DeLand, Florida - History

History

Known as Persimmon Hollow for the wild persimmon trees that grow around the natural springs, the area was originally accessible only by steamboat up the St. Johns River. It was settled in 1874 by Captain John Rich, who built a log cabin. It was visited in 1876 by Henry Addison DeLand, a baking soda magnate from Fairport, New York, who envisioned here a citrus, agricultural and tourism center. That year he bought land and founded the town named for himself. He sold his northern business and hired people to clear land, lay out streets, erect buildings and recruit settlers, most of whom came from upstate New York. Henry Deland was never a full-time resident of Florida. Incorporated in 1882, the city became county seat in 1887. It was the first city in Florida to have electricity.

To enhance the community's stature and culture, and to enhance the value of his local real estate holdings, in 1883 Henry A. DeLand established DeLand Academy, Florida's first private college. But in 1885, a freeze destroyed the orange crop. One story has it that DeLand had guaranteed settlers' investments as an inducement to relocate, and so was obligated to buy back their ruined groves, though there is no hard evidence that this actually happened. Like many other would-be real estate magnates in the area at the time, his Florida investments were nearly worthless after the freeze, and he returned to his home in the North. DeLand entrusted the academy to his friend John B. Stetson, a wealthy hat manufacturer from Philadelphia and one of the institution's founding trustees. In 1889, it was renamed John B. Stetson University in its patron's honor. Later shortened to Stetson University, in 1900 it founded the first law school in Florida. The various sports teams are called the Hatters.

During the 1920s Florida Land Boom, DeLand's streets filled with fine examples of stucco Mediterranean Revival architecture by native architect Medwin Peek and others, many of which have been handsomely restored, one being the recently reopened Athens Theatre.

Since 1992, the city has hosted the Deland Fall Festival of the Arts, a two-day event in the historic downtown area. As of 2009, the event has an annual attendance of more than 50,000 over the weekend immediately prior to Thanksgiving each year.