Editing Orange Park, Florida (section)

== History ==

[[File:Pr07960.jpg|thumb|left|197px|Orange Park sign in the 1890s.]]
Orange Park in the late 18th century was known simply as '''Laurel Grove'''. The name Laurel Grove comes from Sarah and William Pengree, who received a land grant from the Spanish governor. Laurel Grove was sold to [[Zephaniah Kingsley]], of the [[Kingsley Plantation]], upon William's death. Zephaniah developed Laurel Grove into a model farming plantation for over 10 years. In 1813, [[George Mathews (soldier)|General Matthews]] invaded [[East Florida]], triggering the Patriots' Rebellion. After Mathews left East Florida, Zephaniah's wife, [[Anna Madgigine Jai Kingsley]], burned down Laurel Grove to keep it out of Patriots' hands.<ref name="townoforangepark.com">{{cite web |title=Brief History of the Town of Orange Park |url=http://www.townoforangepark.com/town-government/town-history/ |access-date=June 28, 2014}}</ref>

The Town of '''Orange Park''' was founded, in 1877, by the Florida Winter Home and Improvement Company. After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the company bought several thousand acres of the McIntosh plantation at Laurel Grove, for the purpose of creating a southern retreat and small farming community. The property was divided into building lots and small farm tracts, division that involved laying out the present street system, including Kingsley Avenue and Plainfield Avenue. The town was incorporated in 1879 by a special act of the [[Florida Legislature]]. In January 1880, [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and [[Philip Sheridan]] visited Orange Park.<ref>{{cite web |title=Orange Park |url=http://www.drbronsontours.com/bronsonorangepark.html |website=drbronsontours.com |publisher=drbronsontours.com |access-date=March 11, 2016}}</ref> A large hotel was built at Kingsley Avenue along with a 1,200-foot pier.<ref name="townoforangepark.com"/> In 1895, the local fruit-growing industry was destroyed in the Great Freeze of 1895.<ref>{{cite web |title=Orange Park |url=http://www.drbronsontours.com/bronsonorangepark.html |website=drbronstours.com |access-date=June 28, 2014}}</ref>

In October 1891, the [[Orange Park Normal & Industrial School]] was opened. The school was founded by the [[American Missionary Association]] and allowed for both black and white students to attend, the only unsegragated school in Florida at the time. However, by the end of 1913, the school was closed due to [[Jim Crow laws]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Richardson |first1=Joe M. |title="The Nest of Vile Fanatics": William N. Sheats and the Orange Park School |journal=The Florida Historical Quarterly |date=April 1986 |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=393, 406 |url=http://palmm.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/ucf%3A25476 |access-date=March 6, 2023}}</ref>

In 1922, the [[Loyal Order of Moose]], a fraternal organization, bought the former Hotel Marion in downtown Orange Park and rebuilt the property into Moosehaven, a 63-acre retirement community that is exclusively for its senior members.

[[Orange Park Elementary School]], built in 1927, continues to operate a few blocks from the river. It is near [https://www.moosehaven.org/ Moose Haven], in the [[River Road Historic District]], a stretch of road parallel to the Saint Johns River and dotted with century-old trees, where many locals come to walk and jog in the afternoon. About a quarter of a mile away is Club Continental, previously called Mira Rio. Mira Rio, whose name was Spanish for "River Watch", was the winter [[palazzo]] of Caleb Johnson, son of the founder of the [[Palmolive (brand)|Palmolive Soap Company]], now the billion-dollar [[Colgate-Palmolive]] company.

In 1930, [[Robert Yerkes]], with the support of [[Yale University]], the [[Rockefeller Foundation]], and the [[Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching|Carnegie Foundation]], established a research station in Orange Park to study primate biology and behavior. Originally called the Yale Laboratories for Primate Biology, it was renamed the Yerkes Laboratory of Primate Biology after Yerkes retired in 1941. In 1956, ownership of the laboratory was transferred to [[Emory University]]. The laboratory became the [[Yerkes National Primate Research Center]]; it was moved to the Emory University campus in Georgia in 1965.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.jacksonville.com/article/20090703/NEWS/801231985 |title=Rumors still abound about Orange Park's 'Monkey Farm' |last=Patton |first=Charlie |date=July 3, 2009 |work=Florida Times-Union |access-date=December 15, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.yerkes.emory.edu/about/history.html |title=Yerkes National Primate Research Center History |date=2019 |website=Emory |access-date=December 15, 2019}}</ref>