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 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the location 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.
Robert M. McTureous, Sr. served as Altoona's postmaster and justice of the peace. His wife was known to the community as "Aunt Bessie". Known as Aunt Bessie's Place, this is now the McTureous Homestead and Museum, open to the public.
Robert and Bessie's son, Private Robert M. McTureous, Jr., died from wounds he received in Okinawa. As Altoona's only native World War II Medal of Honor recipient, he was memorialized by the creation of the local Private Robert M. McTureous Jr. Memorial planned by retired Marine Sgt. Joseph A. Stich previously located across the highway from his childhood home. Today a new Memorial and park is located adjacent to the museum property, and in 2004 this section of SR 19 was named in his honor in Lake County.
Altoona was either named after Thomas Jefferson Hinson's hometown of Allatoona, Georgia, or after Altoona, Pennsylvania, which was the hometown of Augustus Gottschee, the first merchant in this settlement. Altoona became an incorporated municipality on February 12, 1887. The town was abolished on May 27, 1899, following a fire that wiped out most of its buildings and reduced its tax base to near zero.
Across SR 19 on the west of the railroad tracks, about the intersection of W. Altoona and Keene Rds., a little to the south of the present Post Office, the Grand Island Packing House was built in the 1920s by S.A. Fields. After it was Fields it became B.G. Anderson's and then in the late 1940s became the Grand Island Packing House. It then moved to Umatilla in the early 1960s to become Golden Gem.
In about 1884, a roughly built and unpainted schoolhouse was in use in the woods to the east of here. It had three small rooms. The school was later converted into a residence.
This property was the site of the home of Rev. Dan Palmer. It later became the home of Nellie (Palmer) and Floyd Shores, whose father opened Altoona's first citrus packing house north of CR 42, and he ran a general merchandise store. W.G. Shores built his home on a lot just north of the First Baptist Church in 1918, so his wife would be close to the church. The house was removed in about 2000.
This was a park which was the focal point for community fish fries at the turn of the century. The pavilion was demolished in the late 1990s when the park and memorial were relocated adjacent to the McTureous Homestead and Museum.
This church was established on July 31, 1884, and is the oldest Southern Baptist church in Lake County. The land on which it sits was donated by Dr. and Mrs. W.T. Shelton. Dr. Shelton had been a practicing physician in the Umatilla-Altoona area.
The first church building was constructed in 1884, with floors held in place by wooden pegs. The Missionary Society was formed by 1900. The new sanctuary building and Sunday school were erected in 1972, adjacent to the original building. Its church bell formerly was on one of Altoona's steam fire engines.
The church began a mission near Sandy Acres in 1982, and commenced construction of its first building in 1983. The Sandy Acres Mission became a full-fledged church in 1985.
Doc Demko and Bert Johnson founded the Altoona Boys Boxing Club in 1925, sponsored by the Austin Giles American Legion Post of Umatilla. Demko, from St. Louis, was a boxer, marathon runner and marathon swimmer. Johnson had been a semi-professional boxer in Birmingham, Alabama, shortly after World War I.
They conducted their training at the Floyd Shores Garage at this site, directly across the intersection of SR 19 and CR 42E. In 1935, it was renamed the Lake County Athletic Club, and was a forerunner of Boys' Clubs of America. This and the adjacent Conklin Gun Smithing were owned by Jake Jackson and William Conklin.
This store later was used as a bait shop.
The post office was dedicated at this site in 1977. About ten years later, land was purchased on SR 19 at the intersection with Clark Rd. for construction of a new facility about four times larger than this one. The property as of 2005 was owned by Altoona Hydraulics, Inc.
In 1947, the pastorium was established in a converted army barracks. This building was donated to the church in 1960 by Golden Gem Growers, which had used it for its offices, and was moved to this land donated by Warren and Dorothy Canova.
Back from this road was a jail made of logs. On the other side of it lived Henry Murhee, who was elected sheriff in 1905. He was suspended by the governor on March 5, 1908, when it was discovered that Murhee could not read. However, he was popular with the citizens of this area and was re-elected on January 1, 1909.
The Altoona Primitive Baptist Church was established by 1900, and had a church building east of this road on land donated by A.J. Wainright. In 1949, the building was dismantled and the lumber was taken to Lady Lake and used in a house for the Herman Carroll family. Because the land was no longer used for a church, ownership of it reverted to the Wainright family.
In the early 1900s, baseball was played in the field behind this home. It was also the site of political rallies and community picnics. In about 1941, the field was plowed and planted in watermelons.
A tent was erected near here in July of 1940 by Altoona Assemblies of God Pentecostal to begin a revival series run by Sister Anna Hunter. The tent seated several hundred people and remained here until the following year.
