Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 2-page rules and patch order form to get back to the beginning of the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
Prior to 1930, this area had been used as a gathering place for picnics, reunions and special occasions. The locals referred to it as "The Picnic Grounds". After Emmett O. Tanner became an Orange County Commissioner on January 1, 1930, he negotiated with landowner Mike M. Smith, who on June 6, 1930, deeded ten acres to the county for a community park. The W.P.A. constructed a pavillion during the mid-1930s. The park later expanded to 25 acres.
In December of 1836, Maj. Gen. Thomas S. Jesup assumed command of the Florida war against the Seminoles. By late 1837, his strategy was to have seven independent forces on seek and destroy missions to force the Seminoles and their black allies southward.
On December 17, 1837, Brig. Gen. Abraham Eustis left Fort Mellon (Sanford) and led southward the main column, consisting of the Third Artillery Regiment and four companies of the Fourth and Third Dragoons, and four companies of Alabama Volunteers, plus 50 wagons and 20,000 rations. Horses died pulling the wagons through the swamps and prairies. In dry country, many wagons sank in the sand. In the swamps, pack horses sometimes sank up to their bellies. Frequently, shoes would be sucked off by the mud, and men would hobble barefoot on bleeding feet. They were afraid to drop out of line for fear that an Indian would find and kill them.
Eustis and his men met up with four companies led by Maj. Lomax. On December 20, they reached the Econlockhatchee River to the north of here and built a 50' bridge, just one of twenty they had to build on the march, which they crossed the following day. They continued south, following an old Indian trail. On Christmas day, they reached the Indian village of Powell's Town, where there were 30 to 40 deserted lodges in a pine barren along this small stream, now known as Christmas Creek.
Lomax's men began construction of two 20' square blockhouses and an 80' square stockade. While the fort was being built, Capt. N.S. Jarvis, a surgeon with the soldiers, crossed the stream to look over Powell's Town. He and his horse made a hasty retreat from an immense swarm of fleas.
Construction was completed on December 27. It was named Fort Christmas after the day it was begun. It was intended to be a temporary advance depot for the army, maintaining a supply of equipment necessary to keep Eustis' army in the field and continually moving against the Seminoles. It was also the headquarters for the army in Florida for a short time, with a company of about 80 soldiers remaining encamped here.
On March 3, 1838, Fort Christmas was ordered closed and all public property taken to Fort Lane. The Alabama Volunteers garrisoned there were ordered to Fort Mellon, and from there they went home. The fort was on active duty only a little more than two months, but without it the army could not have remained in the field to defeat the Seminoles and their black allies.
The actual site of the fort is a little to the northeast of this spot. Even if you could fight your way through the thick foliage, as the soldiers did in 1837, you would find no evidence that the fort ever existed.
Early schooling was in the home, as it was difficult to travel the miles to a central school. Trails were maintained by the settlers to enable traveling teachers to go from neighbor to neighbor to reach all of the children.
The Pine Grove Missionary Baptist Church served as a school building for a while, and several schools were constructed along the Old Government Trail which ran north and south a little to the east of here. By 1900, roads were improved, and increased population justified construction of a building just for school use. The Fort Christmas Union School was built in 1905 and was used as a school until 1969. During much of that period, the smaller building was used as the school lunchroom. Since 1969, the children of Christmas have been bused to Columbia Elementary, Discovery Middle, and University High Schools.
The Union School building became a meeting place for the American Legion and other group activities. The Christmas American Legion Post and Ladies Auxiliary were established in 1975 to assist veterans, give a helping hand to the community, conduct flag ceremonies, furnish color guards, conduct memorial services and place a flag on each veteran's grave on Memorial Day.
This is a replica of the fort, built by the Orange County Parks Department. It was begun on December 17, 1975, and was completed and dedicated exactly two years later. It is a museum open to the public and displays pioneer tools, farm equipment, household furnishings, quilts, toys and pictures from the early days of the area.
Begin your walking tour of the fort at the blockhouse on your left after you enter the gate.
On the grounds of the park, outside the stockade, is a replica of a mid-nineteenth century Florida pioneer home. It includes a sugar cane grinder, a stand of sugar cane, and a small orange grove.
A little to the south and west of the main house are the restored houses of pioneers Wheeler and Annie Bass (built in about 1905), Dixie and Emma Partin (about 1950), the Simmons family (1880s), the Yates family (1890s), the Brown family, the Woods family, and a house from the Bee Head Ranch dating to about 1915. There are also displays dealing with sugar cane, citrus, turpentine, and cow camps.
