Orlando

Orlando was settled in the early 1840s by army volunteers who remained after the Seminole Wars. More than one story explains the origin of the town's name, but the most reliable claims it honors a member of a company of US soldiers and volunteers, Orlando Reeves. One night in 1835 while Reeves was sentry of his post along Sandy Beach - the shore of today's Lake Eola - he noticed a "log" in the lake. Realizing it was an Indian creeping towards camp, Reeves gave the alarm to warn his company.

By 1860 Orlando was a tiny settlement in the middle of a cotton plantation, with cattle roaming the outskirts. The Civil War brought poverty to the region. With no field hands and no transportation to the markets, the cotton industry was ruined. In 1871 a severe rainstorm washed away the crops, leaving livestock the area's only livelihood.
Rustling and chaos turned Orlando into a brawling frontier cattle town. Street fights were routine and the actual number of people killed is unknown. At the height of lawlessness, large herd owners moved in and imposed a marital law to restore the order.

Although Orlando's first commercial orange grove was planted in 1865, it wasn't until the early 1890s, when English settlers bought state land and railroad interests for $1 an acre, that citrus growing really took hold.