Sunday, November 18, 2012

This Day in Central Florida History for the week of Nov. 18

Nov. 18, 1992

Mary I. Johnson became the first Orange County Commissioner of Hispanic descent.

As a three-term representative for District 3, she promoted community growth.

Her personal efforts have brought several parks to the area, a family center and many improvements downtown.

Johnson is also a strong supporter of transportation and regional planning.

Prior to the county commission seat, Johnson served 12 years on the Orlando City Council.

Nov. 19, 1985

The Sunshine State pitched in to help make a part of downtown DeLand a piece of living history.

The city was awarded a $7,000 grant to preserve the historic area, consisting of five solid blocks of buildings, more than 50 years old.

The grant allowed city officials to pay for historical pictures and maps.

The money also helped speed up the process to actually declare the area a historical district.

Nov. 20, 1990

Linda Chapin became Orange County's first chairman, a position created by a new county charter.

During her two-term tenure, Chapin's accomplishments included overseeing county growth, primarily with projects like the growing Orlando International Airport and the Orange County Convention Center.

Nov. 21, 1991

The road to quicker, more convenient expressway travel was in the works.

After some minor delays, the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority granted an extension to the company responsible for building an electronic toll system.

Transportation officials were developing a system to allow motorists to prepay toll expenses.

The $20 million toll system officially opened to traffic in May 1994. Now, what we know as E-PASS has expanded to toll roads throughout Central Florida.

Nov. 22, 1963

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

Kennedy was shot twice as his motorcade paraded down a Dallas street.

In memory of his death and in honor of his life?s accomplishments, NASA's space facility is named the Kennedy Space Center.

Nov. 23, 1857

The land was cleared for Orlando's first place of worship.

The process was a long one, but 15 years later, Orlando's Free Church was servicing the community in the heart of downtown.

The little log cabin had a dual purpose. Residents could dress up in their Sunday best to come to alternating Baptist, Methodist and Episcopal Church services, and children gathered during the week to do their reading, writing and arithmetic.

Twenty years later, the schoolhouse/churchhouse was torn down.

Nov. 24, 1923

Ocoee became a town.

The thriving area had about 500 residents.

Property was inexpensive, which caused Ocoee to quickly expand and grow into a city, as more people sought work in citrus groves and vegetable farms.

Source: http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2012/11/18/central_florida_history_nov_18/?cid=rss

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