Twelve new oral history interviews conducted by UCF students at a history harvest at the Georgetown community of Sanford, Florida. https://www.youtube.com/user/RICHESMI/videos

We would like to thank volunteers Karen Daniels and Kim Marie Fischer Peters for their hard work transcribing issues of the Sanford Herald for our digital archive. By making these transcriptions available, the archive can be searched more effectively. Keep up the great work!   https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/sanford_herald/

On August 22, 1908, the Sanford Herald published its first issue. Featuring articles about the cost of purchasing and developing farm land and details of orange culture, the first issue was named the “industrial edition” as Sanford was then known as the Gate City to Florida. News of the past is no longer limited to…

The Oviedo Historical Society Collection encompasses historical artifacts donated for digitization at the Oviedo Historical Society’s History Harvest in the Spring semester of 2015. Items in this collection were curated by UCF graduate student Porsha Dossie and include photographs, newspaper articles, maps, and artwork. Items were donated to RICHES from the private collections of Sue…

The Milane Theatre was built at 203 South Magnolia Avenue, the former location of the Star Theatre, an abandoned movie house. Scroggs and Ewing, architects from Georgia, prepared the plans for the Milane. The name of the new theater was derived from the combination of the Milane Amusement Company president and vice president: Frank L.…

The Sanford Riverfront Collection consists of images depicting the history and significance of Lake Monroe and the St. Johns River to the City of Sanford, Florida. The waterways that surround Sanford have provided transportation, commerce, defense, and leisure activities for the city’s citizens and visitors since its creation in 1877. To view the collection on…

This collection features the various ice houses and ice plants that have existed in Sanford, Florida. Ice manufacturing became a prominent industry in the United States by the beginning of the twentieth century. Most ice houses consisted of two stories with the first floor used as food storage and the second floor used to store…

Collection of digital images, documents, and other records depicting the history of Sanford Avenue, the main street in Georgetown, an African-American community in Sanford, Florida. Series descriptions are based on special topics, the majority of which students focused their metadata entries around. Georgetown was established by the city’s founder, Henry Shelton Sanford, in the 1870s.…

Collection of digital images, documents, and other records depicting the educational history of Seminole County, Florida. Items from this collection are donated by the Student Museum and UCF Public History Center. The Student Museum has collaborated with the University of Central Florida and established the UCF Public History Center (PHC). All of the Student Museum’s…

Originally named after the Sanford Mayor and president of Seminole County Bank, the Forrest Lake Hotel has also been known as the Mayfair Inn and was briefly occupied by the Sanford Naval Academy. In 1916, construction of the building began. Local architect Elton J. Moughton designed the hotel. In 1925, Hotel Forrest Lake opened and…

Collection of digital images, documents, and other records depicting the history of Georgetown, an African-American community in Sanford, Florida. Series descriptions are based on special topics, the majority of which students focused their metadata entries around. Georgetown was established by the city’s founder, Henry Shelton Sanford, in the 1870s. The neighborhood spans along Sanford Avenue,…

The Student Museum and UCF Public History Center Collection encompasses a broad range of materials and items ranging from the late 19th Century into the present. The collection includes artifacts, photographs, documents, videocassettes, and other historical records pertaining to the history of the Sanford Grammar School, the Sanford community through the years, and the history…

Henry L. DeForest was born February 7, 1857 in Derby, Connecticut, and knew Henry Shelton Sanford from childhood. In 1870, DeForest came to Florida seeking better health in the warmer climate. He became Sanford’s agent and helped carry out the work of establishing Sanford, Florida. He managed the contracted workers for Sanford’s groves, especially the…

Sanford entered the world of professional baseball in 1919 with the formation of the Class D Florida State League. In its inaugural season, the Celeryfeds won the first half pennant, finishing in a tie with Orlando for the best overall record. Although the league folded in 1928, it was revived in 1936, and once again…

Collection of digital images, documents, and other records depicting the history of Sanford, Florida. Series descriptions are based on special topics, the majority of which students focused their metadata entries around. The present-day Sanford area was originally inhabited by the Mayaca/Joroco natives by the time Europeans arrived. The tribe was decimated by war and disease…

The cigar industry was first brought to Florida by Cuban immigrants in the 1830s and became one of the nation’s most important industries in the Southeast. By the last quarter of the 19th century, with Tampa serving as the cigar manufacturing center in the state. In the late 1800s, cigar factories began to appear in…

This collection contains images of Naval Air Station (NAS) Sanford from its inception in 1942 to present day. The Naval Air Station (NAS) Sanford was commissioned on November 3, 1942, as a naval aviation training facility during World War II. The Navy continued to train pilots at NAS Sanford throughout the Korean and Vietnam Wars.…

Collection of digital images, documents, and other records depicting the religious history of Sanford, Florida. Series descriptions are based on special topics, the majority of which students focused their metadata entries around. The present-day Sanford area was originally inhabited by the Mayaca/Joroco natives by the time Europeans arrived. The tribe was decimated by war and…

The photographs in the General Collection range in date from the late 1870s to the early 2000s. Many of the photographs within this collection contain photographs taken in and around the Sanford community and city proper. Additional photographs from outside of Sanford, taken in DeLeon Springs and the Tallahassee Children’s Museum, as well as a…

Collection of digital images, documents, and other records depicting the life and work of Marie Jones Francis. Francis, the “midwife of Sanford,” lived at 621 East Sixth Street in Sanford, Florida. Francis converted the house to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies during her 32 year career. She became…