This land was donated for the burial of Christmas residents and their descendants. The first known burial was that of little Emily Tucker in 1867, whose father, "Grandpa" John Tucker, donated the original land. An additional five acres was purchased from the heirs of Will Osteen in 1985, and the entire cemetery was enclosed with a fence.
The cemetery is operated by the Christmas Cemetery Association, which meets on a monthly basis. On three designated days each year, families of loved ones gather to maintain the grounds. Many family names mentioned in this hike plan also appear on the headstones.
The chapel, used for funerals, memorial and Easter sunrise services, cost $12,000 and was donated in 1965 by George H. Hodges, a grandson of one of the original settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Hodges also donated two paintings by an old friend, Warner E. Sallman.
The four polished, five-foot granite monuments, sitting atop bricks sold to help pay for them, were unveiled on Memorial Day, 1996. They were placed here to honor the Christmas residents who were military veterans. Initially, there were inscribed 78 names, including one from the Spanish-American War.
The cemetery includes at least two Confederate veterans of the Civil War and one Second Seminole War veteran.
This 20-acre park was donated by Carl M. Brukenfield and Cecil A. Tucker for a 4-H project. It is used by the 4-H Club for various ecological pursuits.
The unincorporated community was first known as Fort Christmas. However, when the U.S. Post Office Department set up the local post office, the "Fort" was dropped. Eventually, "Christmas" referred to the community as well as the post office.
December is always a busy time for the Christmas post office, with many people wanting a "Christmas" postmark on their holiday mail. On November 3, 1969, the community was the location for the First Day issuance of the 1969 Christmas stamp, at the time only the tenth time a Florida location had been selected as a First Day post office.
This congregation organized in 1871 with 12 charter members. This sanctuary was built in 1947. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
Pine Grove Missionary Baptist Church was organized with twelve charter members in 1871, with early services being held in the home of "Grandpa" John R.A. Tucker, who had settled there in about 1860. In 1876, a log church was built, and doubled as a school, near the site of the present church. The head of the church was Rev. R.W. Lawton, who walked 20 miles from Oviedo once a month to conduct services, until the church members raised $60 to buy him a pony.
The charter members of the church were Henry and Penelope Hodges, John R.A. and Sarah Ann Tucker, Jackson and Polly Ann Osteen, James W. and Elizabeth Savage, Albert and Dorie Roberts, and Sam and Samantha Hodges. The present church was built in the 1880s, and it is associated with the American Baptist Association.
This was the last studio of Hughlette "Tex" Wheeler, a Christmas native with a national reputation as a sculptor of horses and western subjects. He called this studio "The Boar's Nest". His best-known work is a life-size statue of Seabiscuit, which is located with a life-like statue of jockey George Wolf at the Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia, California.
Other Wheeler works include a statue of J.W. Williams on his horse at the Saddleback Art Gallery in Santa Anita, and a statue of Will Rogers on his horse at the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma.
The school building serving the Christmas children was located here from 1905 until 2001, when it was moved northward to be a part of Fort Christmas Historical Park.
Cheney Highway, now known as Colonial Dr., was the first major road from Orlando to the east coast, and is named after John Moses Cheney, an Orlando lawyer. Cheney was one of the owners of a private hunting preserve southeast of Christmas, which was sold to the state in the mid-1970s to become the Tosohatchee State Reserve. The reserve is located about three miles south of here on Taylor Creek Rd.
Cheney died in 1922, and the road was named for him in 1924.
On June 7, 1940, Carl M. Brukenfield of West Palm Beach donated a parcel of land as a building site to The Home Demonstration Club of Christmas, Juanita Tucker, Ruth Llewellyn and Sadie Hatch. World War II postponed all building plans.
Plans were drawn up by Tom Skinner of the University of Florida, and an additional 75' x 100' plot was donated by Mr. Brukenfield on April 19, 1957. An Orlando architect modified the plans, and the building was completed barely in time for use in the First Day stamp ceremonies on November 3, 1969. The Center went through a major refurbishing in 1992.
From 1970 to 1988, this was the Christmas post office. It later housed a craft store.
Beginning in 1937, the Vickery store and Standard Oil filling station was a Christmas landmark. In about 1942, the U.S. government built an air raid tower atop the store. At about the same time, a telephone was installed, the first in Christmas. Since Christmas was on a toll line system, every telephone installed was a pay phone. For many years after that, residents still used the old wall-crank phones. A three-minute call to Orlando cost 35 cents.
