LOCAL LIMELIGHT
W IN T E R GAR DEN’ S RA RELY TOLD HISTORY AUSTIN ARTHUR SITS DOWN WITH WINTER GARDEN HISTORIAN, JIM CRESCITELLI YOU'RE AN IMPORTANT PERSON FOR WINTER
THAT IS STILL OPERATING. CAN YOU TELL US
GARDEN’S PRESERVATION. WOULD YOU TELL US
ABOUT THIS?
HOW YOU GOT INVOLVED WITH THIS ADVENTURE?
Yes, in 1927 they built the Edgewater hotel to accom-
I finished college in 1978 and was attracted to Florida. I
modate tourists coming to Lake Apopka, which was the
came to Winter Park and explored. I was very curious about
Largemouth Bass Capital of the World at the time. The hotel
the area outside of Park Avenue, Disney, and Downtown
had fish gutting sinks where you could clean your catch,
Orlando. People would say, “You really don't want to go to
then hand it to the cook to prepare for your dinner! That was
West Orange County. It's very rural. They're different peo-
the first project of the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation
ple.” I said, “Well, now you've given me reason to get in the
actually, to keep the Edgewater from being demolished. You
car and go exploring…” and I did. It led to a fascination with
can now stay in the Edgewater, it’s a bed and breakfast.
the history of West Orange County. WINTER GARDEN HAS A RICH HISTORY BUT THERE HOW DID WINTER GARDEN GET ITS NAME? Farmers came here after the Three Seminole Wars,
WERE PERIODS WHERE IT WASN'T THAT WAY, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?
mainly from the Deep South in the mid-1800s. It wasn't
It's really a story of resurrection and renaissance, after
until the two railroad lines finally came through by 1899
the freezes of the 1980’s, nothing much was happening
that downtown Winter Garden formed along Plant Street.
here. But people said, you know, this is our hometown.
There are stories of train workers spitting tomato seeds
It should be alive. So in the early 1990’s they applied for
into the soil. When they returned a few weeks later, there
grants with the Main Street Program. They did improve-
were tomato plants! They would send postcards to their
ments downtown and some festivals. By 1994 the West
families telling them it's beautiful and not cold in the win-
Orange Trail came through and almost at once, tens of
ter. They wrote, “You can have a garden in the winter!”
thousands of people started biking through. By 2003,
Yeah, Winter Garden. We were a whole working commu-
they had landscaped the center and placed the Winter
nity incorporated by 1908.
Garden Clock Tower and Centennial Plaza. It took a small group of people to spread the word to a larger group of
DOWNTOWN WINTER GARDEN HAS BUILDINGS
people, that this town is worth saving and investing in…
OVER 100 YEARS OLD, INCLUDING AN OLD HOTEL
and it happened.
ARTICLE AUSTIN ARTHUR
30
Winter Garden Lifestyle | January 2021