Places
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Village of West Longwood
West Longwood was the name of a social entity of families living on the west side of Mr. Henck’s town of Longwood from the 1880s to sometime around 1910. The east side of West Longwood began with the families living on the south side of Greenwood Lake (now West Lake), about where present-day Church Street makes a westerly bend out to Rangeline Road and included all the families living in the area west of there. This area started to build up around 1880. Families were probably attracted to the area as the soil was suitable for citrus, and they needed…
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The Old Hooker Place
As told to Janet A. Whitehead on January 1, 1998 by Fern Augusta Frain Whitehead It was April 2, 1896, when David and Mary Hooker first greeted their newborn daughter, Nancy Flora, in one of the bedrooms. She was to grow up to be the mother of Mrs. C. A. Whitehead, Fern Frain, a longtime Longwood resident and our historian on this old house. The family home was nothing fancy, no gingerbread or ornamentation, just an old Florida-style single-story Cracker home. Built up on high posts, with board and batten siding and wood shingles for its roof, it was built…
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Shepherd (Starbuck) Spring
Shepherd Springs is about 2,200 feet north of Palm Springs on the west side of the river. It was never developed, and a thick upland hammock surrounds it. The Little Wekiva River is adjacent to the spring, so the pool of clear water is limited. During the early decades of Longwood, travelers reached Shepherd Springs by road from Wekiva Springs Road. It was a picturesque spot for picnics, and the Boy Scouts also used it for overnight camping. It is believed the original name came from a family named Shepherd living in that area. The name was changed to Starbucks…
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Palm Springs
Palm Springs is the middle spring of the trio that lies along the Wekiva River on the west side of Markham Woods Road and just north of State Road 434. Palm Springs is the only one of the trio not bordered by the river, which is approximately 200 yards away. As a result, it forms a clear pool of water, unlike the other two, which are coffee colored by the water fromthe Little Wekiva River. The clear pool was the first choice of early settlers. Improvements were made over the years, and by the mid-teens of the 20th century, it…
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Sanlando (Hoosier) Springs
The main pool within “The Springs” subdivision was named Hoosier Springs by the early settlers in the 1870s. The spring, about 4.5 miles west of Longwood, pours out gallons of clear, 72-degree water year-round. It is the southernmost of three springs: Sanlando, Palm, and Starbucks, which lie along the Little Wekiva River for about one-half mile away. Sanlando Springs is about 500 feet north of where State Road 434 crosses the Little Wekiva River. The spring water empties into the coffee-colored Little Wekiva River, which runs along one edge of the pool. The tannins of the palmetto roots growing along…
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Northland Church
In the early nineteen sixties, Northland Church was formed in the hearts of a handful of people. These folks learned how to share their faith and were trained in discipleship and fellowship. They met on Friday evenings in private homes for Bible study, prayer, and encouragement. This group quickly grew to approximately 200. After three years of discouraging results trying to bring a spark into their church, they sensed the Lord calling them to begin a new church committed to evangelism, discipleship, and spiritual multiplication. Soon, moving from home meetings into a larger facility at the YMCA on Mills Avenue…
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Parkside Fellowship Church of the Nazarene
The roots of Parkside Fellowship of the Nazarene are found in the Fern Park and Longwood Churches of the Nazarene. Fern Park Church of the Nazarene was organized in 1957 and closed on April 19, 2003. During its history, the church had many programs for the community and its members. The largest average attendance for Fern Park was in 1983, with an average of 63. In May 2002, Pastor Scott King came to the Fern Park Church. From 2002-2003, it was realized that there was no room for expansion of the Fern Park Church’s facilities. The Longwood Church was struggling,…
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West Longwood
West Longwood was the name of a social entity of families living on the west side of Mr. Henck’s town of Longwood from the 1880s to sometime around 1910. West Longwood’s eastern boundary was considered the families living on the south side of Greenwood Lake (now West Lake), about where present-day Church Street makes a westerly bend out to Rangeline Road. It included all the families living between there and Interstate 4. This area started to develop around 1880. Families were probably attracted to the area because the soil was suitable for citrus, and they needed a larger plot of…
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The Senator
In January 2012, a fire resulting from a deliberate and thoughtless act of arson tragically destroyed the oldest existing tourist attraction in Central Florida. The cypress tree known as “The Senator” and often referred to simply as the “Big Tree” certainly predated Walt Disney World and other current attractions. The Senator was located in Big Tree Park in Seminole County’s Spring Hammock Preserve, a small preserve in Longwood between Sanford and Orlando. Its younger companion, Lady Liberty, still stands nearby. As the elder of the two, the Senator was thought to have been on the site for over 3,500 years.…
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Lewis Janitorial Supply
245 N Ronald Reagan Blvd, Longwood, FL 32750 The building was constructed in 1972. It serves as the home of Lewis Janitorial Supply.