Florida Senate - 2017                            (NP)    SR 1822
       
       
        
       By Senator Hukill
       
       
       
       
       
       14-02534B-17                                          20171822__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution celebrating the anniversary of the
    3         founding of Port Orange and recognizing April 26,
    4         2017, as “Port Orange Day” in Florida.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, Port Orange has a rich history, shaped by a number
    7  of explorers who worked to tame a wild and unforgiving
    8  environment, and
    9         WHEREAS, in 1768, Andrew Turnbull established the New
   10  Smyrna Colony, and
   11         WHEREAS, in 1804, Spain granted Patrick Dean 995 acres of
   12  land in the area, where he built a sugar cane plantation named
   13  Dunlawton, and
   14         WHEREAS, in 1866, John Milton Hawks, an abolitionist and
   15  United States Army Surgeon, along with other Union officers,
   16  formed the Florida Land and Lumber Company and came with 500
   17  freed slaves to live on public lands along the Halifax River,
   18  and
   19         WHEREAS, in February 1867, Dr. Hawks moved the settlement
   20  from the Ponce Inlet, then known as the Mosquito Inlet, to its
   21  current location, and in April of that year the settlement was
   22  renamed Port Orange, and
   23         WHEREAS, by 1869, only nine families remained in the area
   24  now known as Freemanville, which is located around the
   25  intersection of Orange Avenue and Charles Street, and, today,
   26  the Mount Moriah Baptist Church is the only remnant of the
   27  original small community of freed slaves, and
   28         WHEREAS, until the early 1890s, Port Orange remained a
   29  landlocked community that could be accessed only by steamboat,
   30  hack buggy, or stagecoach, and
   31         WHEREAS, Henry Flagler brought his railroad to the area
   32  with plans to extend it south, and, in 1894, the Port Orange
   33  passenger and freight depot was built, which brought tourism and
   34  stimulated commerce, and
   35         WHEREAS, winter visitors began to arrive, and a new era of
   36  growth took place, creating the demand for boarding houses and
   37  other accommodations, and
   38         WHEREAS, the railroad provided the ability to move goods
   39  from various industries, such as citrus, lumber, boat building,
   40  oystering, farming, and the ranching of livestock, and
   41         WHEREAS, from the banks of the Halifax River on the east to
   42  the environmental preserves on the west, this family-oriented
   43  community continues to be an ideal environment for tourism and
   44  commerce, and
   45         WHEREAS, thanks to the hopes, dreams, and tenacity of early
   46  pioneers who persisted despite significant challenges, Port
   47  Orange is a vibrant community with a rich heritage that will be
   48  enjoyed by future generations, NOW, THEREFORE,
   49  
   50  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   51  
   52         That the 150th anniversary of the founding of Port Orange
   53  is celebrated, and April 26, 2017, is recognized as “Port Orange
   54  Day” in Florida.
   55         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   56  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to the City of Port
   57  Orange as a tangible token of the sentiments of the Florida
   58  Senate.