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 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.
This lake is named after George P. Colby, who came here in 1875 and settled on the est side of this lake. At about the same time, land about a half mile east of Colby's was settled by T.D. Giddings of Eau Clair, Wisconsin. Both men were spiritualists and Giddings was a medium, and together they founded Cassadaga.
Colby came to Volusia County in poor health, arriving by riverboat at Thursby's Landing at Blue Spring. Though weak, he walked from there through the pine forests led, according to legend, by three non-corporeal beings - Seneca, The Philospher, and Unknown. He arrived in this area and built a crude log cabin, filing for homestead on 35 acres chosen by his spirit advisors. The fresh air and outdoor exercise returned Colby to good health.
This home was built in about 1925 with a Frame Vernacular style.
This house was built in about 1895 by Ann Stevens, one of the founders of the spiritualist camp in Cassadaga. Stevens St. in Cassadaga is named for her. Her half brother, George Webster, built the Webster Hotel in Cassadaga, which later burned down. This home was converted into a bed and breakfast operated by Marge Clauser and was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The railroad running from Orange City to Blue Spring Landing in 1881 was extended in 1886 through Lake Helen to New Smyrna. That extension was completed by E.R. Chapman, and the name of the railroad was changed to the Atlantic and Western. Later, it became part of the Florida East Coast Railway system.
John Porter Mace built a railroad station here which burned down in 1909. It was replaced by a brick structure that year, which was later demolished.
In 1904, Eber W. Bond built a sawmill here and he and his sons Frank E. and Robert M. founded the Bond Sandstone Brick Company. The mill had a daily capacity of nearly 80,000 board feet. The company had three locomotives, rolling stock, several miles of railroad track, and a company town known as Bond's Spur.
Bond bricks were used in many Central Florida buildings, including the Lake Helen railroad station, the Carnegie Library at Sterson University, the Palatka City Hall, the Espanol Hospital in Tampa, and the former Lake Helen Elementary School.
Lake Helen was incorporated in 1888 by John Mace, A.H. Pelton, J. Willis Westlake, Samuel Currier, Harmon Maring, Berlin Wright and E.T. Johnson.
This one-story concrete block building was erected in 1959. Initially, it included the police department, city clerk's office, business office, mayor's office, and the city commission meeting room. An additional room was added on the east side in 1976-77 for the city commission. Later, it housed the offices of the police, water and public works departments.
Seven and a half acres for this park were donated in 1912 by E. Nelson Blake of Arlington, Massachusetts, whose wife had previously donated money for construction of the Baptist Church. He was the brother of Ellis G. Blake, a resident of Lake Helen. Nelson was not a year-round resident, but he and his wife spent their winters in the Harlan Hotel.
In the late 1920s, the east half of the park was maintained as an auto camp with a clubhouse. It and the railroad station grounds formed an attractive ten-acre parcel.
This Frame Vernacular style home was built in about 1910.
This home was built with a Colonial Revival style in about 1910.
The first telephone office in Lake Helen was located here. It was later converted to a barber shop.
This Frame Vernacular style home dates to 1916.
A wood frame schoolhouse was built here before 1888. It replaced a log schoolhouse located about half a mile to the south, with classes taught by Nathaniel Barrows.
Mark & Sheftall of Jacksonville designed this school, built in 1916 of Bond sandstone brick by Hanner Brothers of Orlando. Its initial cost was $12,500. The Prairie style school was named after Minerva Bond Long, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Maynard Bond. It closed in April of 1996 and was replaced by Volusia Pines Elementary School at another location. This building later housed the city hall.
This house built in the early 1940s is a Bungalow. The rusticated concrete block is not commonly found in houses built much after the late 1920s.
This 1906 house was the residence of Edward Luffman, a station agent for the Florida East Coast Railway who also served on the city council during the 1910s.
This Frame Vernacular style house was built in about 1915.
In 1858, James H. Prevatt settled here on about 1,000 acres in a log cabin that was the only dwelling in the area. It had a wide porch, plank windows and a chimney constructed of clay and and sticks. He planted oleanders, figs, crepe myrtle and oranges.
