Inscription
On this site in 1885, George Thomas King, founder of Villa City, built an estate that was the showplace of the area. By 1895, the town had a post office, school, church, hotel, photographic studio, dispensary and 35 homes. The citrus based community flourished until the Big Freeze of 1894-95. A warm spell after a devastating Dec. 29 freeze, filled the trees with sap. Snow then fell in the evening of Feb. 7, 1895. The frozen trees exploded when the warming sun returned. Their hopes and dreams broken, the settlers left. The last original house, the Gano house, was demolished in 1968, but the beauty of the area remains.
Details
| HM Number | HM19MA |
|---|---|
| Tags | |
| Historical Period | 19th Century |
| Historical Place | Town |
| Marker Type | Historic District |
| Marker Class | Historical Marker |
| Marker Style | Free Standing |
| Marker Number | F-354 |
| Year Placed | 1995 |
| Placed By | Villa City Homeowners Assn. Feb. 7, 1995 in cooperation with the Florida Department of State |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Thursday, September 4th, 2014 at 9:44am PDT -07:00 |
Pictures
Locationbig map
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 17R E 416868 N 3166015 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 28.61850000, -81.85038333 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 28° 37.11', W 81° 51.023' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 28° 37' 6.6000" N, 81° 51' 1.3800" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 352 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 6325 Lake Emma Rd, Groveland FL 34736, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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