When Union Veteran John H. DeGraw arrived in St. Cloud, Florida in the fall of 1909, little did he know that when his daughter Myrtle married Victor G. Mapes, three of John’s grandsons – Victor Loris Mapes, Dana Austin Mapes and Theodore Augustus Mapes would serve their country in the 1940s, as John did over seventy-five years earlier.

Topics: Veteran, St. Cloud, Florida

The youngest of nine children of Matthew and Sarah McMullen, born April 28, 1865; Charles Nathan grew up in Roane, West Virginia, working on the family farm.  He was only six months old when his father died.  At the age of thirteen, C.N. left home to make his own living.

Topics: Osceola County, Veteran

Prior to being one of the early settlers of St. Cloud, Florida, Levi Shambow was also a pioneer in the cities of Aurora, Illinois, Portland and Eugene, Oregon, Seattle, Washington and Butte, Montana.

Topics: Veteran, Osceola County History

Topics: War Vertrags Memorial, Osceola County Historical Society, History

The pride of St. Cloud, Florida; in 1925, was the clock attached to the People’s Bank Building located at the corner of Tenth Street and New York Avenue.  The clock first chimed on Monday, July 20, 1925, striking various musical combinations arranged for each quarter hour.  When the bank failed in 1928, the St. Cloud City Commission voted to purchase the clock, offering $250.00 - the amount to be absorbed in taxes owed.

Topics: Osceola County History

When the ten-year-old wooden Osceola High School burned to the ground on July 7, 1908; the headlines read “Pride of Osceola Is Laid In Ashes”.  A committee of citizens was immediately appointed by the School Board to secure plans for the erection of a new school building.  Cooper Contracting Company of Fitzgerald, Georgia was awarded the contract for $17,500 to construct the three-story structure using sand lime brick. 

Topics: Kissimmee, Oscoela County Historical Society, Osceola County, City of Kissimmee, Around Osceola County, Osceola County History, Educational, History, Around Osceola, Osceola History

Built in 1924-1925, the Interocean Hotel located on Highway 17-92 seven miles south of Kissimmee, Florida; sat empty the year following completion. 

Topics: Kissimmee, Osceola County, Osceola County Historical Society, City of Kissimmee, Around Osceola County, Osceola County History, Educational, History, Around Osceola, Osceola History

It was slightly different in design but dating to the same 1890s time period as the replica schoolhouse at the Pioneer Village and two stories have emerged regarding how the school got its name.  Miss Emma Yowell, one of the early teachers refers to it as “Shaker Rag” and stated in a 1940 newspaper interview that it was later known as “Pine Grove” in a 1940 newspaper.

Topics: Kissimmee, Oscoela County Historical Society, Osceola County, City of Kissimmee, Osceola County History, Educational, History, Osceola History, Around Osceola

Imagine transporting a student from the 1890’s schoolhouse at Pioneer Village at Shingle Creek to a heavily populated area in Osceola County, Florida in 1980; where wild turkeys and bobcats once roamed.  What they would see would be startling.  An earth-covered school, the design borrowed from Southwest American Indian tribes; was being built to save energy.  Referred to as “The dirt school, Groundhog or Eskimo Elementary”, the name chosen was ”Reedy Creek Elementary”.

Topics: Kissimmee, Oscoela County Historical Society, Osceola County, City of Kissimmee, Around Osceola County, Osceola County History, Educational, History, Osceola History, Around Osceola

One of the official actions at the first School Board meeting on August 29, 1887 was to name and number the schools.  # 5 was Shiloh, #7 Cross Prairie, #11 Neallo and #13 was Lakeview, to name a few.  There were a total of twenty-one with #22, Merry Winter, added the following month.  The salary for teachers assigned between ten and fifteen students was set at $20 a month; classes above fifteen students would result in $1.50 per student per month additional payment.

Topics: Kissimmee, Samuel Lincoln Lupfer,, Oscoela County Historical Society, Osceola County, Osceola County Historical Society, City of St. Cloud, Pioneer Village at Shingle Creek, City of Kissimmee, Pioneer Village, Osceola County History, Educational, St. Cloud, The Pioneer Village, Osceola History, Around Osceola