Orlando, Florida

===Settlement===

In 1823, the [[Treaty of Moultrie Creek]] created a [[Seminole]] reservation encompassing much of central Florida, including the area that would become Orlando. The [[Indian Removal Act]] of 1830 authorized relocation of the Seminole from Florida to Oklahoma, leading to the Second Seminole War. In 1842, white settlement in the area was encouraged by the Armed Occupation Act. The first settler, Mr. [[Aaron Jernigan]] of Camden County, Georgia, arrived the following year and settled near Lake Holden.

[[File:Orlando Mizell-Leu House Hist Dist03.jpg|thumb|Mizell-Leu House (built 1888), a fine example of Florida Vernacular Style Architecture. The home is located in the Mizell-Leu House Historic District.]]

[[Mosquito County]] was renamed Orange County in 1845, with the county seat shortly thereafter relocated to Mellonville, a few miles west of [[Sanford, Florida|Sanford]]. By 1856, settlement had begun in earnest in the interior of the county and a more centrally-located Courthouse was sought. The new town of Orlando, laid out in 1857,<ref name=FLhistorical /> consisted of four streets surrounding a courthouse square. The fledgling village suffered greatly during the [[Union blockade]]. The [[Reconstruction Era]] brought on a population explosion, resulting in the incorporation of the Town of Orlando on July 31, 1875, with 85 residents (22 voters). For a short time in 1879, the town revoked its charter, and was subsequently reincorporated.<ref name="Historic Orange County:The Story of Orlando and Orange County">{{cite book |last=Mosier |first=Tana |date=2009 |title=Historic Orange County:The Story of Orlando and Orange County |url=http://hpnbooks.com/wordpress/?p=1372 |location=Texas |publisher=Mahler Books |page=51 |isbn=9781893619999 }}</ref> Orlando was established as a city in 1885.<ref>[http://www.cityoforlando.net/about_orlando.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314190141/http://www.cityoforlando.net/about_orlando.htm|date=March 14, 2014}}</ref>

The period from 1875 to 1895 is remembered as Orlando's Golden Era, when it became the hub of Florida's [[citrus]] industry. The period ended with the [[Great Freeze|Great Freeze of 1894–95]], which forced many owners to give up their independent citrus [[Grove (nature)|grove]]s, thus consolidating holdings in the hands of a few "citrus barons", who shifted operations south, primarily around [[Lake Wales, Florida|Lake Wales]] in [[Polk County, Florida|Polk County]].<ref name=travel /> The freeze caused many in Florida, including many Orlandoans, to move elsewhere, mostly to [[Northern United States|the North]], [[California]], or the [[Caribbean]].
[[File:The Wyoming, Orlando, FL.jpg|thumb|right|The Wyoming Hotel, c. 1905]]
Notable homesteaders in the area included the Curry family. Through their property in east Orlando flowed the [[Econlockhatchee River]], which travelers crossed by [[ford (crossing)|fording]]. This was commemorated by the street's name, Curry Ford Road. Also, just south of the [[Orlando International Airport]] in the Boggy Creek area are {{convert|150|acre|km2}} of property homesteaded in the late 19th century by the Ward family. This property is still owned by the Ward family, and can be seen from southbound flights out of Orlando International Airport immediately on the south side of SR 417.