TIME WAS

A History of Conway

By K.J. Ursic

April 05
One of my first memories of the Conway area was the day nearly 30 years ago, I arrived in the Orlando area and began driving around in search of a home for my family who would be relocating soon. As I drove south on Conway Road I came upon a sign that read “Conway” almost in the same location as the one in the photo on page one.

At that time the surrounding area was totally covered by orange groves. I remember thinking where is this Conway? What is it? Why the name Conway?

Those questions have remained in the back of my mind ever since. And it is those questions and more I will attempt to answer with each future issue of the Conway News.

While much has been written about the history of Orange County, Orlando, Pine Castle, Belle Isle etc., almost nothing has been written specifically about the history of the Conway area. My research has provided a wealth of information about the area. I hope you will enjoy the journey into the past as much as I have.

The earliest document about our area, dated in 1843, was found in the field notes of B. F. Whitner, Deputy Surveyor for the territory of Florida. Whitner was contracted to survey parts of Central Florida. His notes indicated that he surveyed the area around Lake Conway between May 10 and May 19, 1843.

Next month: First settlers to the area, where did the name “Conway” come from and who is responsible for naming the area?

May 05

In the spring of 1843 Benjamin F. Whitner Jr., Deputy Surveyor for the territory of Florida, came upon an unnamed lake. His field notes recorded the event as “28.43 chains (Surveyor talk) to clear open lake, (which being unnamed, I have called Lake Conway).

Why Whitner decided to name the lake “Conway” is not known. Some historians have made the assumption that Whitner named the lake after his boss Valentine Y. Conway who was the Surveyor General of Florida at the time. His field notes included a contract with V. Y. Conway which read:

I hereby certify that in pursuance of a contract entered into with V. Y. Conway, Surveyor General of the Territory of Florida, being the ____day of ____184_, and in strict uniformity to the laws of the United States instructions of said land, I have surveyed and subdivided into Sections Township 23 South Range 30 East, in the Territory of Florida. And I do further certify that the forgoing and this true and original field notes of this said survey and subdivisions examined aforesaid. Certified this_____day of July, 1843.

Benj. F. Whitner Jr. Dep. Surveyor *

It is left to our imaginations to determine who Conway was actually named after. Research has not indicated that anyone named Conway had any thing to do with the early years of our area nor did anyone by that name live in the region.

So it seems plausible to accept the assumption that B. F. Whitner, a contract surveyor named the lake after his boss, a man who may have never even been to the area.

Between 1843 and 1881 settlers trickled into the area. It appears that the area was originally known as Prospect. A name that was given to the first church in the area. The Prospect Methodist Episcopal Church South was organized in 1874 (now known as Conway United Methodist Church). Church minutes support the use of the name Prospect. For example the minutes of May 12, 1880 read:

It was moved and seconded that ...a committee of three to act as a building committee of the Church at Prospect.

The church further influenced the naming of the area as indicated in their minutes of September 13, 1884 which read:

On motion by Dr. Enders, the name of the church was changed from Prospect to Conway, a name which would not only identify the church but the community that grew up around it.

In the early day the heart of Conway centered around the Church which stands in the same place as it did in 1885 at the corner of Anderson and Conway Roads. However the term Conway area, region or district were all used to describe a much larger area- one that would encompass everything from Lake Underhill to Narcoossee.

*It should be noted that B. F. Whitner’s contract is a verbatim re-type of the original, blank spaces and all. It appears that Deputy Surveyors would need to have a Judge certify that the contract had actually been completed before payment requests could be submitted. The nearest Judge was in Sanford, a trip that would take several hours by horseback. It is reasonable to assume that the surveyors intentionally left the blank spaces to be filled in when they had a opportunity to have a judge sign off on the document. Whitner mentions in his notes taking trips to Sanford for just that purpose.

Fort Gatlin, established in November of 1838, was the first settlement in our area. It was one among a series of forts built to assist pioneers in settling areas still inhabited by Seminole Indians.

June 05
The earliest settlers located near the safety of the fort giving the Lake Conway Area bragging rights as the first area to be settled in the Central Florida Area.