Prevatt established a general store in 1876 just east of his house and started a post office with himself as the postmaster. A pine log meeting house was built, used for church services and public school classes.
In 1884, the year after Prevatt died, Henry A. DeLand and Berlin Wright of New York bought Prevatt's land. They found the lake to be picturesque, and DeLand named it Lake Helen in honor of his daughter, Helen Parce DeLand.
The two-story wood fram home at 212 Enchantment Ave. includes an original portion built during the 1860s. Some claim that the house is haunted, with ghosts who walk through a window which has replaced a former door.
This Bungalow was built in 1917.
This house was built in about 1903 with a Frame Vernacular style. It was substantially renovated after 2000.
This Bungalow was built in about 1920.
This house was built in about 1905 with a Frame Vernacular style. Over the years, it has been enlarged several times. It features an L-shaped porch and a corrugated steel roof.
This house was built in about 1888 for S.J. Andrews of Wisconsin. He used the Frame Vernacular style structure as a winter home. It was freshly restored after 2000.
This two-story Frame Vernacular syle home was completed in about 1885 for John Mills, a local physician who operated a pharmacy and photography studio. It was later owned by Tommy and Flora Viers. The house features porches on each story and interesting gingerbread details.
This Frame Vernacular home was originally built in 1892 with board and batten siding. Diagonally behind it is a Mediterranean Revival home built in 1924. The narrow driveway with raised cement edges was designed to accommodate Model "A" cars.
This is a Colonial Revival style home, built in about 1915.
This Bungalow was built in about 1925. The tiny one-room miniature house on the front lawn was an early home of the town's telephone switchboard.
This home was built by Clinton Gunby, a Georgia carpenter, in 1885. It was then owned by Uriah Schoonmaker, one of the founders of Elmhurst, Pennsylvania, who lived here during the winters. In the late 1880s and 1890s, it was a rental property owned by George Courtright of Pennsylvania.
This home was completed in about 1905 with a restrained Gothic Revival design. It was the home of Freeman Brazeau. The house features tall peaks, circular attic vents, an L-shaped porch and support columns which are more commonly found in later bungalows.
This lake and Clough Ave. are named for J.B. Clough, an early settler.
This Frame Vernacular style home was completed in about 1896 and is one of the few homes built in Lake Helen during the 1890s, a period of little new construction. It was constructed by brothers Frank and Edwin Stoops of Tennessee, who also planted citrus on the lot. John B. McGill of Alabama moved to Lake Helen in 1903 and acquired the home in 1906. McGill operated a grocery and dry goods store on Lakeview Ave. for many years and served as postmaster from 1933 until 1945.
This Bungalow was built in about 1925.
This one-story house was built in about 1925 as a Bungalow. It has been subsequently modified, including the enclosure of the porch, so that it barely resembles its original style.
This is a Frame Vernacular house, built in about 1925. A coat of stucco hides the original wood.
This Bungalow was built in about 1925.
The Bank of Lake Helen bought two and a half acres here in 1978 and built a Colonial style building. The following year, complaints about financial improprieties were made, and the State Department of Banking and Finance closed it on January 11, 1980. Two bank vice presidents were convicted of misappropriation of funds and others were indicted for federal crimes.
In June of 1980, a branch of the Florida National Bank was opened here. Later, it became a branch of Wachovia Bank.
In the early days, a turpentine still was located here on the right-hand side of the road. Across the street were the homes of the workers.
This Bungalow was built in about 1915.
This is another Bungalow, built in about 1925.
This congregation organized in 1882. Their earlier sanctuary was rebuilt in 1933. The educational building next door was added in 1979-82.
This one-story, yellow pine building was erected in 1917 as a school for black children. DeLand contractor I.C. Hughes built it for $2,447. It ceased being used as a school when desegregation occurred in the 1960s. It was known as the Lake Helen Junior High School, and then as the Lake Helen Elementary School.
In 1979, it was converted to the Sidney Taylor Foundation Center. Nine years later, it became the home of a DeLand community theater group, the Shoestring Players.
