Editing Orange County, Florida (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of Orlando, Florida}}
<!-- This section is linked from [[Osceola County, Florida]] -->
The land that is Orange County was part of the first land to come up from below the [[Early Oligocene]] sea 33.9–28.4 million years ago and is known as [[Orange Island (Florida)|Orange Island]]. Orange County's [[Orange County, Florida paleontological sites|Rock Spring location]] is a [[Pleistocene]] [[fossil]]-bearing area and has yielded a vast variety of birds and mammals including [[giant sloth]], [[mammoth]], [[camel]], and the [[dire wolf]] dating around 1.1 million years ago.<ref name="Petuch, Edward J. 2007">Petuch, Edward J., Roberts, Charles; The geology of the Everglades and adjacent areas, 2007, {{ISBN|1-4200-4558-X}}.</ref>

===19th century to mid-20th century===
[[File:Ocoee Withers-Maguire01.jpg|thumb|left|[[Withers-Maguire House]] (built 1888) in [[Ocoee, Florida|Ocoee]], exemplary of Florida Vernacular Style Architecture]]
Immediately following the transfer of [[Spanish Florida|Florida]] from the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] to the [[United States]] in 1821, Governor [[Andrew Jackson]] created two counties: [[Escambia County, Florida|Escambia]] to the west of the [[Suwannee River]] and [[St. Johns County, Florida|St. Johns]] to the east.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of Florida|last=Tebeau|first=Charlton W.|publisher=University of Miami Press|year=1980|edition=Revised|location=Coral Gables, Florida|pages=119}}</ref> In 1824, the area to the south of St. Johns County was organized as [[Mosquito County]], and [[Enterprise, Florida|Enterprise]] was named its [[county seat]]. This large county took up much of [[central Florida]]. The [[Indian Removal Act]] of 1830 authorized relocation of the [[Seminole]] people from Florida to [[Oklahoma]]. This resulted in pushback from the Seminole community, leading to the [[Second Seminole War]]. In 1845 when Florida finally became a state, the county was renamed '''Orange County'''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Florida Maps - Mosquito County|url=https://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/galleries/county/mosquito/index.php?pageNum_Recordset1=1&totalRows_Recordset1=81|access-date=March 28, 2021|website=fcit.usf.edu}}</ref> After the population increased in the region, the legislature organized several counties, such as [[Osceola County, Florida|Osceola]] (1887), [[Seminole County, Florida|Seminole]] (1913), [[Lake County, Florida|Lake]]  (1887), and [[Volusia County|Volusia]] (1854), from its territory.

[[File:Dr. Phillips House-1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dr. P. Phillips House]]  (built 1893) was purchased by [[Philip Phillips (businessman)|Dr. Phillips]] in 1912. He was a prominent figure in the county's citrus industry.]]
[[File:Orange Groves in Orlando, Florida.jpg|thumb|left|Postcard in 1921 depicting Orange groves near [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]]]]

Early on, the county greatly suffered, due to the [[Union blockade]], but things greatly improved during [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]]. A boom in population, resulting from the incorporation of the [[Orlando, Florida|Town of Orlando]] in 1875, greatly changed the demographics of the county.<ref name="Historic Orange County:The Story of Orlando and Orange County">{{cite book |last=Mosier |first=Tana |date=2009 |title=Historic Orange County:The Story of Orlando and Orange County |url=http://hpnbooks.com/wordpress/?p=1372 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035737/http://hpnbooks.com/wordpress/?p=1372 |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |location=Texas |publisher=Mahler Books |page=51 |isbn=9781893619999 }}</ref> Orlando, establishing itself as a city in 1885,<ref>[http://www.cityoforlando.net/about_orlando.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314190141/http://www.cityoforlando.net/about_orlando.htm|date=March 14, 2014}}</ref> experienced rapid growth from 1875 to 1895, due to it becoming the hub of Florida's [[citrus]] industry. The [[orange (fruit)|fruit]] that constituted the county's main commodity crop, was the impetus to the aforementioned county's renaming. The dark-green foliage of orange trees filled the county, as did the scent of the orange blossoms when in bloom. Fewer commercial orange groves remained by the end of the twentieth century. The majority of groves were destroyed by the freezing temperatures that occurred in December 1983, [[1985 North American cold wave|January 1985]], and December 1989, the worst since 1899.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bouffard|first=Kevin|date=December 25, 2009|title=1989 Christmas Freeze: Florida's Citrus Industry was Changed Forever|work=The Ledger|url=https://www.theledger.com/article/LK/20091225/News/608119147/LL|access-date=August 6, 2021|archive-date=August 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806120914/https://www.theledger.com/article/LK/20091225/News/608119147/LL|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:The Wyoming, Orlando, FL.jpg|thumb|left|The Wyoming Hotel (built c. 1905)]]