In 1843 Aaron Jernigan drove over 700 head of cattle from Georgia to the Fort Gatlin area. He let the cattle roam free as he returned to Georgia to bring his family to their new home. A year later Jernigan and his family arrived back in the Fort Gatlin area.

Life was primitive for the early settlers. The following correspondence between Jernigan’s daughter, Martha Jernigan Tyler, gives a good picture of what life was like in the early days.

March 27th, 1924

Mrs. Martha Tyler,
Orlando, Florida.

Dear Madam :

I was very much interested in reading in this morning’s “Times Union” an account of the marking of the site of Fort Gatlin, near Orlando, by the Daughters of the American Revolution of that city. The account states that you, then Martha Jernigan, were in the stockade during the trouble with the Indians.

The reading of the article recalled to my mind an incident told me many years ago by my father, Marcellus A. Williams, who was for years a Government Surveyor in Florida. During one of the Indian uprisings, he was visiting the home of Mr. Jernigan. A day or two before his arrival, Mr. Jernigan and others had captured an Indian Chief named Enihaw, his wife, a baby, and Enihaw’s mother. While marching the captives to the Jernigan home, Enihaw, while passing through a dense swamp, suddenly picked up his wife and made good his escape. The baby and Enihaw’s mother were left in the hands of Mr. Jernigan. During the night my father spent in the Jernigan home, the mother of Enihaw hanged herself under the table in the “smoke house” where she was confined.

The above is my recollection of the incident as told me by my father. If you are the daughter of the above mentioned Mr. Jernigan and remember the incident, I would appreciate it greatly if you would write an account of it for the Florida Historical Society for publication in our quarterly magazine. Such an article from you would be of very great interest and would be very greatly appreciated by the members of the Society and the citizens of Florida generally. Won’t you please do this for us?

Very respectfully,

ARTHUR T. WILLIAMS
President, Florida Historical Society
Orlando, Florida

April 7th, 1924.

MR. ARTHUR T. WILLIAMS
Jacksonville, Florida

Dear Mr. Williams :

Your letter received a few days ago, and in reply will say:

The Indians were fussing and killing people around Tampa and Pease Creek, so father thought it best to build a fort. When it was finished everybody went into it - altogether about 80 people besides the negroes. We all stayed there about a year. The regular soldiers were forted about a mile west of us, altogether about three hundred of them. They left before we went home from the fort.

Living was difficult in those days and not very safe. Father planted corn on the Tohopakaliga Island and when he gathered it he had to bring it five miles across the water in a boat. This boat was made out of a cypress tree, 4 feet wide and 30 feet long. After it was brought across the water he had to haul the corn 15 miles in a wagon. One day uncle Wright Patrick had a load of corn and a large pumpkin on it. He met an Indian who asked him if he could have the pumpkin. He told him “yes.” He said afterwards he would have given him the pony and cart if he had asked for it. A year or so before that, Uncle Isaac Jernigan was at Tohopakaliga Lake late one evening between sunset and dark, when the Indians began shooting at him. They shot four times. He said to himself, “It won’t do for me to be made a target out of,” so he took after them and said, “D-, I will have one of you.” They ran and he after them. After a bit he ran into a hammock nearby, where he could hear them yelling across the creek. It sounded like about five hundred of them about a mile away. When he went to look for his pony she was gone. (He hasn’t found her yet). He took a beeline for home through the woods, because he was afraid to go by the road for fear the Indians would waylay him. He didn’t get home till about daylight the next morning. He had lost his shoes off his feet, and they were scratched and cut up with briars. He could hardly walk for a week. Father went out and hunted the Indians, but could not find them.

A year or two afterwards he captured Enihaw, his wife, mother, and baby, and left them with Tat Kendrick. They were looking for others when Enihaw picked his wife up and made his escape, leaving his mother and the baby. We kept them two or three weeks, when she hung herself, as stated in your letter.

On one occasion when father was hunting his cattle he met an Indian and asked him if he had seen any cows. He told him “yes, about 8 miles east of here.” He went as directed and found one of his choicest heifers cut in pieces and thrown in an alligator hole.

