Skip to main content

Florida Friday; Enterprise, Volusia County

Back in 2015 I visited Enterprise off the shore of Lake Monroe east of Interstate 4 in Volusia County.


Enterprise is now a quasi-ghost town which is located at what was a fortunate location along the St. Johns River watershed via Lake Monroe.  Enterprise was founded by approximately 20 settlers during 1841 near the end of the Second Seminole War.  Enterprise was meant to replace the major port of Palatka which was burned northward on the St. Johns River during the beginning of the Second Seminole War in 1835.  Enterprise was founded on land which was once part of Fort Kingsbury and would eventually become a major port along the St. Johns River.

Enterprise became the third County Seat of Mosquito County in 1843 due to it being one of the larger towns in Central Florida.  In 1844 Mosquito County split into Orange County and St. Lucia County which led to Enterprise being removed as the County Seat in 1845.  By 1854 Enterprise had a large 50 room hotel called the "Brock House" and the community became popular due to ease of access to recreational activities on Lake Monroe.  Volusia County split from Orange County in 1854 and Enterprise was selected as the first County Seat.  In 1877 Enterprise incorporated as a City but in 1887 the Volusia County Seat moved to DeLand.

In 1885 the Enterprise to Titusville spur of the Atlantic Coast, St. Johns & Indian Railroad opened.  The new line was serviced by several small towns between Enterprise and Titusville; Osteen, Cow Creek, Pennichaw and Maytown.  Enterprise remained one of the larger towns in Central Florida until an outbreak of the Yellow Fever wiped out much of the population in 1888.  Orange crop freezes in 1894 and 1895 pushed out most of the remaining residents in Enterprise which led to the community dissolving it's City Charter.

The last major industry in Enterprise was a coal power plant which opened in 1926.  Said coal power plant shuttered in 1994 and demolished in 2007.  The Enterprise to Titusville Railroad was shuttered in the 1950s along with much of the sidings listed above.  Given how close Enterprise was to communities like Deltona it managed to survive, most of the structures are from the 1880s.








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway

The communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway can all be found along US Route 101 within southern Humboldt County.  The former surface alignment of US Route 101 in Garberville and Redway once crossed the Garberville Bluffs along what is now Redwood Drive via a corridor constructed as part of the Redwood Highway during the 1910s.  US Route 101 through Benbow, Garberville and Redway was modernized by 1935.  US Route 101 would eventually be upgraded to freeway standards in Benbow, Garberville and Redway by extension of the Redwood Freeway during 1966-68.  As the cover photo the original grade of US Route 101 and the Redwood Highway can be seen at the Garberville Bluffs during 1934.  US Route 101 can be seen in the communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Humboldt County .   The history of US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway Benbow, Garberville and Redway lie on the banks of the South Fork Eel River of southern Humboldt County.  D

Highways in and around Old Sacramento; US 40, US 99W, CA 16, CA 24, CA 70, CA 99, CA 275, and more

This past weekend I was visiting the City of Sacramento for a wedding.  That being the case I decided to head out on a morning run through Old Sacramento, Jibboom Street Bridge, I Street Bridge, Tower Bridge, and path of US Route 40/US Route 99W towards the California State Capitol.  My goal was to retrace the paths of the various highways that once traversed the Old Sacramento area. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page The old highway alignments of Sacramento The City of Sacramento lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and American River in Sacramento Valley.  Sacramento Valley was discovered by Spanish Explorer Gabriel Moraga in 1808.  Moraga referred to the fertile Sacramento Valley akin to a "Blessed Sacrament."  By 1839 John Sutter Sr. settled in Mexican held

Old Stage Road in Tulare County and Kern County

Old Stage Road is an approximately 30-mile rural highway comprised of Tulare County Mountain Road 1, Kern County Mountain Road 447 and Tulare County Mountain Road 109.  Old Stage originates at Jack Ranch Road near Posey and ends at the outskirts of Porterville at Deer Creek.  Old Stage Road notably is comprised of two 19th Century stage routes.  From White Mountain Road northwest to Fountain Springs, Old Stage Road overlays Thomas Baker's 1860s era stage road to Linn Valley (now Glennville) and the Kern River Gold Rush Claims.  From Fountain Springs to Deer Creek, Old Stage Road is comprised of the 1853 Stockton-Los Angeles Road. Featured as the blog cover is the northward descent on Old Stage Road along Arrastre Creek to the town site of White River.  What became White River was settled along a spur of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road as "Dog Town" when gold was discovered nearby.  By 1856 the community had been renamed Tailholt.  A stage road from Tailholt to Linn Valley w