Herman Carroll and others organized the Assemblies of God Pentacostal Church early in 1942 near the Baptist Assembly grounds to the southeast. The building there was later sold by the national church organization.
Sister Hunter returned to Altoona in 1954 and married Brother Bill Smith. They erected a new church building in Smith's pasture in 1955. Sister Hunter served as its minister from 1955 to 1972, when the church closed and the property was sold.
T.F. Johnson and his wife, Martha, moved to Orange Hammock in the late 1880s, and then again to this location. They had seven children, one of whose spouses became president of the Florida Baptist Convention.
This was formerly the home of Hannibal Lightfoot, his wife, and three children, who moved to Altoona in 1908 from Tennessee. They first stayed in the home of R.J. Gorbet, and Mrs. Gorbet cared for Mrs. Lightfoot, who was gravely ill with tuberculosis. Daily, she took her in the wagon through the fresh air of the forest. Mrs. Lightfoot improved and gave birth to sons in 1909 and 1911, before finally dying from the disease on September 10, 1939.
Mr. Lightfoot established a plant and nursery business along CR 42, shipping plants in bunches of a thousand. His crop was wiped out by the 1917 freeze, so he planted a citrus grove in 1919. After returning for a time to Ooltewah, Tennessee, he came back to Altoona and managed his grove. He also served 12 years as a county commissioner.
Charles and Hazel Demko arrived here from St. Louis on January 1, 1924. On a previous visit, Charles had purchased a piece of land and had begun construction of a home on it. After he brought his bride here to live, they stayed temporarily in a rented room at the McWhorter house until construction was complete. The property straddles the Marion/Lake County line.
Professionally, Dr. Demko was an optometrist, but his hobby was horticulture. He planted Carmen bunch grapes, but the crop was ruined by fruit flies. He then tried Muscadine grapes and was successful. The Demkos also raised peaches and citrus, and processed citrus juice and orange spread in their own processing plant. Attached to the plant was the only cold storage facility in the area.
Doc Demko died at age 74 on May 18, 1967, survived by his wife and his son, Charles, Jr.
The cemetery was divided, with the north section for black families, and the south section for whites. The land on which it sits was a gift of the family of Thomas J. Hinson, who moved here with his wife from Allatoona, Georgia, and homesteaded north of CR 42. He was buried here in 1882.
Adjacent to the cemetery is a high ridge on which Doc Demko constructed a landing strip. From 1930 until 1945, it served as an emergency runway for pilots heading to or from Herndon Airport in Orlando.
Demko Rd. was previously called Gorbet Rd.
This was the property of E.C. Getch, who developed a grove considered to be one of the finest in Altoona. He arrived from Walterboro, South Carolina, in the early 1880s and served as a deacon in the First Baptist Church. After his first wife, Mary Elizabeth Smith, died, he married Lucretia Turner and they had six children. One, Warren, was selected as the leading citizen of Lake County.
The Altoona Volunteer Fire Department received its charter in 1961, and was rechartered in 1973. The firehouse was paid for from the proceeds of rummage and cake sales, barbecues, and donations.
This became the polling place for Voting Precinct #2, after prior elections took place in the Methodist and Baptist churches. The first registered voter, as of August 27, 1888, was R.J. Hopson. By the end of that year, 136 whites and 11 blacks had registered.
F.J. Hinson, Elisa Eubanks, Elisa Hinson, Mrs. A. Bennett, James DeWitt and Leona Miller organized the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in March of 1881. It was included as part of the Fort Mason circuit along with churches in Fort Mason, Acron and Emeralda. Funds were raised in 1881-82 for the erection of a church building, and they built a sanctuary and parsonage east of the intersection of US 19 and SR 42, facing south. The location had previously been the site of camp meetings by circuit riders.
The Altoona Presbyterian Church was organized on March 22, 1885, as an out station of the Ravenswood Presbyterian church, which was organized the year before. It was also a sister church of the Kismet Presbyterian Church, organized on March 8, 1885. The congregation erected a church building with a cypress shingle roof and wood stove, and financed it with a $250 mortgage to the Church Erection Fund of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America. On February 19, 1903, the Presbyterians sold the building for $200 to the Altoona Methodist Church Board of Trustees.
Sunday school classes were begun in it in 1923 by Rev. R.I. Allen. The church Sunday school annex was moved here from Emeralda, where it had served as a church until 1955.
This became the Altoona United Methodist Church in 1930 when the two conferences (North and South) of the Methodist Episcopal Church were reunited for the first time since the Civil War.