Your father was a good friend of ours. We were always glad to have him with us. I remember him quite well. He had a watch - gold, like himself - and we children would all gather around him like blackbirds to look at it and hear him talk.

I have not been able to write since I fell and broke my right arm about two years ago, but I can furnish you with any information you ask for, and will be glad to do so.

I am Aaron Jernigan’s daughter.

Your friend,

MARTHA TYLER
Orlando, Florida

May lst, 1924.

MR. ARTHUR T. WILLIAMS
Jacksonville, Florida.

Dear Friend :

I have thought of a few more things which might be interesting to you.

Father let your father have his boat to go across Tohopakaliga Lake, as it was six or eight miles nearer to cross the lake that way. Your father left one man to carry the mules, and when he got in sight of the rest of the crew they commenced waving at him, and he, thinking they were Indians, turned and went back to father, which was about 25 or 30 miles, and reported seeing Indians. One of the men (Sherman), took the boat and went back - had to walk 15 miles, but got there a few hours after Ohery did. The name of the boat was “Black Hawk.” It was 30 feet long and 4 feet wide with two sets of oarlocks to it.

Your sincere friend,

MARTHA TYLER
Orlando, Florida

May 11th, 1924

MR. ARTHUR T. WILLIAMS
Jacksonville, Florida.

Dear Friend:

Your letter of the 9th received. You are welcome to publish my letters.

My father’s name was Aaron Jernigan and my mother’s maiden name was Mary Hogans. My father first came to this country in 1843, and brought his cattle, five or six hundred head of them, and left them here. Then in about a year he moved mother and us children here in January. I remember they killed one tiger that measured nine feet long from the end of his nose to the end of his tail. The beef was fat and nice, the tallow was soft like lard and about 7 or 8 gallons to the beef. Fish was also very plentiful.

Father’s father was named Aaron and his mother was named Martha. Her maiden name was Deas. My mother’s father was James Hogan and her mother, Frances. That’s as far back as I can remember. I have great grand-children married who have children.

If there is any more information I can give you, I will be pleased to do so.

Your sincere friend,

MARTHA TYLER

May 11th, 1924

MR. ARTHUR T. WILLIAMS
Jacksonville, Florida

Dear Friend:

Your letter of the 9th received. You are welcome to publish my letters.

If there is any more information I can give you, I will be pleased to do so.

Your sincere friend,

MARTHA TYLER

July 05
The Early Years, Fort Gatlin & The Seminole Indians

After years of alternating Spanish, French, and British rule, the territory of Florida was ceded (by Spain) to the United States in 1821. Lost in the international shuffle were the Seminole Indians. After migrating from Georgia and the Carolinas in the late 18th century to some of Florida’s richest farmlands, they were viewed by the new Americans as an obstacle to white settlement. A series of compromise treaties and violent clashes between settlers and the Seminoles continued through 1832, when a young warrior named Osceola strode up to the bargaining table, slammed his knife into the papers on it, and, pointing to the quivering blade, proclaimed, “The only treaty I will ever make is this!”

With that dramatic statement, the hostilities worsened. The Seminoles’ guerrilla-style warfare thwarted the U.S. Army’s attempt to remove them for almost 8 years, during which time many of the resisters drifted south into the interior of central Florida. In what is today the Central Florida area, the United States Army built Fort Gatlin in 1838 to offer protection to pioneer homesteaders. The Seminoles kept up a fierce rebellion until 1842, when, undefeated, they accepted a treaty whereby their remaining numbers (about 300) were given land and promised peace. The same year, the Armed Occupation Act offered 160 acres to any pioneer willing to settle here for a minimum of 5 years. A small population concentrated around Fort Gatlin as a result of the Act. The land was fertile: wild turkeys and deer abounded in the woods, grazing land for cattle was equally plentiful, and dozens of lakes provided fish for settlers and water for livestock. In 1843, what had been Mosquito County was more invitingly renamed Orange County. And with the Seminoles more or less out of the picture (though sporadic uprisings still occurred), the Territorial General Legislature petitioned Congress for statehood. On March 3, 1845, President John Tyler signed a bill making Florida the 27th state.

