A couple of years back, I found myself in the Orlando airport, killing time, examining the novelty stores in my terminal before boarding an airplane. I was looking at the branded shirts and hoodies, particularly the “ORLANDO - EST. (year of founding)” novelty shirts one may purchase as a memento of a vacation, a display of hometown pride, or a gift for a loved one.
I happened to notice that there were two different dates printed on the various shirts and hoodies on the racks and shelves. Lots of “ORLANDO - EST. 1885”s and “ORLANDO - EST. 1875”s, maybe others as well. This discrepancy struck me as odd; thus I began googling, eager to find out if what I was seeing on this unreasonably expensive yet fairly priced merchandise was the result of a casual misprint, or if it betrayed a deeper history.
I reveal to you below what I learned as a result of this airport curiosity.
Four Dates – Fort Gatlin, Jernigan, Orlando, Orlando#
1838, 1843, 1875, and 1885 are all commonly cited as the date of founding or settling of Orlando. The latter two are more often cited than the former, in my anecdotal estimation, and indeed they are the only ones that actually bear the name of Orlando in their official capacities. But the earlier two claims still have their merit, as I will get into below.
Quick Background – Prehistory to Early Modern Period#
The central Florida area may indeed have had people living there many centuries and millenia before the specific dates we discuss in this blog. Additionally, the peoples living in central Florida at the time of Orlando’s founding, and their conflicts with the United States in particular, contributed to the circumstances of Orlando’s original purpose and location as a military site. Thus I will give a bit of a preamble for context.
The area now known to us by the name “Florida” shows evidence of occupation by various Native American cultures for thousands of years . Central Florida, in particular, seems to have changed hands between tribes and cultures more than once, from before recorded history, to the days of the Spanish arrival and colonization in the 1500s, through a brief possession by Great Britain, up to the United States asserting its sovereignty over the territory in the early 1800s .
Many of the peoples living in Florida at the time of Spanish arrival were killed by germs arriving with the Europeans, devastating their societies and contributing to the widespread depopulation of Florida . Although the native population of Florida never fully recovered to rough pre-Columbus estimations, other tribes from farther north took their place or subsumed the existing tribes over time, ensuring continuous Native population of the area alongside European settlement. This wave of Native American immigration from the north and mixture with existing Native populations led to the genesis of the famous Seminole culture and nation, an amalgamation of various other groups, including Native American tribes and runaway African-descended slaves. This Seminole nation primarily occupied the Florida Panhandle at first .
In 1823, representatives of the Seminole nation agreed by treaty to leave the panhandle and move southward, occupying the area around what would become Orlando, as well as much of the rest of central Florida. The Seminole people would soon be driven out of this part of Florida as well, via further (disputed) treaty, conquest, and forcible displacement by the United States government, actions known today as the three Seminole Wars and the Trail of Tears.
Where are the Seminole Today?#
Today, there are significant Seminole populations in both Florida and Oklahoma; the Oklahoma population is descended from the majority of Seminole who were forced out of Florida and across the Mississippi River, and the Florida population is descended from the minority who escaped into the Everglades or otherwise evaded removal from Florida. The Florida Seminole are no longer headquartered in central Florida, but in southern Florida, in various tribes.
Modern History and Foundings of Orlando#
1838 – First Non-Native Settlement#
What would become “Orlando” was first permanently settled in the modern era by the United States military, seventeen years after the United States received full rights over the territory from the Spanish. Fort Gatlin, a military installation, was established just south of what is today the City of Orlando in 1838, thus marking the first settlement in the area . Fort Gatlin was situated deep inside the territory promised to the Seminoles in 1823 when they left the panhandle, and subsequently renegotiated away from them in favor of removal westward in 1828. The Second Seminole War kicked off in 1835 with the Dade Massacre, so this founding was three years into the current war. Gatlin was the surname of an army officer killed in the Dade Massacre, an ambush that Seminole warriors perpetrated against a U.S. Army column marching from Tampa to Ocala, and is most likely where this name originated. Immediately nearby sits Lake Gatlin – it is not known which held this name first, the lake or the fort.
Fort Gatlin was used as a base from which to fight the Seminole. It was variously abandoned, briefly re-occupied, and again abandoned by the U.S. military over the following decade and change, but not before settlers from the north came to occupy the land near it and rely upon it for protection against the existing Seminole population. This protection, obviously, wavered during periods of abandonment. From my understanding, it was never re-occupied by the U.S. military as a base of operations after 1849.
Where is Fort Gatlin Now? What is Fort Gatlin Now?#
The site of Fort Gatlin in downtown Orlando is just outside of city limits, at the intersection of Gatlin and Summerlin Avenues. It appears to have been given over to the Navy by the Army after a long period of abandonment, where it became a research laboratory specializing in underwater sound. In the early 2000s, it was acquired by the county school system, where it saw some administrative use but currently sits empty and in disrepair.
As of writing, it recently has been listed for sale by the county. There also exists a nascent movement by locals, called Save Fort Gatlin, that aims to transform the area into a public park and preserve it as a historical site.
