Winter Park, Florida

Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 29,795 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando metropolitan area.

Winter Park was founded as a resort community by northern business magnates in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is home to Rollins College, a private liberal arts college.

History

thumb|left|[[Lake Osceola ]]

The Winter Park area's first human residents were migrant Muscogee people who had earlier intermingled with the Choctaw and other indigenous people. In a process of ethnogenesis, the Native Americans formed a new culture which they called "Seminole", a derivative of the Mvskoke' (a Creek language) word simano-li, an adaptation of the Spanish cimarrón which means "wild" (in their case, "wild men"), or "runaway" [men].

The immediate area of the city was first inhabited by people of European descent in 1858, when David Mizell Jr. bought an 8-acre (32,000 m2) homestead between Lakes Virginia, Mizell, and Berry. A settlement, called "Lake View" by the inhabitants, grew up around Mizell's plot. It got a post office and a new name—"Osceola"—in 1870. It is the second most expensive college in the state, as of the 2023-2024 academic year the tuition at Rollins is $58,300 per year. Rollins is a relatively good liberal arts school, with a smaller student population, counted as roughly just over 2,000 students. The school also features an MBA program, at the Crummer Graduate School of Business.

In 1886, the Seminole Hotel on Lake Osceola opened. This was a resort complete with the luxuries of the day: gas lights, steam heating, a string orchestra, a formal dining room, a bowling alley, and long covered porches. The street is now a cul-de-sac called Kiwi Circle that is part of one of the nicest neighborhoods in the town.

On October 21, 1887, the town was officially incorporated as the "Town of Winter Park", and, in 1925, it was reincorporated as the "City of Winter Park".

The Winter Park Sinkhole

thumb|right|alt=Gathering of people at top edge of sinkhole appear tiny compared to sloping sides of sinkhole about 70 feet deep and a few hundred feet across. Debris is scattered on slope and floating in dirty water in bottom of sinkhole. |U.S. Geological Survey photo showing large size of 1981 Winter Park, Florida, sinkhole

In 1972, Henry Swanson, an agricultural agent and "resident layman expert on Central Florida water," wrote a letter to the editor warning Orange County mayors of the sinkhole danger that could be posed by overdevelopment and excessive groundwater use. Swanson predicted that the west Winter Park area would be especially at risk. In May 1981, during a period of record-low water levels in Florida's limestone aquifer, a massive sinkhole opened near the corner of Denning Drive and Fairbanks Avenue.

The sinkhole first appeared on the evening of May 8, 1981, near the house of Winter Park resident Mae Rose Williams. Within a few hours, a 40-year-old sycamore tree near her house had fallen into the sinkhole. The next morning, the hole expanded to nearly wide. By May 9, nearly of earth had fallen into the sinkhole. Damage was estimated at $2 million to $4 million. Reagan gave a campaign speech at Rollins College and stayed at the Langford in 1976.

The Langford was celebrated in a party in late 1999, closed, and was demolished. A portion of the former Langford property (as of mid-2009) has been developed into luxury mid-rise condominiums. The remaining parcel was redeveloped and in 2014, a boutique hotel named the Alfond Inn, owned and operated by Rollins College opened at the site of the original Langford Hotel. The Alfond Inn was built with a $12.5 million grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation. Net operating income from the Inn is directed to The Alfond Scholars program fund, the College's premier scholarship fund.

The Temple Grove

An orange grove, known as the Temple Grove, stood on the south side of Palmer Avenue just east of Temple Drive. The temple orange was grown on the old Wyeth grove on Palmer Avenue (later Temple Grove) owned at the time by Louis A. Hakes, whose son was the first to notify Temple of the different quality of the new orange. The orange was introduced and cataloged by Buckeye Nursery in 1917, the year W. C. Temple died. Myron E. Gillett and his son D. Collins Gillett later went on to plant the largest orange grove in the world in the 1920s () in Temple Terrace, Florida.

The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival

The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival is one of the nation's oldest, largest juried outdoor art festivals, rated among the top shows by Sunshine Artist and American Style magazines. In 2012, about 1,200 artists from around the world applied for entry, and an independent panel of judges selected 225 national and international artists to attend the show. The National Endowment for the Arts, the White House, Congress, and many others have lauded the Festival for promoting art and art education in Central Florida. An all-volunteer board of directors runs the annual festival.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (14.62%) is water. It is nestled among the Winter Park Chain of Lakes, a series of lakes interconnected by a series of navigable canals, which were originally created for flood control and to run logs to a sawmill on present-day Lake Virginia. The lakes are popular for boating, watersports, fishing and swimming, and boat tours are available.

The city is traversed by the old East Florida and Atlantic Railroad ("Dinky Line") railroad bed, which until the 1960s had a stop at Lake Virginia/Rollins College at the city park now known as Dinky Dock. Much of this right of way has been converted to a rail-trail pedestrian/biking path in the form of the Cady Way Trail, which leads from Cady Way Park toward the Baldwin Park neighborhood and downtown Orlando, and in the opposite direction to Oviedo and beyond (via the Florida Trail), due to a new pedestrian bridge spanning Semoran Boulevard (SR 436) in Orange County.