Settlements and statehood notwithstanding, at the middle of the 19th century, the Orlando area (then named Jernigan for one of its first settlers) consisted largely of pristine lakes and pine-forested wilderness. There were no roads, and you could ride all day (if you could find a trail) without meeting a soul. The Jernigans successfully raised cattle, and their homestead was given a post office in 1850. It became a way stop for travelers and the seat of future development. By 1845, Aaron Jernigan became a Captain in the volunteer army at Fort Gatlin and in 1845 served as Mosquito County’s first representative when Florida entered the Union.

In 1856, the boundaries of Orange County were revised, and, thanks to the manipulations of resident James Gamble Speer, a member of the Indian Removal Commission, Fort Gatlin (Jernigan) became its official seat.

August 2005
The Early Years, Settlers Build a Community

In 1960 The Orange County Historical Commission began publishing a quarterly newsletter. The fourth issue included a History of Conway by Lula Mizell Arnold, daughter of David Mizell, Orange County’s first Sheriff, and Ealena Smith; both were long-time residents of the Conway area. This is the only document that specifically details the history of Conway. The typewritten manuscript is archived at the Orange County Regional History Center. The following article consists of excerpts from the original document. We would like to thank the Orange County Regional History Center for their assistance in our research project.

The early history of Conway was formed around the early settler, the church, the school and the roads. Back in the early 1870’s there were vast forests of virgin pines, oak hammocks, and cypress ponds. It was the home of wild deer, wild turkeys, quail, alligators, and wild cats. Today all of these have vanished; few if any, are left. Instead of the open range there are only orange groves, homes and subdivisions…

Early church services were held in different homes in the community. In the year 1874 the people banded together and built a log cabin, which served both as a church and a school. The cabin was located on the Eastern part of the present church lots. Here services were held when the minister came. The church was organized in 1874 with Rev. James D. McDonald, as mission preacher. It was called Prospect Methodist Episcopal Church South, and it had eleven charter members as follows: Mrs. Mary C. Mizell, Mrs. Sarah E. Mizelle, Isaac Winegard, Sr., G.W. Crawford, Mrs. Mary Winegard, Emeline Winegard, Laura Winegard, Lula A. Mizelle Arnold, Mary E. Arnold Mizelle, and H.T. Arnold. This was a mission church with services once each month. It was then organized into a circuit, Jacksonville District. Rev. O.W. Ransom serves as pastor for two years. The circuit included Orlando, Prospect (later called Conway), Single Creek, Mt. Zion, Mt. Carmel, and Osceola. On October 22, 1878 two acres of land were deeded by M.M. Mizelle and his wife to be used for a church. The original idea was to give a place for a community church, parsonage and cemetery. According to Minutes of Quarterly Conference of May 12, 1880, “It was moved and seconded that the President of the Conference appoint a committee of three to act as a building committee of the Church at Prospect.’

Guided by this committee, the people cut timber, hauled it two miles by oxen to the mill and back again to build a church. This house of worship was built with free labor, free will offerings, and tithes. This was an arduous task for at no time was any indebtedness incurred as the building was done only as funds were available. The building was dedicated in 1892 when it was ceiled and painted inside and outside.

September 2005
The Early Years, Settlers Build a Community

The community of Conway is located seven miles southeast of Orlando on State Road No. 15. However, such is its fame as a good place to live and raise a family that anyone living from the city limits of Orlando to Narcoosee in Osceola County, a distance of 18 miles, claims to live in Conway.

The progress of Conway has been based on the building of roads, with the road to Orlando, road to Narcoses and the road to Lake Jessup on the St. Johns River, all converging there.

In the early days, according to Henry Porter, pioneer citrus grower, transportation of supplies and products was by oxen or mule wagons to the river. The roads were made of sand and in dry weather the ruts became deep and often almost impassable. When this happened (and gophers got scarce and fish were not biting) the citizens raked up straw in the woods and put in the ruts. Sometimes the straw would burn and the county would have to pay to get it replaced.

