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An intersection in Umatilla, about 1890. The building on the right has a buggy on its porch, presumably
for sale along with other "General Merchandise" as the sign on front advertised. Yancey's store faces the camera in
the center distance. Umatilla House hotel on the left. The image is from the Florida Photographic Collection.
The Umatilla House, seen in the photograph above. From the Florida Photographic Collection.
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Umatilla Item:
The FLORIDA STATE GAZETTEER and BUSINESS DIRECTORY of 1886-87, published by the South Publishing
Co. in New York, had this to say about Umatilla (then in Orange County):
Population 200. N.J. Trowell, postmaster. Was first settled in 1862. Is situated
on the line of the St. Johns and Lake Eustis branch of the Florida Southern Railway, six miles north of Eustis, and 42 miles
northwest of Orlando, the county seat. Has an express office, seven stores, two saw mills and a grist mill, church organizations
and good schools. Mails received daily. Oranges, vegatables and lumber are the principal shipments. This
is a very desirable section of country. Fruits and vegatables are successfully grown.
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The Umatilla school house. Now an historic site and museum.
First Grade Class of 1927.
The Buena Vista Hotel on Central Avenue (Hwy. 19). The rear of the hotel overlooked Lake Umatilla.
Lake Umatilla from Central Avenue (Hwy 19). Downtown is to the left. When this photo was taken the Buena
Vista Hotel would have been just to the right.
The Umatilla Baptist Church. Located on Orange Avenue when this postcard image was made.
The home of Warren A. Smith (black hat) on Central Avenue downtown, around 1905. This home, one of Umatilla's earliest,
no longer exists.
Colonial Flats - "Apts & Rooms." On Central Avenue (Hwy 19) at Guerrant Street downtown. The building
still exists and now houses a restaurant.
The Umatilla Hotel and the A&P in downtown Umatilla, 1940s. (Postcard courtesy of Clayton Bishop, Eustis.)
The Umatilla Library - around 1950. This log building burned and was replaced by today's City Hall, across
the intersection from the hotel above.
The A.J. Smith home at 501 S. Central Avenue, about 1915. The home still exists, but was moved many years ago.
The site is now occupied by a gas station.
The Wayside Service Station, seen here probably around 1930, was on the south end of town, close to where today's
"Welcome to Umatilla" sign is located. Photo from the postcard collection of Clayton Bishop, Eustis.
Lake Umatilla - looking West.
This postcard was mailed by a Umatilla visitor in 1922. The stately residence still stands on Trowell Avenue.
The Woodward House, built in 1890. The historic home was remodeled about 30 years ago, but is still
recognizable across Central Avenue from, and a little south of, the city hall.
This old turpentine still (c. 1900) was located at the south end of Umatilla, on Hwy. 19 across from where the Golden
Gem plant was later located. From the Florida Photographic Collection.
Umatilla High School in the 1950s. This building no longer exists - and its replacement was recently rebuilt
and enlarged.
Umatilla High School soccer team - 1927. From the postcard collection of Clayton Bishop, Eustis.
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Remember?
Summer days in Umatilla in the 1950s ...
- When folding signs in the intersections advertised
"Baseball Game Tonight" (at the ball field
on the
south end of town)?
- When the ice-filled cooler outside Wingfield's
service station downtown held 12-oz bottles
of
Nehi and RC cola?
- Comic books for a dime at the drug store?
- Swimming at Legion Beach north of town?
- Orange groves - everywhere?
- Gnats!
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T.A. Smith home on Pine Street, and beginning of an orange grove. His store was on Central Avenue downtown, the
first brick building in town, and the first with electricity.
T.A. Smith's general merchandise store.
The original Smith building grew with Umatilla. It had housed Feigan's store for many years when this photo
was taken in the 1950s. The building still exists.
Atlantic Coast Line train arrives in Eustis. As late as the 1960s the ACL tracks ran down the median through the
center of Umatilla. The ACL station is now the Umatilla Library.
Looking north toward town from the top of the Buena Vista Hotel. Railroad tracks are to the left of the road.
The Turner home on Central Avenue, around 1950.
As late as the 1920s rural carriers delivered mail to surrounding settlements. A sign on this
RFD wagon says "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year." The wagons sometimes carried flags to indicate the day's
weather forecast.
Downtown in the 1950s. Buisinesses along Central Avenue included a bank, hotel, drug store, department store, grocery
store, and others.
The other (east) side of Central Avenue downtown, about 1950. (Postcard courtesy of Clayton Bishop, Eustis.)
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The Cost of Living
On Feb. 20, 1942 the Eustis Lake Region News advertised prices for the following items at
the local Piggly Wiggly. Compare then with now (or 2003 at least):
Item
1942 2003
Gold Medal flour - 5 lbs .29 1.75
Chuck roast - per lb. .23
2.69
Lettuce - head
.04 1.19
Land O'Lakes butter - lb .41
2.59
Folger's coffee - lb
.18 2.69
A real bargain: Plate lunch at the Club Restaurant - 35 cents.
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Loading produce on the train near downtown. This picture, taken about 1900, is from Emmett Peter's book "Lake County
Florida - A Pictorial History," published by the Lake County Historical Society.
Wagons loaded with citrus waiting for the train, probably in the 1920s. From the Florida Photographic Collection.
The steamboat Darlington was around before the Civil War - and afterward. She had no direct connection
with Umatilla, but before the railroad she carried settlers up the St. Johns River to a point where, after an overland trek,
they arrived in what would become Lake County. The family of Tobias Smith is an example. This sketch, from a stereo-photograph,
was made by John Fryant.
Taking advantage of the area's most popular recreational activity, these men show off a fine catch downtown, probably
in the early 1950s.
Looking south on Trowell Avenue. (From the postcard collection of Clayton Bishop, Eustis.)
Sand asphalt road between Umatilla and Eustis (Hwy. 19), laid in 1915. Possibly the intersection of the Eustis
and Grand Island roads. This 1917 photo is from the Florida Photographic Collection.
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