823 Hardwood Street
Orange Park, FL 32065

ORANGE PARK

In 1803, one thousand acres on the western bank of the St. Johns River, bounded on the South by Doctor's Lake, was purchased by Zephaniah Kingsley, notorious slave trader, for starting his new plantation, called Laurel Grove, for the many laurel trees. The plantation acquired other owners after Kingsley moved his enterprises to Fort George Island in 1817.

Some of the subsequent owners were John Houston McIntosh, Owen S. Bryant, Mr. Hookey and W. G. Benedict of Boston, who formed the Florida Winter Home and Improvement Company in 1877 with the hope that northerners would flock to this sunny locale. They gave the original deed of property, 7.13 acres, for the Town's Magnolia Cemetery in 1886 and built a hotel called the "Sparhawk" that burned to the ground in 1881 and was quickly rebuilt and named the "Parkview." The hotel was located at the corner of Kingsley Avenue and River Road and housed such famous guests as Harriet Beecher Stowe, author Nixon Waterman, Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill, General Ulysses S. Grant, General and Mrs. Philip Sheridan and many wealthy people from the North. In the early 1900's some of the land and the hotel was purchased by Charles Albert Brown, Jr., originally from New York State. Brown renovated the hotel and renamed it the "Hotel Marion" in honor of his mother.

In 1877, the community was named Orange Park for the many orange groves in the vicinity. However, severe freezes in 1894, 1895 and 1899 destroyed the groves and they were never replanted. The town was first incorporated on February 18, 1879, by an Act of the State Legislature, and with only 26 qualified voters, held its first election to establish the boundary line between Clay and Duval Counties. In 1963, Orange Park boasted 3,300 residents and the current population is approximately 9,666.

In 1888, Daniel Hand, a northern philanthropist, endowed the American Missionary Association with $1,000,000 to provide blacks with vocational colleges. A college was established in Orange Park in 1890 on the entire block of what now comprises the Town Hall property. The school was closed in 1918 due to racial conflicts.

In 1921, the Loyal Order of Moose purchased the "Hotel Marion" as a nucleus for its new complex, Moosehaven. In 1927, the Moose for expansion of their facilities purchased the entire vocational college complex. All of the Moosehaven facilities were moved to the River Road campus in 1948 and the old college site was donated to the Town for a civic center. The Town used the old college buildings for the Town Hall, Police and Fire Stations and a library.

St. Johns Country Day School was founded in 1953 and located in one of the buildings at the corner of Kingsley Avenue and Highway 17 until moved to its new campus on Doctor's Lake Drive in 1957. The present Town facilities were dedicated in 1963 and the old buildings were demolished. On July 4, 1976, a new library, located on Plainfield Avenue at Stowe Avenue was dedicated.

Very few of the original homes are still in existence, most being in the Plainfield Avenue area. However, "Winterbourne" built in the 1860's and purchased by Mr. B. R. Johnson in 1871, became the home of his daughter, Mr. John Ferguson's brother, Caleb Johnson, president of the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company, retired and bought the property next door to the south and built the Villa "Mira Rio" in 1923. It is now the Club Continental, one of Orange Park's loveliest showplaces. Some of the homes built in the early 1900's along River Road are still standing.

The Orange Park Woman's Club was organized in 1910 and made a significant contribution to the growth and development of the Town. They established and maintained the first library, contributed $1,500 to equip the Town Hall with its first electricity, furnished school lunches, entertained residents of Moosehaven and participated in many other civic projects. The present home of the Woman's Club was dedicated in 1930 on land given by Charles Albert Brown, Jr.

Located on Kingsley Avenue at the corner of Astor Street stood the old watering trough and hitching post in front of what is now a doctor's building. This is the "THE GATHERING PLACE" until the advent of the automobile. At the foot of Kingsley Avenue was the 1,400 foot pier built to receive the steamers bringing passengers and taking produce to market. In the early 1900's Harry Horton operated a pavilion on the shore by the pier to sell refreshments to the tourists.

The St. James A.M.E. Church, located on the corner of McIntosh Avenue and Stowe Avenue, was founded in 1879 and is one of the oldest churches in the community.

As Orange Park grows U.S. Highway 17 and Kingsley Avenue is continually being widened to six lanes to accommodate the ever-increasing traffic flow. There has been much commercial growth with the construction of shopping malls, eating places, motels, apartment complexes and professional office buildings. The Moosehaven campus is another of Orange Park's showplaces with the continuing addition of new buildings. Orange Park, however, continues to strive for a residential atmosphere in the community by maintaining a constant watch on its orderly and aesthetic growth.