ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Several cities in Central Florida are marking a significant milestone this year as they celebrate their 100th birthdays in 2025.
Cocoa Beach, Flagler Beach, Mascotte, the Town of Windermere, Oviedo and Fruitland Park are just some of the places hitting triple digits this year.
With that many places turning 100 — it got our newsroom thinking, what was happening 100 years ago when all of these cities and towns were established?
“In order to understand what was happening, 100 years ago, you kind of have to go back even further into like the 1870s, 1880s to really understand,” said Orange County Regional History Center Historian, Rachel Williams.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Williams said in the late 1800s Florida was going through its first land boom.
“People start moving here to take advantage of the citrus groves and the citrus industry, which is really growing,” Williams said. “There was also already developed or established cattle industry. But what really was taking it off was the citrus.”
But in the 1890s, Williams said there was a ‘Great Freeze’ that killed off several orange groves. She said there was a major decline in the population until Florida’s second land boom just after World War I.
She said after the first world war, people had more money in their pockets, the Model-T was an affordable vehicle for middle class families and people could travel from Chicago to Miami thanks to the Dixie Highway.
Williams said tourism, in addition to a growing citrus industry, contributed to the growth during this time period.
“People are seeing the opportunity again in Florida through those orange groves that are starting to be built up again and so that’s what really pushes this land boom,” Williams said.
But before Central Florida was home to castles and princesses, Florida’s natural beauty was a main driver for tourism.
“We didn’t have Disney World in those days, but it was more so just the beautiful nature of Florida,” Williams said. “You have springs, beautiful gardens, beaches. So, people were a lot more interested in coming here for all of those reasons. And it really, you know, people came to visit and they said, actually I might like to live here.”
There was also another reason that made Florida an attractive place to live 100 years ago.
“Also in 1924, so very close to ‘25, Florida residents voted to prohibit income tax here, which was more of a draw for people to move here and invest in the land,” Williams said.
Here’s a list of some of the cities and towns turning 100 in Central Florida this year:
- Fruitland Park talks about how to celebrate the city’s upcoming 100th anniversary
- Ocoee turns 100 on May 13
- Windermere incorporated in 1925
- Cocoa Beach incorporated in 1925
- Mascotte turned 100 this year
- Flagler Beach turning 100 this year