Enterprise, Florida
Encyclopedia
Volusia County, Florida
Volusia County is a county located in the state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2010 official county's population was 494,593 . Its county seat is DeLand, and its most populous city is currently Deltona....
, in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and its former county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
. Situated on the northern shore of Lake Monroe
Lake Monroe (Florida)
Lake Monroe is one of the lakes that make up the St. Johns River system. The port city of Sanford is situated along the southern shore, while DeBary and Deltona are located along the northern shore. Two major central Florida roadways that run near the lake are State Road 415 and Interstate 4...
, it is flanked by the cities of DeBary
DeBary, Florida
As of the census of 2000, there were 15,559 people, 6,538 households, and 4,720 families residing in the city. The population density was 853.8 inhabitants per square mile . There were 7,001 housing units at an average density of 384.2 per square mile...
and Deltona
Deltona, Florida
Deltona is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida and is the largest city in Volusia County. It is located east of DeBary and north of Lake Monroe. It is the twenty-ninth largest city in Florida, with a 2010 Census population of 85,182...
. Enterprise was once the head of navigation on the St. Johns River
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. The drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ;...
and at various times, the county seat for three counties: Mosquito, Orange, and Volusia. In 2006 Volusia County government approved a historic overlay which designates Enterprise as an "area of special concern" as a historic village. This ensures that any development must follow strict guidelines and establishes a historic district within the community.
Early
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was a Spanish admiral and explorer, best remembered for founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. This was the first successful Spanish foothold in La Florida and remained the most significant city in the region for several hundred years. St...
explored the St. Johns River, perhaps reaching Lake Monroe. At the time of contact with Europeans, the area was home to the Mayaca Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, who lived in small villages. They collected snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s and shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
, hunted turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
s, deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
and alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
s, or gathered root
Root
In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
s, nut
Nut (fruit)
A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...
s and berries. The Enterprise midden or shell mound accumulated over thousands of years from the debris of cooking and toolmaking by the ancestors of the Mayaca. Beginning in the First Spanish Period, Florida Indians fell victim to European diseases, forced labor, missionization, and slave raids from the English militia of the Carolinas allied with invading tribes from the north. By the 1760s, Florida's native cultures including the Mayaca, Timucua, Apalachee, Ais, Surruque, Calusa, and Tequesta had been decimated. Later called Seminoles, Indians from Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
moved in to fill the void left by native Florida tribes.
Nineteenth century
Following the acquisition of Florida by the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1821, the Seminoles had conflicts with settlers and troops throughout the Seminole Wars
Seminole Wars
The Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three conflicts in Florida between the Seminole — the collective name given to the amalgamation of various groups of native Americans and Black people who settled in Florida in the early 18th century — and the United States Army...
. In 1835, they burned Palatka
Palatka, Florida
Palatka is a city in Putnam County, Florida, United States. The population was 10,033 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,796. It is the county seat of Putnam County and includes East Palatka. Palatka is the principal city of the Palatka...
, a major port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
on the St. Johns River, then the major artery into Central Florida
Central Florida
Central Florida is a regional designation for the area surrounding Orlando in east central Florida, United States. The area represents the third largest population concentration in Florida, after the South Florida and Tampa Bay regions, respectively....
. Consequently, "Fort Kingsbury," a stockade
Stockade
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide security.-Stockade as a security fence:...
defense, was built in 1838 at Enterprise, across the lake from "Fort Mellon," built in 1836 at Mellonville (now Sanford
Sanford, Florida
Sanford is a city in, and the county seat of, Seminole County, Florida, United States. The population was 38,291 at the 2000 census. As of 2009, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 50,998...
).
To displace the Seminoles, in 1842 the Armed Occupation Act was passed, granting 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) to settlers who would clear, cultivate and hold 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) for 5 years. Over 200,000 acres (800 km²) south of Palatka were opened for development. One of more than 1,000 who applied was Cornelius Taylor from San Pablo (now Mayport), a former timber agent and first cousin to General Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...
. In 1841, he and about 20 others founded "Enterprise" at Fort Kingsbury, which had been abandoned after 6 weeks, and filed for homestead the next year.
Taylor built an inn atop the shell midden to attract visitors traveling by shallow-draft steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
from Palatka, the furthest upstream ocean-going vessels could navigate. Orange grove
Orange Grove
-Music:* Orange Grove , a Dutch/Antillean reggae band-Australia:* Orange Grove, Western Australia* The Orange Grove affair, a political scandal-United States:...
s were planted, a gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
established, together with a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
to cut Southern live oak
Southern live oak
Quercus virginiana, also known as the southern live oak, is a normally evergreen oak tree native to the southeastern United States. Though many other species are loosely called live oak, the southern live oak is particularly iconic of the Old South....
, prized by the U.S. Navy for warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s. In 1843, Enterprise became county seat of "Mosquito County." It was renamed "Orange County" in 1845, with the county seat moved to Mellonville. An epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
, believed to be smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, had claimed his oldest daughter and 9 slaves in 1842, and Taylor left in 1847. He would drown sailing to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1849.
In 1851, Jacob Brock bought land a mile west of the original settlement, where he built a wharf
Wharf
A wharf or quay is a structure on the shore of a harbor where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.Such a structure includes one or more berths , and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships.A wharf commonly comprises a fixed...
and laid out streets and lots. A steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
captain with "a notable reputation for the lavish and original nature of his profanity," he had transported to Enterprise many invalids seeking the climate and sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
springs
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
believed to be curative. In 1854, he completed The Brock House, a 2 and a half story hotel with accommodations for more than 50. Enterprise became county seat of "Volusia County" that year, and Brock operated the first regular steamboat passenger service from Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
to Palatka, expanding to Enterprise.
