Timeline of Orlando, Florida explained

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Orlando, Florida, United States.

19th century

• 1843 - Orlando settled as "Jernigan"
• 1875
  • Town of Orlando incorporated.
  • William Jackson Brack becomes mayor.
• 1878 - Orange County Reporter newspaper begins publication.^[1]
• 1880
  • South Florida Railroad begins operating.
  • Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church established.
• 1884 - Orange County Jail built.
• 1886
  • Orlando Black (school) opens.
  • Orlando Street Railway begins operating (approximate date).
  • English Club formed.
• 1889 - Church Street Station built.^[2]
• 1891 - St. James Cathedral built.
• 1892
  • Courthouse built.
  • Lake Eola Park established.
• 1900 - Florida Christian Recorder newspaper begins publication.

20th century

1900s-1960s

• 1905 - City Hall built.
• 1910 - Population: 3,894.
• 1913 - Grand Theater opens.
• 1914 - Commission form of government effected.
• 1918 - Orange General Hospital opens.
• 1920 - Population: 9,282.
• 1921
  • Beacham Theater opens.
  • Jones High School active.
• 1923
  • Orlando Utilities Commission established; municipal electric plant begins operating.^[3]
  • Albertson Public Library opens.
  • Angebilt Hotel opened on March 14.
• 1924
  • Edgewater Heights, Lorna Doone Park, and Orwin Manor become part of Orlando.
  • WDBO radio begins broadcasting.
  • Orlando Museum of Art founded.
  • Orange Court Hotel built.
• 1925 - Glendonjo Park and Spring Lake Terrace become part of Orlando.
• 1926
  • Country Club Estates, Ivanhoe Plaza, Oakhurst Subdivision, Orlando Highlands, Princeton Court, and Silver Lake Park become part of Orlando.
  • Atlantic Coast Line Railroad station, Cathedral Church of St. Luke, and Municipal Auditorium built.
  • Well'sbuilt Hotel in business.
• 1927 - Orange County Courthouse built.
• 1928 - Orlando Municipal Airport begins operating.
• 1930 - Population: 27,330.
• 1934 - Orlando Dixie Sun newspaper begins publication.
• 1936
  • Orlando Stadium opens.
  • Cypress Gardens opens in nearby Winter Haven.
• 1940 - Orlando Army Air Base established.
• 1943
  • Pinecastle Army Airfield in operation.
  • DDT pesticide "Neocide" developed in United States Department of Agriculture lab in Orlando.^[4]
• 1945 - Negro Chamber of Commerce established.
• 1946 - Ben White Raceway opens.
• 1949 - Gatorland opens.
• 1950 - Population: 52,367.
• 1952 - William R. Boone High School and Edgewater High School are built.
• 1954
  • WDBO-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
  • Bishop Moore High School built.
• 1956 - Colonial Plaza shopping centre in business.
• 1957
  • Orange County Historical Commission established.
  • Martin Company missile manufactory begins operating near Orlando.
  • Interstate 4 highway constructed.
• 1958 - WLOF-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
• 1960
  • Central Florida Museum opens.
  • Population: 88,135.
• 1961 - Harry P. Leu Gardens deeded to city.
• 1963 - UCF founded in East Orlando
• 1967
  • Carl T. Langford becomes mayor of Orlando.
  • Disney-controlled City of Bay Lake and City of Reedy Creek incorporated near Orlando.
• 1968
  • Florida Technological University opens.
  • Naval Training Center Orlando and Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando established.^[5]

1970s-1990s

• 1970
  • Lake Highland Preparatory School founded.
  • Population: 99,006 city; 344,311 county.
  • University Drive-In cinema built.
• 1971
  • Disney World in business.
  • Historical Society of Central Florida headquartered in Orlando.^[6]
• 1973
  • Orlando Fashion Square Mall opens
  • Sentinel Star newspaper began publication.
  • SeaWorld theme park in business.^[7]
• 1974
  • East-West Expressway constructed.
  • Disney's Discovery Island in business.
• 1975 - Metropolitan Orlando Women's Political Caucus^[8] and Orlando Lutheran Academy founded.
• 1976 - Orlando International Airport in operation.
• 1977
  • Orlando Regional Medical Center established.^[9]
  • Wet 'n Wild Orlando theme park in business.
• 1979
  • Orlando Opera incorporated.^[10]
  • Basilica of Mary (church) built.
• 1980
  • July: Racial unrest.
  • Bill Frederick becomes mayor.
  • Population: 128,291 city; 471,016 county.
• 1981 - Bill McCollum becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 5th congressional district.^[11]
• 1982
  • Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida established.
  • Epcot theme park in business in nearby Lake Buena Vista.
• 1983 - Orange County Convention Center opens.
• 1984 - Orlando Science Center active.
• 1986 - The Peabody Orlando hotel and Disney's Living Seas in business.
• 1987 - Dr. Phillips High School opens.
• 1989 - Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival begins.
  • Orlando Arena (later the Amway Arena) opens.
  • Orlando Magic begin play.
• 1990
  • Universal Orlando theme park in business.
  • Orlando Weekly newspaper begins publication.
  • Population: 164,693 city; 677,491 county.
  • Zora Neale Hurston Festival begins in nearby Eatonville.
• 1991
  • UCF Arena opens.
  • Orlando Predators football team formed.
• 1992
  • Cypress Creek High School and Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra established.
  • Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival begins.
• 1993
  • Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in operation.
  • Glenda Hood becomes mayor.
• 1994
  • June–July: Some 1994 FIFA World Cup games held in Orlando.
  • Mormon temple built.
• 1996 - City website online (approximate date).^[12]
• 1998
  • Muvico Pointe cinema in business.
  • Mennello Museum opens.
  • Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park in business.
• 1999 - Cinemark Festival Bay Mall (cinema) in business.^[13]