As Cape Canaveral was developing, there was more activity in eastern Orange County, and the East Orange Exchange was established, giving Christmas residents dial telephones. Many had party lines, having to share with up to seven other users.
Although it may be difficult to believe, electric power lines were not extended to Christmas until December 19, 1947. Obtaining electricity was the result of a ten-year project, including the formation of an REA Co-Op purchased by Florida Power Corporation.
The store was demolished in 1970 for the widening of Colonial Dr.
This park is dedicated to the Prince of Peace and all who have given their lives for the cause of peace and freedom. The Nativity Building's door is framed by stones from the governors of all fifty states. The stones in the shrine behind the building are from other shrines in Canada, the U.S., the Middle East, and other countries and historic sites. The three crosses were placed near the back of the garden by Bernard Coffindaffer. There is a monument to the generosity of Edwin B. Dent (1885-1958) and Tomina Dent (1886-1955).
The first Christmas post office was established on June 27, 1892, with Samuel B. Hurlbut as the first postmaster. His son, Van, carried the mail on his back from Chuluota, twelve miles north, twice a week. Hurlbut served until October 11, 1894, when he was succeeded by George G. Coward.
The first seven postmasters kept the post office in their homes. In about 1918, Tucker's General Store was built along the Old Government Rd. about a mile north of here. Then-postmaster Lizzie O. Tucker moved the post office there, where it stayed until 1937. During that year, Cecil Tucker erected this new building along Cheney Highway just for the post office and his wife, Juanita S. Tucker, the then-postmaster, moved all mail functions into the new post office.
Growth of the community and widening of Colonial Dr. necessitated the construction of another post office in 1970. The 1937 building, belonging to the Tucker family, was turned into a museum, and moved into their Peace Garden.
The museum houses ornaments from White House Christmas trees of five presidents, a collection of Santa Claus figures donated by a relative of Tony Gruttadara, a Nativity display donated by the Fort Christmas Baptist Church, post office memorabilia, and a collection of more than 150 bride dolls in native dress.
A native red cedar was planted beside SR 50 in 1952, as the first Permanent Christmas Tree. It was decorated with outdoor ornaments and lit with electric lights during December. The tree did not survive.
After a search for a better tree, one was found and was planted along with two spares. The community furnished decorations and a flood light. It survived and grew to a height of 25 feet. It was damaged by a road crew in 1959, but repairs were made. The following year, Hurricane Donna stripped all ornaments off the tree, but left it upright and unhurt.
The tree was decorated each November, with a ceremonial lighting on the first Sunday of December. In 1969, the tree was being prepared for special decoration in connection with the Christmas stamp First Day ceremonies, but it was discovered that the tree was dying, as a result of cuts in the trunk by the wires used to repair the 1959 damage. The tree was cut down and a spare tree was decorated instead.
In 1970, the widening of Colonial Dr. would have put the tree in the middle of a four-lane highway. The tree was uprooted and replanted, but it did not survive the move. Another tree was put in its place, with a taller interim tree used until the permanent one grew tall enough.
The "permanent" tree was cut down in late 1997.
Two of the early settlers were James W. Savage and his wife, Elizabeth Hodges Savage, who lived north of this creek. He helped organize the Pine Grove Missionary Baptist Church, and served as the first pastor.
Savage built the first wooden bridge a little to the east of this spot across Cross Swamp Creek, which served well until SR 420 and a new bridge was built in 1982. At the request of the Christmas Civic Association, Cross Swamp Creek was renamed Savage Creek in his honor and was dedicated on January 15, 1983.
Boone's Florida Historical Markers & Sites, by Floyd Edward Boone (Rainbow Books 1988)
Christmas Every Day, by Juanita S. Tucker (1950)
Christmas Florida History, (Christmas Women's Club 1992)
Flashbacks: The Story of Central Florida's Past, by Jim Robison and Mark Andrews (The Orlando Sentinel 1995)
Florida: A Pictorial History, by Hampton Dunn (The Donning Company 1988)
Florida Off the Beaten Path, by Diana and Bill Gleasner (The East Woods Press 1985)
History of Orange County, Florida, by William Fremont Blackman (The E.O. Painter Printing Co. 1927)
Orlando: A Century Plus, by Baynard H. Kendrick (Sentinel Star Company 1976)
The Seminole War: Prelude to Victory, 1823-1838, by William R. Ervin (W.& S. Publishing 1983)