war when the U.S. Army established three forts in the area. General Zachary Taylor had a road built connecting a string of defenses from Lake Monroe to Fort Brooke (now Tampa). All three forts in the area would be the foundation for the first communities in Central Florida. Fort Gatlin, along the shores of modern-day Lake Gatlin south of downtown Orlando, would become the city of Orlando. The town of Mellonville was founded around Fort Mellon in 1842 by Daniel Stewart In 1845 on Lake Monroe. Mellonville would later be rename named after Col Sanford in the late 1800s. Finally there was Fort Maitland. Captain Maitland died from wound he received in battle and never saw the area that was name for him. His friends honored him by naming the fort Maitland.