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2000BC-1700s |
Timucuan Indians lived on the banks of the St. Johns near Geneva. Pottery shards were found at King Philips Town/Cooks Ferry dating from 1450-1250 B.C. to A.D. 800-1300 and were identified by the Central Florida Anthropological Society. |
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1760s |
The Seminole Indian tribe was formed when renegade Creek Indians and runaway slaves from AL and GA fled to Florida and intermixed. |
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1765-66 |
John and William Bartram explored the St. Johns River. They camped on the southeast shore of Lake Harney and traveled as far south as Puzzle Lake. |
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1776 |
William Bartram returned for a second trip up the St. Johns River. |
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1821 |
The Territory of Florida became a part of the United States under a treaty with Spain. |
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1835 |
The Second Seminole War began. In the Geneva area there were numerous Seminole villages. Early maps show the villages of Chief Emaltha (King Philip), Chief Coe Hajo, Chief Arpeika (Sam Jones) and Osceola (William Powell). |
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1837 |
On 8 February, 200 Seminole Indians, led by Emaltha (King Philip) and his son Coacoochee (Wildcat), attacked Camp Monroe from their village at King Philips Town. The only military casualty was Captain Mellon. Camp Monroe (near Sanford) was renamed Fort Mellon in his honor. |
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1837 |
On 10 Nov., Lt. Davidson, with Col. Harney in charge, traveled from Ft. Mellon to the head of Lake Harney on the steamboat "Santee", drawing the first map of that section of the St. Johns River. |
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1837 |
Lt. Davidson named the "newest found lake" after Colonel Harney after an incident involving Colonel Harney and the Seminole Indians at Cook’s Ferry. |
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1837 |
On 18 Dec., Fort Lane was established on the west shore of Lake Harney as a supply depot for the building of Fort Christmas and Fort Taylor further up the St. Johns River. |
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1838 |
In March, the military detachment at Fort Lane completed its mission and returned to Fort Mellon. |
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1842 |
The Second Seminole Indian War ended. |
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1843-45 |
Scattered white settlers began to arrive and settle in Harney Cove, later to be named Geneva. A few Indian families still lived in the area. |
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1845 |
Mosquito County was broken up and a number of other counties formed from it, one of which was Orange County which included Seminole at the time. |
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1856-57 |
Anthropologists Daniel Brinton examined a Native American shell mound at King Philips Town near the lower end of Lake Harney. |
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1850-60 |
The cattle industry started in the Geneva area. The Townsend brothers camped their first night on Lake Proctor near where the Geneva Cemetery is located. |
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1860 |
Anthropologist Jeffries Wyman examined shell mounds on Lake Harney. |
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1874 |
A one-room log school was built west of the cemetery. |
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1875 |
The first store, Coefield’s, was built on the NW shore of Lake Geneva. Postal service was established at Coefield’s. |
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1875 |
The First Baptist Church was organized. |
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1877 |
The First United Methodist Church was organized. |
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1877 |
A larger, but still one-room, plank school was built near the cemetery, replacing the old log school. |
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1878 |
The earliest recorded burial in the area of what is now the Geneva Cemetery was in 1878. |
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1880 |
Progor Debogory, Russian immigrant, donated the land where the cemetery, church, and school stood. |
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1880 |
Harney Cove began to be called Geneva, some say, after Mrs. Van Brunt Wilcox from Geneva, NY settled in Geneva, FL. |
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1880’s |
Lake Harney Landing/Geneva Dock was built. |
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1881 |
Joseph Garron donated one-quarter acre of land and a Town Hall was built – where Community Center is now located. |
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1887 |
The 1887 Orange County Business Directory listed the population of Geneva as 300. It also stated that Geneva was settled in 1850. There was a postmaster and a general merchandise store (J. W. Wilmot's). |
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1894-85 |
The great freezes hit central Florida and Geneva, killing over 75 groves of orange trees. |
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1899 |
In the fall of 1899 a turpentine distillery was built. The 1900 Census shows a distiller, chippers, dippers and a woods rider. |
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1903 |
A more centralized one-room school was built east of the present old brick school. A partition later divided the school into 2 rooms. |
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1906 |
The first telephone in Geneva was installed in the Charlie Stewart home for an African American boarder, Mitch Jones, who was a grove foreman. |
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1907 |
Chase and Company built a 40’ x 60’ citrus packing house in Geneva. |
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1909 |
The Snow Hill Missionary Baptist Church was founded by Henry Detreville. |
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1910 |
The New Bethel A.M.E. Church was organized. |
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1910 |
A one lane brick road from Geneva to Sanford was voted upon and finished by 1917. |
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1911-12 |
Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) built a railroad bridge at Cooks Ferry and the area became known as Bridge End. The FEC Railway ran from New Smyrna through Geneva and continued to Belglade near Lake Okeechobee in 1915. |
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1912-15 |
Endor Curlett operated a Coca-Cola Bottling Plant in Geneva. It was located on the southeast corner of Buck Lake. |
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1913 |
On Feb 13, Seminole County was organized from a portion of Orange County. |
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1916 |
The Osceola Cypress Company moved their mill from Cedar Key to a location on the St Johns River just below Bridge End. Thus the town of Osceola, a mill town of 200 people, was formed. |
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1922 |
Charlie and Nancy Stewart, of the first African-American family to settle in Geneva, donated land for a cemetery, later named Stewart Memorial Grounds. |
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1924 |
A new brick school was built on the corner of Main and 1st Street. |
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1926 |
The Seminole County Board of Commissioners stated that Osceola (sawmill town) was "the principal commercial industrial community of Seminole County." |
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1926 |
The Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church was organized under the leadership of Rev. A. J. Muller and began holding services near the present church site under a bush harbor which had been moved from "the still" (an area near the turpentine still.) |
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1927 |
The turpentine distillery & operation was discontinued. |
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1930’s |
WPA (Works Progress Administration) rebuilt the Town Hall (Comm. Center). |
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1934 |
The WPA built Jungle Road. |
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1942 |
The Cypress timber having been depleted, the Osceola Cypress Company moved its complete operation, mill, buildings, "lock, stock and barrel" to Port Everglades. |
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1946 |
State Road 46 from Sanford to Mims was completed. It was initially constructed of a mixture of sand and oil. |
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1947 |
The F. E. C. Railway tracks were removed and the railroad buildings torn down. |
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1949 |
The Geneva Church of Christ was organized. |
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1949 |
The new Florida fence law changed the cattle industry in Geneva. |
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1952 |
On Sunday, November 30, 1952 the first regular meeting of the Geneva Historical and Genealogical Society was held at the Community Center with Mrs. Alice Coffee Guyton presiding as president. | |
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1952 |
The Hillcrest Baptist Church was organized. (Disbanded in 1959.) |
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1961 |
The Geneva Post Office on Florida Avenue opened. |
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1964 |
The Geneva Volunteer Fire Department was organized. |
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1965 |
The Museum of Geneva History was built & dedicated in May 1966. | |
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1970 |
The Community Church of God was organized. |
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1972 |
The Living Word Church of the Nazarene was organized. |
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1974 |
The Seminole County Fire Department was established, thus ending the Geneva Volunteer Fire Department. |