During the post-Reconstruction period, white people committed a high rate of racial violence against black people in Orange County; racial terrorism was used to re-establish and maintain [[white supremacy]]. Whites [[Lynchings in the United States|lynched]] 33 African Americans here from 1877 to 1950; most were killed in the decades around the turn of the 20th century. This was the highest total of any county in the state, and sixth highest of any county in the country.<ref name="jeff"/> Florida had the highest per-capita rate of lynchings of any state in the South, where the great majority of these extrajudicial murders took place.<ref>[https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-supplement-by-county.pdf{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ''Lynching in America''/ Supplement: Lynchings by County, 3rd Edition, 2015, p.2]{{Dead link|date=December 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Among the terrorist lynchings was the [[Ocoee Massacre|death of Julius "July" Perry]] of Ocoee, whose body was found November 3, 1920, hanged from a lightpole in Orlando, near the house of a judge known to be sympathetic to black voting.<ref name="jeff">[http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-lynchings-report-orange-county-20150211-story.html Jeff Kunerth, "Report: Orange County ranks 6th in lynchings from 1877-1950"], ''Orlando Sentinel'', February 11, 2015; accessed March 21, 2018</ref> But this was part of a much larger story of [[KKK]] and other white attempts to suppress black voting in Ocoee and the state. African Americans had organized for a year to increase voter turnout for the 1920 presidential election, with organizations helping prepare residents for voter registration, paying for [[poll tax]]es, and similar actions. On Election Day in [[Ocoee, Florida|Ocoee]], blacks were turned away from the polls. Perry, a prosperous farmer, was suspected of sheltering Mose Norman, an African-American man who had tried to vote.<ref name="ortiz"/> After Norman was twice turned away, white violence broke out, resulting in a riot through the black community, leaving an estimated [[Ocoee massacre|50 to 60 African-Americans dead]] and all the properties destroyed. Many blacks fled from Ocoee to save their lives, and the town became all-white.<ref name="ortiz">Ortiz, Paul (May 14, 2010). [https://www.facingsouth.org/2010/05/ocoee-florida-remembering-the-single-bloodiest-day-in-modern-us-political-history.html "Ocoee, Florida: Remembering the 'single bloodiest day in modern U.S. political history{{'"}}], ''Facing South'', The Institute for Southern Studies; University of Mississippi. Retrieved on March 21, 2018<!-- url changed --></ref><ref name="jeff"/> Voting efforts were suppressed for decades.

===Later 20th century to present===
[[File:Winter park canal.jpg|thumb|right|One of many canals in [[Winter Park, Florida|Winter Park]] that connect to different lakes within the community]]
Economically destroyed at the turn of the century from the decimation of the citrus industry, many farmers walked away from the region. The freeze caused many farmers in central Florida to move to other warm climates, such as to the [[Caribbean]] or to [[California]] (such as the similarly named [[Orange County, California]]). Others awaited other opportunities. One of the region's major land owners and growers was the [[Tropicana Products|Tropicana]] company. They withdrew rather than try to come back from these seemingly endless generational decimation. With no realistic avenues for agricultural use of this rural land, and Florida's continuing strong population growth and its attendant needs (aided and supported by the success of nearby [[Walt Disney World]] and [[Universal Studios Florida]]), these areas began to be developed for housing and other industries, especially after [[World War II]].

In 1962 Orlando Jetport was built. The predecessor of modern-day [[Orlando International Airport]], it was built from a portion of the [[McCoy Air Force Base]]. By 1970, four major airlines ([[Delta Air Lines]], [[National Airlines (NA)|National Airlines]], [[Eastern Airlines]], and [[Southern Airways]]) had begun providing scheduled flights. McCoy Air Force Base officially closed in 1975, in which the airport still retains the former Air Force Base airport code (MCO).

In 1965, [[Walt Disney]] announced plans to build [[Walt Disney World]]. The renowned resort opened in October 1971. This had a seismic impact to the region, resulting in an explosive growth in the county's population and in its economy. The success of Disney World, allowed for other [[theme parks]] and entertainment attractions to open and thrive in the county, such as [[Universal Orlando]] and [[SeaWorld Orlando]]. The county now has more theme parks and entertainment attractions than anywhere else in the world.<ref>{{cite web|title=10 Best Hotels in Orlando for AARP Members in 2017|url=https://www.expedia-aarp.com/Orlando-Hotels.d178294.Travel-Guide-Hotels|website=AARP Travel Center|publisher=Expedia|access-date=May 5, 2017}}</ref>

In the 21st century, the county's economy has since diversified.<ref>[https://blog.trade.gov/2020/12/21/economic-diversification-a-necessary-priority-for-edos/ "Economic Diversification: A Necessary Priority for EDOs"], ''tradeology'', December 21, 2020. Accessed June 17, 2024.</ref><ref>Hudak, Stephen.[https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2021/02/23/orange-county-approves-2-million-to-diversify-economy-amid-covid-19-recovery/ "Orange County approves $2 million to diversify economy amid COVID-19 recovery"], ''[[Orlando Sentinel]]'', February 23, 2021. Accessed June 17, 2024.</ref> Despite the rapid development in the county, thanks to [[gentrification]] relics of the historic core of "Old Orlando" still reside in [[downtown Orlando]] (along Church Street, between Orange Avenue and Garland Avenue), as well as within Orange County communities outside city limits, such as in [[Eatonville, Florida|Eatonville]], [[Windermere, Florida|Windermere]], and [[Winter Park, Florida|Winter Park]].