There was a general store which also served as the post office. Whoever owned the store was the Postmaster. A Mr. Torrey, who had a surrey and a span of horses, was the first to carry mail from Conway to Orlando and return. Among the first postmasters, and storeowners, Mr., Porter recalls, were Mr. Landon, Mr. Crux, Mr. Arnold, and Mr. Gill. (The method of distributing the mail would be considered strange today. People gathered at the general store and the postmaster poured the letters on the counter, and picked them up one at a time. He called out the name of the addressee, who, if present, was expected to shout “here”, whereupon the letter was given to hi,).

In 1907 the first rural route was established in Orange County as R.F. D. #1 running from Orlando to Conway. John W. Anderson was among those taking the examination for R.F.D. #1 and since he scored 100% he received the appointment.

The route was small and was serviced with horse-drawn vehicles using two horses a day.

In December 1912, Dr. Anderson used a Model T. Ford touring car, hand-cranked. The route covered 47 miles.

October 2005
The Early Years, Settlers Build a Community

The history of Conway revolved around its church, school and roads. The first settlers came in the early 1870’s. Then there were vast forests of virgin pines, oak and cypress ponds. It was the home of wild deer, wild turkeys, quail, alligators and wildcats. Today all of these have vanished and there are few if any traces of them left. Instead of the open range, there are orange groves, homes and subdivisions.

Some of the early settlers took up homesteads and proved them up and their descendants live on them today. These early settlers were both Americans from the North or the English from overseas. Most of them reared large families when 14 children were not uncommon. Among the earliest settlers was David Mizalle who married Miss Mary C. Pierce and they were blessed with nine children. Greenup Arnold and his four children moved to Conway from Quincy, Florida. All of them are buried in the Conway Cemetery.

The English mostly planted orange groves, built an Episcopal church and played polo. Bicycles were common and there were many hard bicycle roads, even to Orlando. After the killing freeze in 1894 and 1895, it was thought the orange trees were dead and oranges would never be raised again, many of them moved away.

December 2005
The Barber/Mizell Feud

The Barber and Mizell families were well known in local history. Both owned property in Conway and many lived here. Mizell Street and Barber Park commemorate their names even today.

Moses Barber came from Georgia in 1833 and first settled just north of McClenney, Florida. Moses was often referred to as “the Indian fighter who chased the Seminoles south of the Georgia Bend”. He once had so many dogs that it took a whole steer per day to feed them. Moses became a cattleman, and by 1860 was worth $21,400 in land, and $116,180 in other property, in addition to owning 100 slaves. By today’s standards, he was a wealthy man.

During the Battle of Olustee, the Yankees confiscated almost all of his property, including most of his cattle herds for food, then freed all of his slaves. Another loss Barber faced was the loss of his son Isaac in the Civil War. Barber packed up what he had left, and moved to the Kissimmee basin. He acquired some large tracts of land and soon had some large cattle herds. The Barbers were very active in the early citrus and cattle industry in Central Florida.

During reconstruction, the Mizell family moved in, and through “politics” became the most powerful men in local government (Orange County) during and after Reconstruction. The Barbers did not like

the Federal Government, and resented the Mizell’s power over cattlemen. On the other hand, the Mizells saw the Barbers as powerful in their cattle and land holdings.

The local officials from the Reconstruction government [and of Mizell influence] harassed the Barbers, namely Jack. Barbers were often being brought to court on fabricated charges, often for fines for failing to pay cattle taxes. The cattle tax was unfair, very high, and the Barbers had a lot of cattle. But when they failed to fully pay their tax, they were fined outrageous amounts. Often, cowmen would have to sell their herds just to pay off these fines to the local officials. In almost all cases, a Mizell was behind the taxation and fines. At one time Jack Barber was imprisoned for what appears to be a failure to pay a fine. He was held in prison in Chattahoochee.