1843 – First Permanent Civilian Non-Native Settlement#
After the army, came the cattlemen. Aaron Jernigan, a “citizen of substance,” his wife Mary, and his brother Isaac rode down from Georgia to the Florida territory. He first arrived in the Tallahassee area, later purchasing 1,200 acres near Lake Holden and settling down with their cattle, and selling off parcels of his land to others. Lake Holden is just south of what is now considered the core of downtown Orlando. This lake is about 3 miles south-southwest of the now more-famous Lake Eola, and about two miles northwest of the site of Fort Gatlin. Further sporadic civilian settlement happened around this area, which came to be a village known as “Jernigan,” after Aaron Jernigan and his family. Mr. Jernigan formed a civilian militia that would use Fort Gatlin for operations during periods of abandonment by the U.S. military. Later in life, he was accused of co-committing a murder, reportedly escaped his arrest during transport, and fled to Texas, only returning to the Orlando area after 25 years to live out old age.
Note that Florida became an official U.S. state two years after Jernigan first arrived, in 1845.
The village of “Jernigan” became “Orlando” in 1856 or 1857; no reason is known definitively as to why the settlement’s name was changed. Similarly, no one seems to know exactly why the name “Orlando” was chosen as the new name, but there are competing theories and stories, including references to the Shakespearean character of the same name, and to a traveler, or militiaman, named Orlando supposedly buried in the vicinity.
1875 – Incorporation of Orlando#
The “Town of Orlando” was incorporated on July 31st, 1875, after years of growth and development of the unincorporated village, including the laying out of formal streets and roads in 1857 to support its new status as the county seat. The town was 4 square miles.
Curiously, the town charter was later briefly revoked by the then-mayor due to outstanding legal issues surrounding land ownership, then reincorporated once the issues were resolved, all in 1879. So, technically, you could add “1879” to the list as another founding! (I will not rock the boat, but you and I both know the truth now.)
1885 – Incorporation of Orlando, But Bigger#
The “City of Orlando” was incorporated in 1885, replacing the municipality’s former status as the “Town of Orlando,” and setting the stage for the city and wider metropolitan area we know and love today. This is the final date on the list (so far)!
City? Town? Village? Why Re-Incorporate?#
“City” is a loose term in the English language – typically defined as a municipal settlement that is more developed and with a larger population and density than a town, which is in turn larger than a village, hamlet, borough, etc. Although I do not know, I must speculate that the denizens of Orlando re-incorporated as a city after a decade of townhood in order to broadcast their intent and desire to grow substantially.
Village, Town, and City are the three terms used in Florida for the official names of municipalities. These terms have no actual legal distinction between them in Florida, as far as I can find, but do gesture toward the reality of the relative size of the settlement. This is in contrast to states like New Jersey, which do have different systems for different types of municipalities.
Conclusion#
While authoring this article, I searched “orlando est. t shirt” to look at the shirts again. The first search results I got were shirts with the 1838 date, not 1885 nor 1875! Maybe I missed these ones at the airport, I can’t quite recall - but they exist if you prefer them.
Now, next time someone asks you, “When was Orlando founded?” you can ask them, “Which time?” and regale them with this short history of the Fort, Village, Town, and City Beautiful.
Thanks for reading!
Alex
Bibliography#
Johnson, Rody. “Ancient Beginnings.” Indian River Magazine, September 13, 2022.
https://indianrivermagazine.com/ancient-beginnings/.
“Native American Tribes of Florida.” Native Languages of the Americas. https://www.native-languages.org/florida.htm.
Lord, Lewis. “How Many People Were Here Before Columbus?” U.S. News & World Report, August 18-25, 1997.
https://www.bxscience.edu/ourpages/auto/2009/4/5/34767803/Pre-Columbian%20population.pdf
“The Florida Seminoles - Timeline.” Florida Memory.
https://www.floridamemory.com/learn/classroom/learning-units/seminoles/timeline/
Blackman, William Fremont. “The History of Orange County, FL.” E. O. Painter Printing Co., 1927. https://genealogytrails.com/fla/orange/chapt3.html
“Orlando’s First Settler, Aaron Jernigan.”
https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMH4KB
“AARON JERNIGAN: POSTMASTER, LEGISLATOR – MURDER SUSPECT.” Orlando Sentinel, June 14, 1998. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1998/06/14/aaron-jernigan-postmaster-legislator-murder-suspect/
“Orlando History.” City of Orlando.
https://www.orlando.gov/Our-Government/History
Cronin, Rick. “ORLANDO Founding Families: Robert R. REID III.” CitrusLAND.
https://citruslandfl.blogspot.com/2019/06/orlando-founding-families-robert-r-reid.html
“Local Government Vocabulary.” Florida League of Cities, Inc.
https://web.archive.org/web/20131110234408/http://www.floridaleagueofcities.com/Resources.aspx?CNID=877
“Types of Government in New Jersey.” New Jersey State League of Municipalities. https://www.njlm.org/644/Forms-of-Municipal-Government---New-Jers