A new brick school was constructed in 1926-27 with three classrooms, a library and a lunchroom. Local farmers donated food for school lunches, some of which was packaged at the Demko Cannery.
The school included grades 1-8 through 1945, then switched to grades 1-6. Later, it changed to only go through the fifth grade. Class size is small - for example, the entire 29 members of the 1977 graduating class held their ceremony in the combination lunchroom/auditorium/library/music room. Altoona School, Inc. currently operates a charter elementary school on this site.
In about 1908, the community purchased a two-story store owned by J.J. Dykes, extending from Main St. to the railroad tracks. Miss A.C. Russell taught downstairs. George Dykes, who also served as principal, taught upstairs.
The building was moved by the school board across the railroad tracks and a little to the north. An annex was built with an indoor staircase, and a 90' well was drilled.
When the present school was built, the "store school" was moved back here to its original location, and it reverted to private ownership. In February of 1930, as Altoona residents were returning from the Washington Day Celebration in Eustis, they saw this building being destroyed by fire.
This property is now known as George Rengert Park.
The elementary school is known for its hands-on agricultural program, which lets students learn valuable skills outside of the traditional classroom.
A building here previously belonged to Jess P. Allen, who originated the 100-mile competitive horseback ride in 1951. The trail, which took three days to complete, started at the lakeside just north and to the rear of the Methodist Church.
The school board had a problem with the size of the school, feeling it was too small. To avoid another attempt at having the school eliminated, Mr. Allen on October 9, 1974, sold it 7 1/2 acres to bring the total acreage to ten.
James R. McWhorter ran a store, and in the late 1930s it was the site of a food service training course taught to Lake County school lunchroom personnel. In the 1940s, a church building was erected on a portion of this property and it became associated with the Church of God. The church left the building in 1955 and moved to Umatilla.
This was the site of the turn of the century Altoona Post Office.
Located on the west side of SR 19 in this area was the site of the Altoona Packing House, built in 1927 and run by Cliff Collins, Ira Williams, and then Roland Wiygul. The Altoona Packing House burned down in 1958.
From 1884, Altoona was a stop on the St. Johns & Lake Eustis Railway, which also stopped at Astor, Summit, Ravenswood, Glendale, Umatilla, Fort Mason, Eustis, Tavares and Lake Park. Grading for laying the tracks was done by convict labor.
At the time, Altoona had a hotel and about 300 people. In 1887, it had expanded to two hotels, the Altoona House and the Jackson House, operated by J.H. Jackson. By 1888, there were 100 property owners and the assessed value of all the property in Altoona was $42,550.
The population dropped to about 130 by 1897 because of the freezes of 1894 and 1895, when the temperature dropped to 14 degrees, but it gradually built back up to 300 by 1903.
This was the location of the first packing house in Altoona, established by W.G. Shores, who had arrived here from Georgia in 1880.
At the turn of the century, this was the location of a cotton gin. This was later Hall's Texaco Station and Hartman's Garage. Across the street to the south during the 1930s, orange crates for seats and a screen were set up at this site to create a theater for the showing of silent movies. An upright piano was placed on a platform, and cracker jacks were sold as snacks.
Originally, the town's water supply was located here, with a cistern and a pump. During the 1920s and 1930s, Bert Johnston's pump supplied water for the houses on the east side of Main St., and John B. English's pump took care of the west side. Each family paid $1 per month for the water.
This site has been the home of Dobbin's Lumber, the Little Town Food Store, and now Cumberland Farms. The Dobbin family lived in the house adjacent to the store presently named the Altoona House.
In the 1930s, Justice of the Peace R.W. McTureous held cout in the lobby of the Post Office here. This was also a convenient place to play checkers and chess, and just gather.
This was the winter home of the Albro family, now known as "Rhode Island", and home of Carol's Beauty Shop.
Bert Johnson ran a general store at this location, and had slot machines installed in the back, legal during the 1930s. One end also had a barber shop. This was the location of Altoona's first and only telephone. Later, this was the site of Ruth Brown's store and service station, and then Altoona Hydraulics.
The original Gorbet House no longer exists. The house, which was located to the north of this house, was also a boarding house from 1916 to 1937. Rev. R.J. Gorbet was the minister at the First Baptist Church for 15 years, located across the railroad tracks.
A History of Altoona and Its Surrounding Area, (Altoona Centennial Committee 1987)
History of Lake County, Florida, by William T. Kennedy (E.O. Painter Printing Co. 1988)
Lake County, Florida: A Pictorial History, by Emmet Peter, Jr. (The Donning Company 1994)
Through Schoolhouse Doors: A History of Lake County Schools, (The Lake County Retired Teachers Association 1982)