ORLANDO, Fla. – Note: This story is originally a special episode of the News 6 podcast Your Florida Daily. Tap the player above to listen.
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WKMG hits the road to Downtown Orlando this month — specifically the 32801 zip code.
Orlando has become synonymous with Disney World and other theme parks, but Central Floridians know the real city is far away from the roller coasters and people movers.
The area we’re focusing on is in Downtown Orlando, the Thornton Park neighborhood, and what’s now known as the Creative Village — a mixed-use development just west of I-4.
But have you heard of Mayor Carl T. Langford Park?
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Since 2003, Buddy Dyer has been the mayor of Orlando, and Floridians likely don’t remember the city’s second-longest serving mayor for which the park is named.
Carl Langford was a businessman known for sporting a bushy mustache and pipe who had no political experience before leading the city through the opening of Disney World, population booms, and negotiating the purchase of what would become Orlando International Airport.
For a history lesson, Orange County Regional History Center historian Rachel Williams shared facts and stories from the former mayor’s life.
“I’m both an oral historian and a researcher,” Williams explained.
She says Mayor Langford grew up in Orlando, attained the rare rank of Eagle Scout, and later went to the University of Florida.
“He was at UF to get a degree in accounting, but he almost flunked out and decided ‘maybe this isn’t for me’ and started working.”
Langford started a construction company with a friend and built many houses in Orlando — some of which still stand today. He later went on to serve as an Army major in World War II.
“He was actually Orlando’s first Selective Service drafty,” Williams said.
Langford was sworn in on March 7, 1967, after a special election to fill the vacancy left when Mayor Bob Carr died in office. Back then, the job as Orlando Mayor paid $15,000 a year.
Williams said she was curious about what that spending power would be today when calculated for inflation.
“That’s $140,000.″
Records show Buddy Dyer currently makes north of $230,000.
Langford wrote an autobiography during his time in office which paints a picture of Langford’s unique personality and sense of humor.
The book is titled, “Hizzoner the Mayor: A Novel.”
“Like ‘his honor’. Yeah. But it’s Hizzoner with a ‘z’. Yeah — eccentric,” Williams says with a smile.
Langford was different. On his first day as mayor, one story goes that he yanked his office door off its hinges as a way to literally keep an open-door policy with his constituents.
“And he’s like, ‘we’re not doing this anymore. If anyone wants to talk to me, everyone else can hear it’ kind of thing. Which I’m sure there were some people in his group that were not happy about that. But you know, he does what he wants. He’s the mayor.”
During the Civil Rights Movement, Mayor Langston promoted the inclusion of African Americans in the city police academy and the fire department — officially becoming the first city in Florida to hire Black firemen.
Orlando Fire Department TrailblazersFifty years ago this month, the first six African American firefighters joined the Orlando Fire Department. We're proud to recognize these trailblazers and others who played an important role in OFD's history.
Posted by City of Orlando - Government on Friday, June 15, 2018
You can’t talk about Mayor Langford without talking about his success in acquiring the land that is now home to Orlando International Airport, which has a designator code ‘MCO’.
“Originally MCO is there because it was McCoy Air Force Base,” Williams said.
Langford was adamant about getting more commercial flights in and out of Orlando even before Disney World. The current executive airport near downtown wasn’t large enough.
“When McCoy closed, he had the city buy it for a dollar,” Williams said.
Yes — $1.
Through some kind of government finagling, Lanford acquired what would become Orlando International Airport.
Listen to WKMG Hits the Road: Downtown Orlando, a special episode of the News 6 podcast Your Florida Daily. Tap the player above to listen.
At the time, the city was booming. Disney World opened in 1971 and people were moving to Central Florida in droves.
“People started moving more and more outside of this downtown hub and [they] were becoming more reliant on cars,” Williams said. “Putting [Colonial Plaza] in more East Orlando, you start to see shifts away from downtown and start to see expansion even in the 1950s.”
Mayor Langford served until 1980 and shortly after leaving office, he left Florida. He packed up his stuff and moved to North Carolina and was quoted as saying Orlando was “too hot, too humid and too crowded.”
A couple decades later, though, he decided to move back.
“He wanted to come back home, despite the heat and despite the crowdedness. And I think in his preparation, he made comments like, ‘traffic was bad in 1980 I’m sure it’s even worse now.’ And so I can’t imagine his reaction when he got back in 2002.”
Nine years after moving back, Langford passed away in 2011 while surrounded by his family.
The Orlando Sentinel wrote at the time that “a few hundred friends and admirers joined relatives at First Baptist Church of Orlando for a memorial service dominated by tales of his sense of humor and oddball management style.”
Langford had a soft spot for conservation, too. So it makes sense that a quiet canopied park with sprawling mature oak trees and meandering trails is named for him.
Buddy Dyer has announced 2024 will be his final year as Orlando mayor and there’s no doubt the next person to fill those shoes must be prepared to usher in a new generation of exponential growth just like Dyer and Langford did.
This city is still transforming and whoever this future leader is, they can surely learn a lot from the past.
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