Editing Sanford, Florida (section)

===20th century===
In 1911, the community of Sanford Heights seceded from Sanford, because of discord over municipal services provided by Sanford. This added to concerns that Sanford's ability to expand would be constrained by the surrounding towns of Goldsboro, Georgetown and Sanford Heights, as well as [[Lake Monroe (Florida)|Lake Monroe]] to the west. [[Florida State Representative]] and former Sanford mayor [[Forrest Lake (politician)|Forrest Lake]] led legislative efforts to curtail Sanford Heights' ability to incorporate as an independent entity. Goldsboro was also a target in Forrest Lake's annexation process, prompting Goldsboro's leaders to start a letter writing campaign to local newspapers.<ref name=Imperiale>{{cite news | url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:ORLB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB4EEC5C76E2BE6&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0FB3382EE6AD1E46 | title=Discovering A Lost City Historian Finds Surprising Past of the Goldsboro Community | date=May 20, 1990 | agency=[[Orlando Sentinel]] | access-date=July 19, 2013 | author=Imperiale, Nancy | location=Orlando, FL}}</ref> On April 6, 1911, the Sanford city council passed a resolution to annex Goldsboro and on April 26, 1911, the Florida legislature passed the Sanford Charter Bill, dissolving the incorporation of both Sanford and Goldsboro, and reorganizing Sanford as a city that included Goldsboro within its boundaries.<ref name=Bentley /><ref name=Robinson-20021215>{{cite news | url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:ORLB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0F7F23A84FA0D7C6&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0FB3382EE6AD1E46 | title=Grapeville Details Emerge – The Histories of the Swedish Colony and the Goldsboro Area Are Intertwined | date=December 15, 2002 | agency=[[Orlando Sentinel]] | access-date=July 20, 2013 | author=Robinson, Jim | location=Orlando, FL}}</ref>

In 1913, Sanford became the county seat of Seminole County, created from Orange County.  Agriculture continued to dominate the economy until 1940, when it proved cheaper to cultivate produce in frost-free [[South Florida]].

====Naval aviation====
In 1942, [[Naval Air Station Sanford]] was established, which conducted operational training in the [[Lockheed PV-1 Ventura]], [[Lockheed Hudson|Lockheed PBO Hudson]], [[Grumman F4F Wildcat|Grumman F4F/General Motors FM-1 Wildcat]] and the [[Grumman F6F Hellcat]]. At its peak in 1943–45, NAS Sanford was home to approximately 360 officers, 1500 enlisted men and 150 [[WAVES]] and included an auxiliary airfield to the east near Lake Harney known as Outlying Field Osceola. The base was inactivated and reduced to caretaker status in 1946, but was reactivated in 1950 in response to the [[Korean War]] and the [[Cold War]]. A major construction program ensued, with NAS Sanford redeveloped as a [[Master Jet Base]] for carrier-based [[Douglas A-3 Skywarrior]] and later [[North American A-5 Vigilante|North American A-5A and RA-5C Vigilante]] aircraft.  At its peak in the mid-1960s, the base was home to nearly 4000 military personnel, comprising the air station personnel complement, an Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department, the Navy Dispensary, the Marine Barracks, a Replacement Air Group/Fleet Replacement Squadron for the RA-5C, and nine deployable Fleet RA-5C squadrons that routinely deployed aboard large aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean and the Pacific. The latter were heavily engaged in combat operations during the [[Vietnam War]].

As a result of the increasing costs of the Vietnam War and concurrent federal domestic spending related to President [[Lyndon Johnson]]'s [[Great Society]] social programs, NAS Sanford was one of several stateside military installations identified for closure by the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] in 1967.  Flight operations were rapidly scaled down during 1968 as the squadrons of Reconnaissance Attack Wing ONE transferred to the former Turner AFB, renamed [[Naval Air Station Albany]], Georgia.  This resulted in a significant economic downturn for the City of Sanford and Seminole County with the departure of all military personnel and their families. The airfield was conveyed to the City of Sanford via quitclaim deed by the [[General Services Administration]] (GSA) in 1969, renamed Sanford Airport and redeveloped as a [[general aviation]] facility. Subsequently renamed '''Sanford Regional Airport''', then '''Central Florida Regional Airport''', the airport commenced commercial airline service in 1995 and was renamed '''[[Orlando Sanford International Airport]]''' the following year.  The Navy's presence is commemorated at the airport by two historical markers and the '''NAS Sanford Memorial Park''', which was dedicated on Memorial Day in May 2003 and includes a restored [[RA-5C Vigilante]] on loan from the [[National Naval Aviation Museum]] that was placed on permanent static display at the entrance to the commercial airline terminal.

====Tourism====
The opening of [[Walt Disney World Resort]] in October 1971 shifted the economy of Central Florida away from agriculture, military installations, defense/aerospace industries, and the [[NASA]] crewed and uncrewed space programs, and further towards tourism, service industries and residential development, the center of which is [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]].  But because of Sanford's former preeminence as a trade center, the city retains a significant collection of older commercial and residential architecture, on streets shaded by [[Southern live oak|live oaks]] hung with [[Spanish moss]].  Its location on Lake Monroe and access to the navigable waterway of the [[St. Johns River]] has made it Central Florida's additional center for numerous marinas, allowing access for pleasure boats and commercial vessels to and from the Atlantic Ocean and the [[Intracoastal Waterway]] via [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]] and [[Naval Station Mayport|Mayport]] to the north.

====Jackie Robinson====
Sanford Field, built in 1926, was the location where Jackie Robinson first took the field to play as a member of a racially-integrated baseball team. Robinson arrived at [[Daytona Beach, Florida]] in early 1946 for [[spring training]] with the [[Montreal Royals]] of the [[Triple-A (baseball)|Class AAA]] [[International League]], a minor league affiliate of the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]]. Since the Dodgers organization did not own a spring training facility,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Dodgers Encyclopedia |last=McNeil |first=William F. |publisher=Sports Publishing |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-58261-316-1 |ref=McNeil}}</ref> training took place at several local baseball stadiums, including Sanford Field.

Robinson's presence on the team was controversial in racially charged Florida. He was not allowed to stay with his white teammates at the team hotel, and many other local towns prevented the team from playing while he was part of the roster. The police chief in Sanford had threatened to cancel the game there if Robinson was to play. Robinson joined his team despite the threat, but the uproar from the mainly white audience in the stands caused him to be escorted off the field and he was not able to play.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lamb|first=Chris|title=Blackout: The Untold Story of Jackie Robinson's First Spring Training|year=2006|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|isbn=0-8032-8047-5|page=88}}</ref>

[[Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium]] was built in 1951 near the site of the old Sanford Field as the Spring Training Facility of the New York Giants. The ballpark is located just south of Lake Monroe on Mellonville Avenue, less than a mile from Historic Downtown Sanford. Other Major League stars have played in the Sanford stadiums, including [[Babe Ruth]], [[Willie Mays]], [[Tim Raines]], and [[David Eckstein]].