SunRail operates a rail line through Winter Park on the former Atlantic Coast Line, with an Amtrak and SunRail commuter rail station in downtown's historic Central Park.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild winters. According to the Köppen climate classification, the City of Winter Park has a humid subtropical climate zone (Cfa).

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable"

|+Winter Park racial composition<br> (Hispanics excluded from racial categories)<br> (NH = Non-Hispanic)<br>

!Race

!Pop 2010

!Pop 2020

!% 2010

!% 2020

|White (NH)

|22,755

|21,852

|81.70%

|73.34%

|Black or African American (NH)

|2,034

|2,055

|7.30%

|6.90%

|Native American or Alaska Native (NH)

|35

|40

|0.13%

|Asian (NH)

|632

|1,061

|2.27%

|3.56%

|Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH)

|0.02%

|0.03%

|Some other race (NH)

|52

|143

|0.19%

|0.48%

|Two or more races/Multiracial (NH)

|396

|1,119

|1.42%

|3.76%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|1,943

|3,517

|6.98%

|11.80%

|Total

|27,852

|29,795

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Winter Park had a population of 29,795. The median age was 44.5 years. 17.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 23.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 89.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 85.7 males age 18 and over.

There were 12,729 households in Winter Park, of which 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.7% were married-couple households, 18.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

| White || 22,844 || 76.7%

| Black or African American || 2,146 || 7.2%

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 64 || 0.2%

| Asian || 1,078 || 3.6%

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 11 || 0.0%

| Some other race || 800 || 2.7%

| Two or more races || 2,852 || 9.6%

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 3,517 || 11.8%

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 27,852 people, 11,995 households, and 6,419 families residing in the city.

Economy

Personal income

As of 2020, the median income for a household in the city was $80,500, and the median income for a family was $130,120. Males had a median income of $83,738 versus $58,277 for females. The per capita income for the city was $65,481. About 7.0% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.4% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.

Tourism

thumb|[[Downtown Winter Park Historic District|Downtown Winter Park]]

Scenic Olde Winter Park area is punctuated by small, winding brick streets, and a canopy of old southern live oak and camphor trees, draped with Spanish moss. There are hundreds of thousands of visitors to annual festivals including the Bach Festival, the nationally ranked Sidewalk Art Festival, and the Winter Park Concours d'Elegance. Winter Park is often seen as a popular tourist destination for those visiting Orlando that want an escape from the typical tourist scene of the Orlando theme parks. There is a quaint, local feel to the town even though there are a lot of tourists, especially during the winter months and holidays.

Within the city is the Mead Botanical Garden which is a park that encompasses several ecosystems. It has an amphitheater, butterfly garden, discovery barn and a recreation center. Many structures are more than 100 years old.

thumb|upright|The Grove at Mead Botanical Garden

Industry

Bonnier Corporation is based in Winter Park. D100 Radio was founded here and is still present in Winter Park.

According to the City's 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

{| class="wikitable"

! #

! Employer

! # of Employees

| 1

| AdventHealth Winter Park

|1,600

| Gecos Inc

|1,400

| Orange County Public Schools

|650

| Rollins College

|645

| City of Winter Park

|535

| Publix Super Markets

|300

Arts and culture

thumb|right|[[Annie Russell Theatre, located on the campus of Rollins College]]

thumb|right|[[All Saints Episcopal Church (Winter Park, Florida)|All Saints Episcopal Church]]

thumb|right|[[Comstock-Harris House]]

thumb|right|[[Edward Hill Brewer House]]

thumb|right|[[Woman's Club of Winter Park]]

Sites of interest include:

Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens
All Saints Episcopal Church
Annie Russell Theatre
Casa Feliz Historic House Museum
Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art
Comstock-Harris House
D100 Studio One (closed to the public)
Downtown Winter Park Historic District
Edward Hill Brewer House
Hannibal Square
Hannibal Square Heritage Center
Knowles Memorial Chapel
Kraft Azalea Park
Lake Baldwin Park
Mead Botanical Garden
Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church
Palm Cemetery
Rollins Museum of Art
St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church
Winter Park Historical Museum
Winter Park Playhouse, founded in 2002.
Winter Park Public Library
Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival
Woman's Club of Winter Park

Education

Winter Park is served by Orange County Public Schools.

Elementary schools

Aloma Elementary School
Brookshire Elementary School
Lakemont Elementary School

Middle school

Glenridge Middle School

High schools

Lake Howell High School
Winter Park High School

Private schools

Chesterton Academy of Orlando
St. Margaret Mary Catholic School (K-8)
The Geneva School (K-12)
The Parke House Academy
Trinity Preparatory School

Higher learning

Crealde School of Art
Fortis College, Winter Park Campus
Full Sail University
Rollins College
Valencia College, Winter Park Campus
Winter Park Tech