Most cities during Florida’s wood-framed pioneer days experienced devastating fires. For example, the 1887 Great Sanford Fire destroyed most of the town’s earliest buildings. Oviedo’s struck in 1914. Thankfully, this never happened in Longwood, and because of this, there are many examples of pre-1900 buildings in the historic district. However, that fate was only narrowly avoided.
On September 30, 1899, the townspeople of Longwood hurried to the scene of a blaze at the Florida Midland Railroad depot (north of The Shoppes at Longwood Station Plaza today). Sparks from a northbound freight train ignited the train platform. Since there was no fire department, buckets of water were hand-pumped from wells, shuttled, and tossed onto the burning building.
Residents worried about the strong east winds, which carried embers high into the air. The blaze could quickly spread to the surrounding town! Thankfully, the makeshift fire brigade was successful, and the town breathed a sigh of relief. Only the depot and a few surrounding outbuildings were lost.
Fred Niemeyer returned home, exhausted from the heat and exertion. His house still exists at the intersection of Warren and Wilma, a quarter-mile from the former location of the Florida Midland Depot.
As he lay down for bed, Fred found a charred remnant of a roof shingle on his bed sheets. The wind had carried it this great distance but somehow missed lighting any homes or trees lining the downtown neighborhood. The small village of Longwood
escaped a very real threat of much greater catastrophe.