The two families exchanged threats, most came from the Barbers, who threatened to shoot any Mizell that was found on their range. The sheriff was a Mizell, and the county judge was a Mizell. The actual feud began when a prize heifer, named Tater Peelin’, belonging to Deed Barber, was found with an altered brand among Morgan Mizell’s herd. Deed Barber, who was only 14 yrs. old, tried to reclaim his prize heifer, but was caught in the process and Sheriff Mizell forced him to kill and butcher the animal on the spot. Then Sheriff Mizell charged him with cattle rustling. On February 21, 1870, at Bull Creek, near Kenansville, not far from the Barber Ranch.

Sheriff David Mizell was shot, he died the next morning at sunrise. Needham Yates and his two sons, along with Moses Barber Jr., were blamed for the murder, which was said to be in revenge for what had happened to Deed Barber. All the men, except Moses Barber were rounded up.

While the three men were being escorted to the jail in Orange County, they were shot (evidently by their captors). To replace the dead Sheriff in office, David Stewart was made Sheriff, he was a close associate of the Mizell clan. Some accounts blame him for shooting the three Yates men. Then on May 5, 1870, the State issued an indictment for murder against Moses Barber. The following month, Judge Mizell organized a posse to hunt down the Barber men, this was another act of revenge by the Mizells. They found Isaac Barber, tied him up to a tree and shot him dead. 20 shot guns were emptied into Isaac’s body, so that no single shooter could be blamed for the crime. A witness to the murder managed to escape and went to the Barber homestead to tell Isaac’s wife, Harriett, that her husband had been killed.

The posse then confiscated Barber cattle. Moses, Jack, and Little Moses escaped the posse by riding through Shingle Creek Ford, so as to leave no hoof prints, (this is now called Boggy Creek, south of the Orlando International Airport). But later, Little Moses was captured. The posse tied him up, put him in a large croaker sack, weighted with plowshares, then threw him into Lake Conway. He surfaced several times, almost escaped, but eventually they shot him and he went to the bottom of the lake. Another account says he was thrown into a pond off south Fern Creek in Orlando.

Moses and Jack Barber left the area, they said they were going to Texas, but some say that they only made it as far as West Florida. We know that Andrew (Jack) Barber came back, because he died in Florida in 1916. The feud lasted for 20 years, some say longer, a few say it is still going on.

OTHER NOTES: Moses Barber ran cattle in Orange, Osceola, Brevard, and Palm Beach Counties. His center of operation seems to have been Kissimmee. He often drove cattle north through Volusia County, now called the town of Barberville.

Some other Barbers, Carl Barber, oldest son of Joe Barber, was born in Conway in 1887, he was the first to ship live bees by rail in the 1920s. He was instrumental in the cattle tic eradication program. In 1956, he organized the mid-Florida livestock auction market in Orlando. Many barber men belonged to the Masonic lodge and to the Oddfellows. Barbers were active in both the citrus and cattle industries. Andrew Jackson Barber [born in 1839] served in the federal army during the Seminole war; he was one of the few men stationed at Fort Christmas. In 1855 he returned to central Florida and settled on lake Conway, at the Daetwyler place. His 1st wife was Violet Roberson. They were married in1859. After she died, he married his second wife, Anna Hull, in 1894, she was the daughter of William Hull.

January 2006
The English Colony

A unique feature of early life in the Conway area was the influx of English settlers—commonly known as the English Colony.

English investors purchased large tracts of land from the state for $1.00 per acre. Land sales agents in London put out fascinating advertisements exploiting the orange industry, which promised a certain annual income of at least $10,000 after the groves had reached maturity, and describing the delightful outdoor life to be enjoyed in the new land.

There were three major English landholders who attracted others to settle around them. Col H. B. Church purchased an eighty acre citrus grove on the southeast side of Lake Underhill in 1881 and built a large home upon it. He then interested a number of his countrymen in the citrus growing business and sold them property for starting groves. The Reverend Charles William Arnold, grand chaplain for the Grand Lodge of Masons in England, arrived in 1885 with his daughter, six young men, and two servants to locate near Lake Conway. He build Arnold’s Court, a large home with a private chapel in which he provided Protestant Episcopal services for his countrymen. He also constructed a ten-room barracks to house those six young men while they learned the basics of citrus cultivation. The third, Captain Dudley G. Cary-Elwes, a veteran campaigner in

Cary-Elwes home on Lake Fredrica

India and China, arrived with his family in 1886 and built his home on Lake Fredrica (near the present Lowe’s parking lot) complete with stables and tennis court. The home became the social center of the English settlers with many of the young people meeting there every Wednesday to play tennis.