A Frame Vernacular style building was erected here in about 1892 as the home of Philip W. Hill. During the 1880s and 1890s, this area was a small black settlement. Hill sold the home to Robert and Phoebe Smith in 1904, the same year he platted Hills' Subdivision. The site has been vacant for many years.
This church organized in 1893 with Rev. Samuels as its first pastor. Its Gothic Revival building was completed in 1918 with a tall square tower topped by a pyramidal peak, covered with fish-scale stamped tin.
John Porter Mace was an architect and builder in Ohio during the 1860s and 1870s. He moved to Lake Helen in 1885 and built several buildings in DeLand, including DeLand Hall (1884), Stetson Hall (1886), the Volusia County Courthouse (1889), and the Fisher Building (about 1897). He also built a packing house and developed citrus groves with the "Edgewood" brand. This Queen Anne home was built in about 1886.
In 1910, Mace was an organizer of the Lake Helen Hotel and Realty Company, and during the following year helped organize the First National Bank of DeLand.
John Mace designed this 12-room Shingle style house in about 1894 for Ellis Blake of Massachusetts. Blake had moved to Lake Helen in about 1888 and developed citrus acreage. He built a large citrus packing house in about 1910 along the Florida East Coast Railway tracks, and was a member of the city commission. Blake was the vice president of the Bank of Lake Helen during the 1920s.
This house, built in about 1910, has a Frame Vernacular style.
This two-story Frame Vernacular style house was built in about 1887 by Robert Mace, an artist related to John Mace. It was bought in about 1893 by Gustavo Preston, a citrus developer. Irene Adams of Iowa bought it in 1905 and named it Idylwild Cottage, which she used as a winter residence for about 20 years. Note the "dagger-tip" shingles.
Loring Mace, a son of architect John Mace, had his home built here in 1911. He was involved with citrus and worked with his father at the Mace & Son Packing House. The home was based on a version of an expansive bungalow plan designed in about 1909 by California architects Greene and Greene. After the house was removed, the site became a part of Asa Gray Park.
This Colonial Revival style building was erected in about 1916.
On this corner was located the Euclid Hotel, later known as the Granville Hotel, with M.L. Granville as its proprietor. For a time it was owned by Mrs. Starkweather. After the hotel was torn down, its site became a part of Asa Gray Park.
This church was organized on April 10, 1886, and a $1,500 sanctuary was dedicated in April of 1889. It was shared with the Baptists until the Blake Memorial Baptist Church was completed.
The church was designed and built by John Mace, who moved here with his wife Louella and son Loring from Cincinnati in 1886 and served as the town's first mayor. The church has a Gothic Revival style. Including the three-story spire, its original cost was $2,800.
This large Bungalow designed by John Mace was built in about 1917 and used as a home for the Baptist pastor. It features a hipped tin roof and an L-shaped porch.
First Baptist Church of Winnemissett was organized on May 2, 1891, with eight members. They intended to build a church on a lot at Lake Winnemisett donated by a DeLand man, who changed his mind and took it back once the land was cleared.
The members met in a room in Lake Helen on March 31, 1892, and changed the name to the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church of Lake Helen. They built a 100 x 16 foot carriage house on Euclid Ave.
Henry DeLand donated a lot on January 26, 1893, and Anna E. Blake donated its cost of $3,000. The large Shingle style church designed by John Mace was built in 1894 as a memorial to her son, E. Nelson Blake, Jr. A parsonage was added in 1923, and an educational building in 1962. It still uses its original pews and pulpit furniture.
This Queen Anne style home was built of carnival board milled in Orange City in about 1888 for Erastus F. Gould who moved here from Michigan in 1882 to develop citrus. In 1914, the house was sold to Maynard M. Bond of Ohio, who had come to Lake Helen in 1904 and served as an officer and director of the E.W. Bond and Bond Sandstone Brick companies. Bond also served as a county commissioner.
This large Queen Anne style home was built in about 1894 for winter resident Franklin Nettleton of Pennsylvania. He was the president of the Grace Nettleton School for Girls in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, a member of the board of Lincoln Memorial University in Nebraska, and president of the Florida Association of Sunday Schools.
