Lake Eola in the center of downtown Orlando is a beautiful park. The lake and the huge dancing water fountain is the symbol for Orlando. The park attracts nearly three thousand visitors each day. They enjoy boating in huge swan shaped peddle boats, an amphitheatre with a Shakespeare Festival, musical events, constantly changing floral displays, an 8/10th mile walking/jogging path around the lake, huge craft shows, a book fair, Disney days, and just plain lying on a blanket and feeding the black swans.

In May of 1994, Mayor Glenda Hood and the City Commissioners unveiled a bigger, better Lake Eola Park. The park has an additional two acres of land along Central Boulevard. The lake and playground were expanded, and an international plaza with a food court was constructed for special events.

The New Courthouse is a 24 story tower housing 52 courtrooms and tiptoeing slightly taller than the Bank of America Center across the street. The courthouse has two mirror-image buildings for the State Attorney and Public Defender's offices, an energy plant and a parking garage for visitors. The Courthouse complex fills the entire block between Orange and Magnolia Avenues and Amelia and Livingston Streets.

The Downtown Transit System has sleek, environmentally-friendly vehicles. The buses will have routes that include stops at the Orlando Centroplex, the new Courthouse, the Post Office, the Orlando Public Library, City Hall and shopping areas.

During a three week period back in June and July, 1994, 173,000 soccer fans traveled in and out of Orlando. There were 540 flags of the world placed throughout downtown and new international theme graphics were painted on the FreeBee buses. The reason: World Cup Soccer, the world's largest single-sport event. Though Orlando was the smallest of the nine U.S. host cities, it was proclaimed Best Venue by The Atlanta Constitution. A smashing success!.

A Renaissance has been underway for some time in Orlando. There are many projects and programs whose main theme is "Keep Orlando Beautiful", and they do. Their function is to revitalize some of the older neighborhoods, and maintain them. "Keep Orlando Beautiful" means all of Orlando.

History

By 1840, a small community had grown around Fort Gatlin. They called it Jernigan, after two brothers who established the community's trading post.

By 1850, Jernigan had a post office.Six years later, with the settlement expanding northward, the community officially changed its name to Orlando. No one seems to know why.

Some say the City took its name from Orlando Reeves, a soldier killed in an Indian raid and buried along the shore of what is now known as Lake Eola. Still others contend that the person buried in that grave was not a soldier but a wealthy landowner named Orlando Reeves who also died in an Indian attack. Whatever version sits well with you, the area around Lake Eola was referred to by settler's as Orlando's Grave and when the town changed its name, the word "grave" was dropped. Now, a memorial plaque bears his name on the path surrounding Lake Eola.

Still another version holds that the City's name came from fiction. In the 1850's, one of the most influential local citizens was Judge J. G. Speer. Legend has Speer instrumental in selecting a new county seat. His choice was Jernigan. Speer was a lover of Shakespeare and they say he renamed the community Orlando after the character in "As You Like It."

Education

The City of Orlando is within the Orange County Public School District. There are private schools serving the area. You can review a list of these private schools. Try these links for information on community colleges, and universities and colleges nearby.