Minneola
Some years after the close of the Civil War, Captain William G. Smith came to this area from Georgia. He located on the north shore of "Cow House Lake" and was the first permanent settler in this immediate vicinity.
George W. Hull, a Candian by birth, who came here from Duluth, Minnesota, was perhaps the leading figure in founding the town of Minneola.
Hull was an engineer and conceived the idea of laying out a town site over-looking the shores of the lake. Mrs. Elizabeth Parrish, an aunt of Mrs. William G. Smith, had homesteaded 120 acres of the site he desired and he acquired the land from her, together with an additional 80 acres that he purchased from the federal government at $1.25 per acre. In 1884, with the assistance of other engineers, he completed his survey and map of the new town and named it Minneola, as that was the name his wife had selected for both the town and the lake, the latter having been known as Cow House Lake up to that time. The plot for the town was recorded at Sumterville, as Minneola was a part of Sumter County in those days.
The picturesque Indian designations of the majority of local waters in Lake County have been forgotten, but with a bit of respect to the name Minneola, we proudly hail the Indian interpretation of "much water".
The first born child born in the town was Clarence Marsh, a son of Mr. and Mrs. George Marsh, who was born in 1886 in the Charles Peach house.
In the early days, about 1883, a special carrier brought the mail from West Apopka twice a week, frequently making the trip on foot. The carriers received $1.00 for the trip and a third of the cancellations of the stamps. John Hooks was the first carrier and was later succeeded by A.A. Pitt.
The town of Minneola continued to have a steady, though not spectacular growth, attracting many new residents and winter tourists. It was incorporated in 1926, the first Mayor being A.A. Pitt.
Contact Information:
City of Minneola
800 N. US Hwy. 27
P.O. Box 678
Minneola, FL 34755-0678
Phone: (352) 394-3598
Fax: (352) 394-0051
Web site: www.ci.minneola.fl.us
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