These Englishmen were devoted to sport. There were no game laws at the time and the woods were full of deer, quail and pigeon. A favorite sport in the fall was to lie in wait for vast flock of pigeons and shoot them in great numbers.

Although most of these Englishmen were more financially independent, some of them found it necessary to hire themselves out by working as carpenters, wagoners, and farm laborers or in packing plants until their groves matured. Perhaps because they were more separated from their fellow countrymen they suffered from a sense of loneliness and to combat the feeling they engaged in many forms of recreation. Establishing the Conway Yacht Club, Conway Polo and Rugby and cricket teams.

February 2006
English settlers formed a polo team in the early 1800’s. The Conway team played on a field located on Curry Ford Road at the present location of the Dovers Shores shopping center.

Leslie Pell-Clarke built a bicycle path from Orlando to the Conway location so that those who had bicycles could ride out to the games for a day of entertainment.

Teams traveled from as far a South Carolina came to play at the Conway field.

March 2006
The first paved roads in Orange County, outside the city limits, were built in 1915 and 1916 under a $600,000 bond issue, approved by voters on November 11, 1913.

One of the first was the nine foot wide brick Conway Road from Orlando to Conway, running along what is now Briercliff Drive, Curry Ford Road, and Conway Road, ending at Anderson Road, the center of Conway. In the next few years, the section from Anderson South to Hoffner and East to Pine Castle received a hard surface.

The entire length of road from downtown to Conway to Pine Castle was know as Conway Road. Eventually, the section from Curry Ford Road to Hoffner was designated as South Conway Road to distinguish it from the sections which ran East and West. Most residents today still call it South Conway Road today.

April 2006
The Roaring 20’s in Conway

The following is a reprint of an article that appeared in the Sunday, February 7, 1926 edition of the Reporter-Star newspaper. Some of the typesetting was apparently misplaced, but we are presenting it just as it appeared way back then.

CONWAY DISTRICT SHOWS BIG DEVELOPMENT

Fine Future Predicted For Growing Section in
South of Orange County.

DRAINAGE PLAYS A LARGE PART IN CLEARING, BUILDING AND FARMING ACTIVITIES
By Mary Jimperleff

If you want to do it right, before you enter Conway, get Parker to take you around. He has been in Orlando two years, and he has made good. But he admits that it is as much luck as anything else.

“Where are you from, Mr. Parker?” I asked, a little amazed to meet a man who gave luck credit for anything good.

“From all the rest of the United States.”

Going south along Conway road, you come first to Conway. First you pass a 20 acre grove on one hand: it has just been sold by Dr. Sylvan McElroy for $35,000. And it is to be a high-class development. Then you find yourself driving through 200 acres in two sections. Forty on the east of Conway road, and 160 between Conway road and the north section of Lake Conway. Something about heirs, one of whom does not want to sell, something more about the price being a million and a half – this J.G. tells you, and you feel that somehow it is worth it.

Conway, however, is a municipality. I looked for signs of habitation, and saw one house and two churches.

“Three houses and three churches,” enumerated J.G. with precision.

“Aw, c’mon,” I guffawed.

“I’ll take you back to count em if you want.”

On the left a cemetery. It seemed well inhabited. Conway is all past and all future. With just a link connecting the two. But what there is of the link is very fine.

Before you really enter Conway, however, upon leaving Orlando, you go through Lancaster Park, which takes up the southeastern corner of Orlando. It overlooks Lake Lancaster, Cherokee Park and on to Orlando. It consists of 69 or 70 acres which brought $400,000. There is a grove just this side of this park; the trees are painted white up to their hips. That’s a sign that it is on sale. Not an official sign, but the kind of a sign it is when a boy begins to wash behind the ears. And across the road lies 211 acres, glorified by something like $550.000 and James Giles to a North Carolina syndicate, and such as that. Another high class development. And Judge Andrews grove, and other groves all so beautiful, but destined to be developed into habitations. Some of them not sold yet, and the oranges holding forth to win hearts, because their biding owners are waiting to sell when the big price will be theirs and not anothers.”

