HISTORY: West Orange County of yesteryear for week of May 22, 2025

FROM THE WINTER GARDEN HERITAGE FOUNDATION
The West Orange County landscape has changed forever due to the loss of our renowned citrus industry. At one time, well more than a dozen packing and shipping plants lined the tracks that coursed through the region. In this photograph taken around 1915, employees of the John T. Fuller packinghouse assemble for posterity in front of the building that once stood in a tiny community called Fuller’s Crossing (originally platted as Staten’s Crossing). The plant operated on the southwest corner of today’s West Orange Trail and Ocoee-Apopka Road. With our growing population, development has reached this once quiet corner of the county, now the site of Orange Technical College – West Campus, Legacy High School, Hope Charter School, the State Road 429 overpass, shopping centers and more.

The Winter Garden Heritage Foundation documents the many historical events that have come to the region, creating and preserving a legacy for residents to study and appreciate. Call (407) 656-3244 to make a research appointment.

The mission of the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation is to preserve the heritage and architecture of Winter Garden while creating new cultural experiences. The Foundation also preserves the material culture of West Orange County, using it to educate the area’s youth on the community’s rich history.

THE WAYS WE WERE
90 years ago
A group of young men, including Ward Britt, Leonard Mann, Herbert Pounds, Noel Griffith and John Vick, sponsored a dance at Legion Hall. Roy Fulmer’s orchestra furnished the music.

80 years ago
Pfc. Ward Britt, who was wounded in Germany, was convalescing at an Army hospital in Thomasville, Georgia. He was visited there by his wife, Gertrude, and young son, Ward.

75 years ago
Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Lakeview High School gymnasium were held, with Harry M. Smith acting as master of ceremonies. The program launched with the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by the Lakeview band, followed by the invocation delivered by the Rev. Albert A. Stulck. The Lakeview Glee Club sang, and speakers were Bud Owens, Ocoee mayor; Mr. Garland Lakeview principal; Mr. Walker, superintendent of Public Instruction; Mr. Johnson, Orange County School Board chairman; Mr. Burcham, Orange County Board of Trustees chairman; and the Honorable J.B. Rodgers, state senator.

50 years ago
Tami Whitlow was the valedictorian and Tanya Miller the salutatorian of Ocoee High School’s Class of 1975 — its last graduating class.

Stan Lummus was valedictorian of Lakeview High School’s last graduating class; Denise Morris was salutatorian.

Winter Garden old-timers swapped recollections at Pioneer Night. Sharing their stories were Bob Davis, Jerry J. Chicone Sr. and Hoyle Pounds.

40 years ago
Ann and John Harrell, owners of the Winter Garden Loan Co., were the April recipients of the Downtown Business Association’s “Worked Like a Dog” award.

35 years ago
Jim Henson, Windermere resident and creator of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, died unexpectedly and was remembered worldwide.

West Orange High School baseball teammates Norm Doerges Jr., of Windermere, and Michael Griffith, of Winter Garden, met for the first time after graduation as competitors. Doerges, a pitcher, was playing for Yale University and Griffith, a catcher, played for the U.S. Naval Academy.

30 years ago
More than 1,000 seniors graduated from the area’s two public high schools, West Orange and Dr. Phillips high schools.

Family, friends, colleagues and former students turned out for the dedication of the Stonewall Jackson Middle School gymnasium in honor of Lester Dabbs, of Ocoee, who served as principal of the school for 20 years. He also was principal of Lakeview Middle and West Orange High schools and served as commissioner and mayor of Ocoee.

20 years ago
Jim Thomas earned recognition from a national organization for his accomplishments in advancement of environmental concerns. The Award of Honor was the highest achievement award National Garden Clubs Inc. presented.

THROWBACK THURSDAY
MAY 25, 1995

Winter Garden and Ocoee boasted several movie theaters in 1995, and two advertised regularly in The West Orange Times.

The Star-Lite Drive-In, on East Plant Street in Winter Garden, offered movies for $1.50 per person — or $1.50 for an entire carload of folks on Tuesdays. In a newspaper advertisement, the drive-in featured “Major Payne” and “Streetfighter” to movie-goers, and anyone who cut out the ad and took it to the box office received a free admission with each paid ticket.

At Orange Tree Cinema on Maguire Road in Ocoee, film fans had a choice of “Casper,” “Die Hard with a Vengeance,” “Forget Paris,” “Crimson Tide,” “French Kiss” and “Little Princess.” Matinee movies were $3, and twi-lite films were $2.50.