1872-1910 - Astatula and Howey - Our Neighbors to the North
Excerpt from “Pioneers of Lake County” BY William F. Gouveia (1989) P. 3 ASTATULA Astatula is an Indian name meaning either'sparkling waters, 'tinted waters, or rainbow waters'. according to Professor Kennedy's book, "History of Lake County. It was settled in 1872 by T. A. and Mary C. Hux. They purchased property in the area from Col. John M. Bryan and began raising cotton, sugarcane and citrus. It was Mr. Hux's corn that fed the laborers installing the new railroad from Astor to Ft. Mason. Mr. Hux was also a cattleman who drove his cattle to Tampa for shipment to Cuba. Three stores were established by Mr. Kern, A. C. Wright and Bryant Summerall father of Charles P. Summerall who would later win fame as Army Chief of Staff. The Summeralls lived in Astatula in a two-story house and young Charles and his brother, Will attended school in a 16' × 20' schoolhouse. The School furnishings were crude benches hewn from logs. The Summerall family left Astatula when their boys completed the 8th grade at the Astatula schoolhouse. The school teacher was Mrs. Dunn whose son, Royal C. Dunn, later became a Florida Railroad Commissioner. In the 1880s, O. A. Wells established a sawmill on Little Lake Harris. E. D. Miller, a New Yorker, built a hotel in Astatula that survived only three seasons before burning The Astatula of pioneer days was sparsely inhabited and humans were outnumbered by bears, foxes and panthers. Such a threat did the bears post to livestock that residents had to form a weekly bear hunting club. On December 8, 1884 the Astatula Post Office was created with Daniel W. Lowell as the first Postmaster. On October 11, 1895, Mr. and Mrs. Hux donated land for the Asta- tula Cemetery. Around 1900, F. E. Reaves arrived and built a sawmill and established the F. E. Reaves Mercantile Co. selling supplies to local farmers and residents. On May 5, 1927 the town was incorporated. Voters selected the name, "Astatula" by a vote of 30 to 9 naming the town after nearby Lake Astatula, now called Little Lake Harris. Excerpt from “Pioneers of Lake County” BY William F. Gouveia (1989) P. 23 HOW EY-IN-THE-HILLS Originally called "Joiners Wharm," Howey-in-the-Hills was little more than an unpopulated cattle and timber wilderness until the arrival of William J. Howey in 1910. No town in Lake County can be more closely associated with one individual than Howey- in-the-Hills. William J. Howey was born in Illinois in 1876 and sold insurance throughout the South. He began developing towns along Oklahoma railroad right-of-ways about 1900. In 1903 he formed the Howey Automobile Company of Kansas City, Missouri, but returned to the land development business in 1905 when he purchased a large tract in Mexico. The Mexican Revolution in 1907 ended Howey's land development scheme and he moved to Florida Howey first moved to Polk County where he founded the towns of Lake Hamilton, Dundee and Starr Lake. He also developed 50,000 acres of citrus groves in Polk County. In 1916 he purchased 60,000 acres in Lake County which he planted with citrus, and in 1920 founde the town of Howey-in-the-Hills which served as the headquarters of his empire. He built wooden bridge across Little Lake Harris in 1926. During a twenty-year period - 1909 tó 1929 - Howey Enterprises sold Florida lands to 25,000 people. In 1924 Howey and his wife, Mary Hastings Howey, called on Katherine C. Budd, a prominent female architect, to help them build their dream house. The mansion was completed in 1925. It became a showplace and entertained numerous very important people including nationally prominent politicians and businessmen. The town of Howey-in-the-Hills became the home of Howey-in-the-Hills Juice Company the Ridge Holding Company, the Orange Belt Securities Company and Howey Hotels Company. Ir. Howey was a director of the Tavares and Gulf (T&G) Railroad,Bankers National Life Insurance Company, Howey Building and Loan Exchange and the Florida Citrus Exchange. On March 8, 1916 the Howey Post Office was established with Leon Low as the first Postmaster. The town was incorporated in May 8, 1925 as "Howey" and the name was changer to "Howey-in-the-Hills" in 1927. William Howey served unopposed as town mayor from the date of incorporation until 1936, two years before his death. In 1928 and again in 1932 Howey ran unsuccessfully as the Florida Republican Gubernatorial standard bearer. A1- though he lost the election his candidacy led to the rebirth of the Florida Republican Party which he headed until his death on June 7, 1938. The Howey Mansion is the architectural wonder of Lake County. The fifteen-room Mediterrean-style home was built by expert American and European craftsmen. In its day, it witnessed many lavish parties including one for former President Calvin Coolidge. The botanical garden attached to the house, known as the "Park, " was the scene of a command performance in 1927 by the New York Opera with 16,000 guests in attendance. Mrs. Howey continued to reside in the mansion after her husband's death. Her tastes were reflected in the sumptuous European furnishings that adorned the house. Her guid- ing hand led to the house later being placed on the state and national historic register: A fixture in the religious life of the community since 1920 has been the Yoder Memorial Community Church which is non-sectarian. In 1928 the Carl Yoder family made a generous donation and the name was changed from the Howey-in-the-Hills Community Church to the Yoder Memorial Community Church. In later years citrus pioneer C. V. Griffin, Sr. took over where Mr. Howey left off. Griffin came to Florida in the 1920s from Kansas. He attended the University of Florida briefly and, with a loan from the Atlantic Coastline Railroad, converted the Howey Juice Plant to the Vaughn Griffin Packing Company. Through his efforts the Silver Springs Citrus Coop Juice Plant flourished. He established a private truck line to distribute fruit to remote areas. He helped form the United Growers and Shippers Association and he was instrumental in creating the Florida Citrus Commission. He was responsible for the new bridge built over Little Lake Harris in 1950.[Contributors: Jason Brown]