Historic Civic Center
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Bike Parking Installed at HCC
To help make the historic district more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly, the Longwood Historic Society executive board voted to install bike parking between the Historic Civic Center and the Inside-Outside House. This ring and post model is adequate for securing two bikes. Its location allows it to serve shoppers of Cottage Gift Shop, renters of the Historic Civic Center, car show and other event visitors, and members attending historic society meetings (two of whom regularly commute by bike). The executive board will monitor the utilization of this spot. If there is adequate demand and no abuse, the board may consider additional…
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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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Clearing limb and brush behind HCC
Society treasurer and trustee Tom Redditt recently proposed to the Board of Directors to open up the funds to trim a large branch hanging over the HCC building. It threatened severe damage to the building in a large storm. After receiving multiple bids, a contractor was accepted for the job. Clearing out some straggly scrub back there and clearing some space was a cheap additional cost, and the board approved it. That work has been completed. This reclaimed area of our backyard can be extremely valuable for us. The trustees suggested it for future consideration to house a storage shed.…
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Founding of the Longwood Historic Society
We owe much to the great Civil War general and our 18th President, Ulysses S. Grant. He never spent more than a day in Seminole County. The closest he came was a ceremonial visit to Sanford in 1879 to turn the first spade in the construction of the South Florida Railroad. Despite this, without him, it is likely the Longwood Historic Society would not exist, and the face of the Longwood Historic District would be dramatically different. It all started with a creative realtor. After the death of the Altamonte Springs home’s owner, Mrs. Bradlee, in 1946, the realtor decided…