Places
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Longwood Inn
Longwood founder Edward Warren Henck commissioned Josiah B. Clouser to construct the hotel in 1883. This was Henck’s second hotel in Longwood, having just completed the first (“Original Longwood Hotel”) on East Warren Avenue earlier that year. This large frame Vernacular-style building was mainly completed in 1885. Orlando realtor John Sinclair listed it for sale that year at a price that was a “large sacrifice.” Sinclair represented that it could be completed within 30 days. It was purchased by Carlos Cushing, who finished the construction in 1886. Cushing named it “The Waltham,” after a district in Boston. Cushing lived on…
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Christ Church
Prior to the existence of Christ Church, the first Episcopal congregation started in Longwood in 1877. The first baby baptized with that group is known to be Annie Rand on Easter in 1877. The still existent Christ Church Episcopal was incorporated in 1879. The first building was a small log schoolhouse, located about a quarter mile on the property of Edward Henck, close to Magnolia Avenue and Freeman Street. It was used from 1879 through 1881. The present building was erected in 1881. As such, it is the oldest continuously operating church in Seminole County. It is an oblong, gray-frame building with…
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Longwood Community Building
Although this building looks old, it was actually built in 2002. It serves today as an events venue and host for many community gatherings. It can be rented out for wedding receptions and such. Its design is obviously inspired by others in the historic district, and it is especially influenced by the Bradlee-McIntyre House with its Queen Anne style architecture. This is especially evident in the tower, shiplap-esque siding, wrap-around porch, and the decorative touches along the roofline. The front section is the original location of the JD & NJ Lewis House and the back section was where Clouser’s Cabinet…
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Niemeyer House
Fred J. Niemeyer moved to Longwood in 1885. He met and married the daughter of master carpenter Josiah Clouser, Frances Catherine Clouser Niemeyer. The home was constructed for the couple in 1889, and built as a collaboration by Fred and Josiah. They called it “Keystone” because it was such a prominent structure in town. The Niemeyer family resided there for many years. The Hopkins family moved into the home in 1952 and resided there for many decades. It became known as the “Hopkins House” and had a sign over the front porch with that name up until the early 2010s. The original…
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Dunbar’s Garage and Clouser’s Cabinet Shop
The core of the front section was constructed in 1892 as Dunbar’s Garage. For 38 years, it was the shop of John H Dunbar. He did various repairs and built things out of wood, including fruit crates. John and his daughter Elsie owned this shop and lived next door in the JD & NJ Lewis House, where the Longwood Community Building now sits. The original part of the house is the section under the second-floor loft windows. The other wings were later additions, added at various stages after the small shop was converted into a residence. John was born in…
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Clouser House
Construction of this beautiful home started in 1882 and it was completed over the next seven years. It was the second residence in Longwood for master carpenter Josiah B. Clouser and family. Their first home was the hastily built Clouser Cottage, which still exists immediately behind it. This house was a much better exhibition of his skills as a craftsman. The family moved into this still incomplete home in 1885, eager to get out of the smaller cottage. Phyllis and Tom Kidder purchased the home in 1975 for $25,000 from Betty McLeod and Dorothy Pearson. They shopped weekends to find fitting…
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Baptist Parsonage
The home was originally constructed in 1890 in the community of West Longwood, which was located near West Church Avenue and Rangeline Road (Stum’s Corner). Then a considered a separate town, it was largely abandoned after the 1895 Great Freeze. The house had been moved to its current location by 1911 to serve as the parsonage for the Baptist Church, which was located on the adjacent lot. Although the lower pitched roof additions obscure it’s form, the L-shaped core of this structure, capped by the higher pitched roof with its central chimney, is the original house In 1911, John Bistline…
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242 Bay Ave
This home was built around 1920. The front section of the home is original, with its central chimney and front porch (now enclosed). The back sections were later additions and the original stucco has been covered by wood siding. It was a rectangular plan home with a hipped-roof that covered the house and porch. Cassius E. and Anna Gibbons Davis lived here from 1956 until Anna’s death in 1967. She was originally from Oil City, PA. Her husband, Cassius, died in 1961. He was originally from Oxford, Michigan and worked many years for the Pontiac division of General Motors.
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Arnett House
212 W Bay Ave, Longwood, FL 32750 This home was built in 1930 by Ms. Lossie Arnett Cramer using lumber from an earlier two-story home on the lot. The modest structure is constructed in the Frame Vernacular style. It has details of the Bungalow style, such as the tapered wood columns resting on brick piers, a prominent exterior chimney, and exposed roof rafters. Some sources say this home was built earlier; however, Seminole County records date it to 1930. The Arnett-Cramer family had lived in Longwood since at least the 1890s. Lossie married Longwood resident Wesley J. Cramer in 1900 but…
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Tunis Lewis House
This home was built in 1914 constructed by Daniel Clouser (the younger brother of Josiah B. Clouser) for his mother, Sallie Clouser Lewis. She was a widow at the time and her son, Tunis Lewis, lived with her. During the twenties, Sallie remarried to prominent local Charles Entzminger. Tunis Lewis was in his early twenties when they moved into the house. He was well known around Longwood as a notary, tax collector, and telephone operator. In extremely poor taste by modern standard, minstrel (blackface) comedy performances were popular in local talent expeditions. Tunis was noted as the town’s regular blackface…