It was a 206 miles (331.5 km) trip aboard the Darlington, which departed Jacksonville at 8:00 AM on Saturday, timed to receive passengers discharged from ocean-going ships. It would arrive and spend Sunday in Palatka, from which it departed at 5:00 AM on Monday morning, docking at Enterprise that evening. Only by daylight did prudent captains navigate the narrow, crooked upper part of the St. Johns River. Crew members had to watch for snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s, slithering aboard out of Spanish moss
Spanish Moss
Spanish moss is a flowering plant that grows upon larger trees, commonly the Southern Live Oak or Bald Cypress in the southeastern United States....
in overhanging trees, and also for alligators, shot before they could tangle with the paddlewheel. Soon, an additional danger would imperil the waterway—the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
Captain George Balch
George Balch
George Beall Balch was an admiral in the United States Navy who served during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War.-Early career:...
set out to capture Confederate steamboats on the St. Johns River. Seized at Lake Monroe on March 14, 1864 was the Hattie Brock, named for the captain's daughter, and loaded with 150 bales of cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
for export to help finance the rebel cause. It was towed to Brock's wharf to load wood fuel. From the veranda of The Brock House, the New York Tribune would report, Miss Brock expressed grief and indignation at the capture of her namesake by the Yankee
Yankee
The term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...
s. The marines were reportly glad to get away as soon as their boats were supplied. They took with them 2 black males and 3 black females from their stop in Enterprise, and 2,000 pounds of sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
from a refinery, which was then demolished, about 2 miles (3.2 km) farther downriver on the east side of DeBary Creek.
Following the rebellion, the state experienced a boom in tourism, and Enterprise became a fashionable resort and sportsmen's paradise for fish and game. "No dreamland on earth," wrote Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
in 1873, "can be more unearthly in its beauty and glory than the St. Johns in April." Sold and renovated in 1876, The Brock House was then the most famous hotel in the state, with guests including President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
, President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
, General William Sherman, Jay Gould
Jay Gould
Jason "Jay" Gould was a leading American railroad developer and speculator. He has long been vilified as an archetypal robber baron, whose successes made him the ninth richest American in history. Condé Nast Portfolio ranked Gould as the 8th worst American CEO of all time...
and members of the Vanderbilt family
Vanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin prominent during the Gilded Age. It started off with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy...
. Others came from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. In 1877, Enterprise was incorporated.
Another notable visitor was (Samuel) Frederick deBary of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, a wealthy importer of champagne and other French wine
French wine
French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France has the world's second-largest total vineyard area, behind Spain, and is in the position of being the world's largest wine producer...
s. After staying at The Brock House in 1870, he would buy 400 acres (1.6 km²) to the west in 1871 and build "DeBary Hall
DeBary Hall
DeBary Hall is a historic site in DeBary, Florida, United States. It is located at 210 Sunrise Boulevard. On July 24, 1972, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places....
," a mansion and hunting lodge. Acquiring much more land, deBary planted orange groves and pecan
Pecan
The pecan , Carya illinoinensis, is a species of hickory, native to south-central North America, in Mexico from Coahuila south to Jalisco and Veracruz, in the United States from southern Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana east to western Kentucky, southwestern Ohio, North Carolina, South...
trees. In 1876, he established the DeBary Merchants Line, a steamship company contracted to carry mail from Jacksonville to Enterprise. He contributed money to build the Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
All Saints Episcopal Church
All Saints Episcopal Church (Enterprise, Florida)
The All Saint's Episcopal Church is an historic Carpenter Gothic church in Enterprise, Florida, United States. It is located at 155 Clark Street. On May 3, 1974, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.-References and external links:...
, completed in 1883. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1974.
Titusville, Florida
Titusville is a city in Brevard County, Florida in the United States. It is the county seat of Brevard County. Nicknamed Space City, USA, Titusville is on the Indian River, west of Merritt Island and the Kennedy Space Center and south-southwest of the Canaveral National Seashore...
with Enterprise, from which ran a spur line to the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railroad at Enterprise Junction in present-day DeBary. But in 1888, Florida experienced an epidemic of yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
. The population of Enterprise dwindled, and Deland
DeLand, Florida
DeLand is the county seat of Volusia County, Florida. In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population to be 24,375. It is part of the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 436,575 in 2006...
became county seat. The freezes of 1894 and 1895 wiped out the citrus industry in much of the state, including the deBary groves. Enterprise voted to de-incorporate in 1895. Its distinctive midden, once featured on the city seal
Seal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
, would disappear, the shells used to pave streets and sidewalks.
Recent
In 1924, the George E. Turner Power Plant was built near the shore of Lake Monroe. The town was renamed "Benson Springs" in 1927, a change petitioned by the owner, employees and guests of the Benson Springs Hotel. Never popular, the name "Benson Springs" changed back to "Enterprise" in 1937, the year the deteriorating hotel was razed to increase room for the Florida United Methodist Children's Home. The Florida East Coast RailwayFlorida East Coast Railway
The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida; in the past, it has been a Class I railroad.Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a project of Standard Oil principal Henry Morrison...
branch was abandoned in the 1950s, its track removed in the 1970s. Dismantling the George E. Turner Power Plant began in 2007, and was completed in February 2008. Today, Enterprise struggles not to be absorbed by Deltona.