This home was built in 1890 for Willard and Betsy Hopkins with a Shingle style. They provided the funds necessary to build a community house near here.
This two-story house, built in 1893, has a Shingle style and was probably designed by John P. Mace. It was the winter residence of Thaniel Snover of Pennsylvania until 1903, when it was bought by George Buttorff. In 1912, Buttorff was an organizer of the Bank of Lake Helen and was its president for nearly ten years. In the 1910s, the Buttorff family operated a furniture store. The house features a three-story octagonal tower, eyebrow dormer and an unusual "cut-out" porch on the second story.
The community gathering place built with funds donated by Willard and Betsy Hopkins had already donated several books, and there was an understanding that a library would be established. Temporarily, they were kept in the home of Mrs. J.P. Mace, who acted as the librarian.
After she died, an dowment fund was set up by Mrs. Hopkins' son to maintain the library. The Village Improvement Association, which had formed in January of 1897, donated the community house to the town. It was formally named Hopkins Hall. Later, the library moved into a newer building across the street to the south.
This building features a fish-scale stamped tin roof and interesting window details.
In the early days, this street consisted of a section paved with brick for automobiles, a parallel unpaved strip for horses and buggies, and a line of large oak trees in between.
This home is a Bungalow built in 1914, owned by Claude Pelton. Construction was supervised by local builder Nathan Roberts. Pelton had moved to Lake Helen with his parents in 1885. He owned one of the first automobiles in Lake Helen, operated a store, and served as postmaster between 1911 and World War I. This house later belonged to Max and Dorothy Schneider.
Henry DeLand built a two-story hotel here and named it after his only son, Harlan. It opened on Thanksgiving day in 1884 and was managed by Kate A. Wyatt of Asbury Park, New Jersey. It sat in a park of towering pines.
The original building was 170 feet long and 75 feet wide, having verandas on three sides. Wings were added on the south in 1886 and on the north in 1887. The hotel was the social center of early Lake Helen. A boat house was maintained at the water's edge, including a fleet of gaily-painted boats. The hotel burned down on October 31, 1923, and was not rebuilt.
A large general store was opened here in 1884 by J.G. Sheldon and Company. In a small corner of it, Dr. John C. Mills set up a pharmacy.
Albert Baker moved here from Ilion, New York, in about 1884, and built a store at this intersection. In 1885, he and Charles Pelton organized the South Florida Nurseries on the east shore of Lake Helen, containing over 60,000 orange trees.
In 1917, the Bond Store was located in a two-story building and sold clothing, shoes, furniture and rugs.
Dr. Theo F. Hahn set up an office and drug store in the former Purdy bungalow here in 1937. Not long after, a new pharmacy was established.
In 1888, C.P. Russell lived here near the lake and ran a shoe shop in his home.
The original Bank of Lake Helen opened here in 1912 as a member of the Witham chain. In 1929, Witham failed, causing this bank to also go out of business. This Classical Revival style sandstone brick building later became the home of the Hadden Pharmacy.
In October of 1973, it was once again the home of a bank. Chartered in 1973 with the same name as the former bank, the Bank of Lake Helen was the smallest bank in Florida. It occupied this location from October of 1973 until 1978.
S.H. Cady and Son opened a general store at this intersection in 1886, selling groceries, boots, shoes, clothing, fruits and vegetables. It was acquired by Charles B. Pelton.
During the 1920s, the post office was located in a double building on this corner, with postmaster Mrs. Sandifer living in the apartment upstairs. In the other part of the building, Mr. Luftman ran the drug store.
A.D. Clarkson of Maryland moved to Lake Helen after attending Stetson University. He served as an officer of the E.W. Bond and Bond Sandstone Brick companies and lived in this Frame Vernacular style home, built in about 1908. He also served on the city council and during the 1930s was an auditor of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. The home features a tin roof and a porch on the lower of its two stories.
This Frame Vernacular home was constructed in about 1888.
