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.