All this is past “Hour Glass Lake”- pretty thing. There is something positively coy about Orlando’s lakes, just like – but this is about the Conway district. A “flame vine” covers one house, and I turned to look at it which means that I saw more in that than in some other scrap of beauty we were passing. Conway road runs through so much of the really beautiful vegetable gardens, there and back there, and down there. And here’s another one, someone picking fresh vegetables for dinner. And then there is a dear little place, getting all roaded and cleared and ready for happy habitation – Trentonian Court. That suggests New Jersey, and reminds a chap that Trenton is a pretty city itself.

There is a comfortable extensiveness to Conway. It promises no crowding, even with all the subdivisions putting up all over it. At its south end, the road turns. But this road – the old Conway road, will keep on south from this turn on making a loop of fourteen miles. Another road, running east from this turn, an called something that sounds like Narcoosee spelling phonetic and strictly J.G.’s – will connect with the Kissimmee-Melbourne highway and will shorten the distance to Palm Beach and Miami about thirty miles. It will also open up the Lake Hart region, the soil of which is unusually rich for farming. The continuation of Conway road south, means that it will join the South Dixie highway between Bon Air and Bear Head Farm.

Learning all about this, you turn your head and attention to the north and south of you, for you are trekking west now, to see east of Lake Conway about 300 acres north of Wilbur Warren’s Park, taken over by an Orlando organization for $600,000, and to be developed in high class manner.

That’s the last of Conway. As you approach the bridge, you see a sign which proclaims that you are about to enter Belle Isle. So far as I could see, the most conspicuous thing in Belle Isle is Venetian Gardens. This coming high class subdivision is owned and developed by the McCawley Company of Orlando. A thiry-foot canal, eight feet deep to extend 1000 feet, and costing $100,000 , is under construction. This canal runs parallel with the ashphalt road, and will afford to Venetian Gardens a rich advantage.

August 2006

Conway, Chicken Capitol

of Florida?

The Orange County Chamber of Commerce published a series of newsletters extolling the advantages of Orange County. The following is from a 1926 issue of the newsletter.

Poultry raising offers one of the finest opportunities in this county. Excellent land suitable for poultry farms is available at reasonable prices. Modest and inexpensive buildings are sufficient for the protection of the birds in this mild climate.

A New Record!

A new poultry record has been established for Florida in Orange County by the flock of F. C. Arnold, at Conway, near Orlando.

A brood of ten healthy chicks have been hatched from a setting of eggs laid by a pullet hatched on January 1st. This pullet, three fourths White Leghorn and one-fourth Ancona, and five pullets and some roosters hatched January 1st, have been penned together, away from all other birds from that time. This pullet began laying when she was ninety days old and has been laying ever since. Another pullet on the same hatching began laying at ninety-two days. From April 1st to May 14th the five pullets of this hatching have laid more than six dozen eggs. It is doubtful if this record has been surpassed in Florida.

Conway is a real poultry center and many poultrymen of that section are operating on a large basis. A. M. Stevens takes off as many as 1,500 chicks a week from hatchings made in his incubators, and he sells these quality birds in all parts of the state. Mr. Stevens specializes in White Leghorns and has some 3,000 birds of various ages on his farm.

Vail Dunlap has nearly 1,000 birds of various ages, and other growers have good-sized flocks in the Conway section.

The Michigan Avenue Poultry Farm is the most successful poultry farm in Orange County. Earnest A. Peterson and his associates have built up a splendid and paying plant in a few years. This farm has nearly 2,000 laying hens.

...Come to Orange County and help to supply its poultry needs while you enjoy life in the open for twelve months in the year, the best health and opportunity to make a comfortable living under the most favorable conditions.