21st century

• 2001 - Olympia High School established
• 2002 - Millenia Mall in business.
• 2003
  • Freedom High School established.
  • Buddy Dyer becomes mayor.
• 2004 - Hurricane Charley directly strikes Orlando area with wind gusts to at least 105 mph ^[14] Over 60% of Orlando loses power.^[15]
• 2007 - CFE Arena opens.
• 2010
  • Amway Center event venue opens.
  • Orlando City Soccer Club formed.
  • Population: 238,300.
• 2011 - Daniel Webster becomes U.S. representative for Florida's 8th congressional district.^[16]
• 2015
  • Orlando Eye ferris wheel built.
  • Population: 270,917 (estimate).^[17]
• 2016 - Orlando nightclub shooting
• 2017 - Universal's Volcano Bay in business

See also

• Orlando history
• List of mayors of Orlando, Florida
• List of amusement parks in Greater Orlando
• Timelines of other cities in the Central Florida area of Florida: Clearwater, Lakeland, Largo, St. Petersburg, Tampa

Bibliography

• Book: Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory . John R. Richards . South Publishing Company . New York . 12186532 . 1886. Orlando. https://archive.org/stream/floridastategaze1886sout#page/334/mode/2up.
  • • Book: . Florida Gazetteer and Business Directory 1907-1908 . Orlando. 1907 . https://archive.org/stream/floridagazetteer1907rlpo#page/314/mode/2up.
• Book: . Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory . 1918. Orlando. https://archive.org/stream/rlpolkcosflorida01rlpo#page/n861/mode/2up.
  • E. Bacon. 1977. Orlando: A centennial history. Chuluota, Fla.: Mickler House.
• L. Argrett Jr. 1991. A history of the black community of Orlando, Florida. Fort Bragg, Calif.: Cypress House Press.
• The Limits to the Imagineered City: Sociospatial Polarization in Orlando . Kevin Archer . Economic Geography . 73 . 3 . 322–336 . 1997 . 144487 . . 10.2307/144487 .
  • Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando. By Richard E. Foglesong. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001).
    • Book: Orlando, Florida . Geraldine Fortenberry Thompson . Arcadia . Charleston, South Carolina . Black America . 2003.
• Segregation and Desegregation in Parramore: Orlando's African American Community . Tana Mosier Porter . Florida Historical Quarterly . 82 . 3 . 289–312 . 2004 . 30149526 . .
• Book: Historic Orange County: The Story of Orlando and Orange County. 2009. HPN Books. 978-1-893619-99-9 . Orlando . https://books.google.com/books?id=eVFPMKxJlLEC&pg=PA48 . Tana Mosier Porter . .
• Book: Stephanie Gaub Antequino. Tana Mosier Porter. Lost Orlando . 2012. Arcadia Publishing. 978-0-7385-9173-5. .
  • Web site: Orlando . America's Big Cities in Volatile Times: City Profiles . November 11, 2013 . American Cities Project . Washington, DC . .

External links

• Items related to Orlando, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)

Notes and References

1. Web site: US Newspaper Directory . Washington DC . . Library of Congress . August 11, 2014 .
2. Web site: 40 Fun Orlando Facts . August 2014 . City of Orlando . August 11, 2014 .
3. Municipal Water and Light Plant at Orlando, Florida . W. W. Mathews . Journal of the American Water Works Association . 15 . 3 . 238–251 . 1926 . 41227765 . 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1926.tb13386.x . 1926JAWWA..15c.238M .
4. Looking Backward, Looking Forward: The Long, Torturous Struggle with Mosquitoes . Gordon M. Patterson . Insects . 7 . 4 . 56 . 2016 . 10.3390/insects7040056 . 27775554 . 5198204 . free .
5. Web site: Chronology of Catholic Dioceses: USA . . Norway . April 22, 2017 .
6. Web site: About Us . Orange County Regional History Center . Orlando . August 11, 2014 .
7. Book: Vernon N. Kisling, Jr. . Zoo and Aquarium History. 2001. . USA . 978-1-4200-3924-5 . Zoological Gardens of the United States (chronological list) . https://books.google.com/books?id=ulbMBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA375 .
8. Web site: University Manuscripts by Subject . Special Collections & University Archives . University of Central Florida, Libraries . August 11, 2014 .
9. Web site: Orlando, Florida . . New York . Nonprofit Explorer . 9 May 2013 . Mike Tigas and Sisi Wei . August 11, 2014 .
10. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20010201161700/http://www.orlandoopera.org/about.html . About . dead . February 1, 2001 . Orlando Opera.
11. Book: Official Congressional Directory . Washington DC . Government Printing Office . 1985–1986 . Florida . 2027/uc1.31158013115752 . Official Congressional Directory . 1991/1992- : S. Pub. .
12. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/19961031191821/http://www.ci.orlando.fl.us/ . City of Orlando Web Site . 1996-10-31 . .
13. Web site: Movie Theaters in Orlando, FL . CinemaTreasures.org . Cinema Treasures LLC . Los Angeles . August 11, 2014 .
14. Web site: Tropical Cyclone Report - Hurricane Charley . . www.nhc.noaa.gov . 2004-08-09.
15. Web site: List of known damage caused by Hurricane Charley. 14 August 2004 .
16. Web site: Members of Congress . . Civic Impulse, LLC . August 11, 2014 .
17. Web site: Orlando, FL . Censusreporter.org . Joe Germuska . May 3, 2017 .