This church organized on June 12, 1923, with 49 members. It was first known as the Methodist Episcopal Church, South of Lake Helen. Rev. Oscar E. Rice of DeLand was the part-time pastor until 1926, when he was succeeded by Rev. B.M. Montgomery on a full-time basis. The church building has a Gothic Revival style.
During the early 1900s, there was a starch factory located here. The starch was made from the coontie fern, which grew along the edge of Macy Ave., named for Rev. E. Macy.
This is a Frame Vernacular house, built in about 1916.
This is another frame Vernacular home, dating to about 1910.
This Frame Vernacular style house was built in about 1904.
This cemetery contains several gravestones from the late 1800s. Interesting are the variety of enclosures used to mark off family plots. It features three bench structures known as "devil's chairs" which some believe allow those sitting in them at midnight to converse with the devil.
Many of the residents in this section worked at the former Nautilus plant in Lake Helen. They are permitted to purchase the land and homes and own them outright.
On this land owned by the Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association (sometimes called Camp Cassadaga), live several spiritualists. In 1893, members of the Lily Dale Assembly of Cassadaga, New York, were brought to Florida by Mr. Rowley, who intended to establish a spititualist center in Winter Park or DeLeon Springs. On October 5, 1884, 13 of them left Rowley and joined with George P. Colby, forming the association. Colby deeded the association these 35 acres.
Lots in this section are not sold, but instead are leased for 99 years, with a small yearly rent payable instead of property taxes.
The three-story Cassadaga Hotel on this site burned down on February 24, 1926. It was rebuilt with a Mediterranean style in 1927-28, with a long porch for rocking chairs. The hotel was later converted to an adult congregate living facility, and in 1989 was restored as a hotel.
This was completed in 1905 and was called the pavilion or the recreation hall. It was barn-like until it was remodeled during the summer of 1974. It was renamed in March of 1976.
This facility is now named for a 19th century mystical philosopher who in 1847 wrote The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind. In that book, he outlined his vision of a beautiful afterlife with souls advancing to moral perfection and communicating with the living on earth.
This was built in 1896 as an eight-unit apartment building. It was renovated in 1984 to provide individual bathrooms.
This building was erected with 18 single rental rooms in 1897, and was privately owned by the Brigham family until 1913. It was then sold to the association for $1,500. In 1928, it was divided into four three-room apartments.
This small building was an open gazebo, remodeled in 1977 to add walls and window unit. It is named after a well-known Cassadaga healer.
The first auditorium was built in about 1895 with a seating capacity of 500. Until 1918, its sides were open. In that year, walls were added and windows and a heating stove were installed.
It was torn down and replaced in 1923 with the present Mediterranean Revival style brick building designed by John Mace that can seat 700. Its bricks came from the Bond Sandstone Brick Company in Lake Helen. It was named Colby Spiritualist Temple in March of 1975, and two months later was renamed Colby Memorial Temple.
A Pictorial History of West Volusia County 1870-1970, by William J. Dreggors, Jr. and John Stephen Hess (E.O. Painter Printing Co. 1989)
Cassadaga, by Robert Harrold (Banyon Books, Inc. 1979)
Country Towns of Florida, by Anne M. Johnson (Country Roads Press 1995)
Guide to the Small and Historic Lodgings of Florida, by Herbert L. Hiller (Pineapple Press, Inc. 1991)
Historic Properties Survey of Lake Helen, Florida, by Historic Property Associates, Inc. (1993)
History of Volusia County, Florida, by Pleasant Daniel Gold (The E.O. Painter Printing Co. 1927)
Hopes, Dreams, & Promises: A History of Volusia County, Florida, by Michael G. Schene (News-Journal Corporation 1976)
Lake Helen, The Gem of Florida: The First 100 Years, by Dorothy Schneider (Lake Helen League for Better Living 1988)
The Story of Cassadaga, by Janie Waidelich (Pisces Publishing 1992)
Story of DeLand and Lake Helen, Florida, by Helen Parce DeLand (The Academy Press 1928)
Volusia: The West Side, by Arthur E. Francke, Jr., Alyce Hockaday Gillingham, and Maxine Carey Turner (West Volusia Historical Society 1986)