Skip to main content

Florida State Road 50 Part 3; Lake County

Picking up from Part 2 of the Florida State Road 50 series Part 3 covers the sections of the highway headed eastward through Lake County.


Part 1 of the Florida State Road 50 series covered Hernando County and can be found below:

Florida State Road 50 Part 1; Hernando County

Part 2 of the Florida State Road 50 series covered Sumter County and can be found below:

Florida State Road 50 Part 2; Sumter County 

As stated in Part 2 the route of FL 50 east enters Lake County shortly past CR 469.  FL 50 east enters the small community of Sloans Ridge upon reaching Lake County.



Immediately east of Sloan's Ridge FL 50 enters Stuckey.


Stuckey was a small siding of the Orange Belt Railway.   There are various older structures which can be found on the Stuckey Loop dating back to a much earlier era of Florida.





East of Stuckey FL 50 enters the City of Mascotte.


Near Lake Jackson the route of the Orange Belt Railway crossed over from the south side of FL 50 to the north side.  Much of the route of FL 50 westbound in Mascotte is lined with abandoned buildings that were serviced by the railroad.

As FL 50 east enters downtown Mascotte on Myers Boulevard where it meets CR 565 at Bay Lake Road.



As FL 50 east approaches CR 33 at Bluff Lake Road it expands back out to four lanes.  CR 33 is a fairly recently relinquished part of FL 33.





Immediately east of CR 33 the route of FL 50 in Mascotte has Clermont signed 8 miles away and Orlando 30 miles away.


FL 50 east enters the City of Groveland as Broad Street and junctions the northern segment of CR 565 at Villa City Road.



In downtown Groveland the route of FL 50 splits into dual one-way configurations.  At Howey Road FL 50 east meets the south terminus of FL 19 which is signed as a "TO" route for Florida's Turnpike.  The Groveland Rail Depot is located just off the former Orange Belt Railway right of way on the northwest corner of FL 50 west and FL 19.






East of downtown Groveland FL 50 converges back together and meets FL 33.



Clermont is signed as 6 miles east on FL 50 past FL 33.


At Monte Vista Road FL 50 east meets the south segment of CR 565A.


Less than a mile from the south segment of CR 565A the route of FL 50 east meets the north segment.


The north segment of CR 565A was part of the original route of FL 50 through Lake County.  FL 50 originally utilized the following roadways to reach Orange County from Groveland which can be seen on the 1936 Lake County Road map in Part 1:

-  CR 565A to CR 561 on the west shore of Lake Minneola.
-  CR 561 to Lake Shore Drive on the northeast shore of Lake Minneola in the City of Minneola.
-  Lake Shore Drive in Minneola to Washington Street.
-  Washington Street to County Route Old Highway 50 (yes that's what it is designated) in Clermont.
-  CR Old Highway 50 to the Orange County line near the Town of Oakland.

Modern FL 50 is far more direct and is routed on the south shore of Lake Minneola east of CR 565A.  Off in the distance eastward the Florida Citrus Tower can be seen from FL 50.



At Palatlakaha Creek FL 50 east enters the City of Clermont.



At 12th Street FL 50 east meets CR 561.  East of CR 561 the route of FL 50 is signed with Winter Garden being 12 miles away with Orlando shown as 23 miles.



East of downtown Clermont FL 50 east meets US Route 27.  US 27 is elevated above FL 50 on an overpass.




The Florida Citrus Tower is located about a mile north of FL 50 on US 27 at Citrus Tower Boulevard.


The Florida Citrus Tower is a 226 foot tall structure which has a commanding view of the surrounding terrain of Central Florida.  The Florida Citrus Tower was completed in 1956 and once attracted 500,000 annual visitors a year.


To the North there is a striking view of the US 27 expressway looking towards Howey and Sugarloaf Mountain.






To the east Orlando can be seen 23 miles away.



Southward US 27 can be seen heading towards Disney World.



To the west Lake Minneola can be seen.



Immediately east of US 27 the route of FL 50 has Orlando signed as 21 miles away.


FL 50 east in Clermont east of US 27 rises high above the surrounding terrain to an elevation over 200 feet above sea level.  Downtown Orlando can be faintly seen off to the east.


At Hartle Road the route of FL 50 east meets CR 455.



At Lake Boulevard the route to the Orange Trail is signed from FL 50 east.  Lake Boulevard connects directly to CR Old Highway 50 just short of the Orange County Line.  The Orange Trail was built on the former grade of the Orange Belt Railway.


FL 50 east enters the Town of Oakland and Orange County.  FL 50 starting in Oakland is routed on Colonial Drive.



Part 4 of the Florida State Road 50 series covers the highway through Orange and Brevard County. 

Florida State Road 50 Part 4; Orange County and Brevard County

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue.  Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue.  During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange.  This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned.  Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains.   The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road.  This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection.  Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue...

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...