History of Orange County in Florida
Orange County in Florida traces its more recent history to when the Timucuan Indians lived there. The Timucuan Indians were fishermen, hunters, and farmed staples like beans and corn. However, once the Spaniards arrived in Florida during the mid-1500s, the Timucuans disappeared due to disease.

During the 1700s, the Muscogee and Creek tribes drifted into the central Florida highlands to take advantage of the many waterways and lakes. Being hospital tribes, the Muskogee and Creek people, also known as the Seminole tribes or renegades, protected runaway slaves and those who escaped the Trail of Tears.

This protective approach eventually resulted in the Seminole Wars in the middle of the 1800s as military outposts were established at Forts in the region, including Fort Christmas, Gatlin, and Maitland. However, before the wars began, Orange County in the central Florida highlands was formally established on December 29, 1824, as Mosquito County.

Crop failures and financial ruin plagued the county in the winter of 1895 to 1896, resulting in real estate being sold off to survive, creating Orlando's boomtown. A hurricane then swept through Florida in 1926, causing properties to lose their value and the interest of investors. After that, stock market crashes, wars, and the Great Depression hit Florida, but nothing could keep the people down.

The 1930s saw a slow revival of real estate values as people migrated to Florida and Orange County. Walt Disney then built his vacation destination in Orange County and named it Walt Disney World. The grand opening of this center in 1971 turned Orlando into a household name across the globe. Tourists still flock to Orange County in Florida to experience the delights of this focal point of the Disney Complex.

The Orange County and its Namesake
During the early 1800s, Mosquito County comprised what you know in the present as the counties of Seminole, Lake, Osceola, Volusia, and Brevard. As the land and its people weathered the storms of life, pieces of Mosquito County were broken off to form different counties.

One of these sections of land to be broken off was Orange County, which was officially registered in 1845 with Orlando as its country seat. However, unlike many counties across the U.S., Orange County took its name from the success of its citrus crops rather than a specific individual or event.

Orange County remains renowned for its delicious, sweet orange varieties like the Navel, Valencia, Ambersweet, Pineapple, and Hamlin. It is also celebrated for its tangerines, tangelos, Temple oranges, and grapefruit varieties.