1875: The Courthouse that Jake built.

Orange County’s first substantial courthouse was the focus of a major turning point in Central Florida history.

Sanford In 1870, diplomat and entrepreneur Henry S. Sanford – appointed by President Lincoln as minister to Belgium – bought a large tract of land on Lake Monroe and sought to have the county seat moved to his budding city on the St. Johns. The idea had merit: The big river was east Florida’s major avenue of transportation and commerce in those days. But Jacob Summerlin, dubbed the Cattle King of Florida, thought otherwise.

In 1873, Summerlin brought his family to the small town of Orlando, where he bought 200 acres around Lake Eola, including the lake, for a reported price of 25 cents an acre. He was no doubt quite happy to have the courthouse close by.

Despite depictions of Summerlin as a rough-hewn rustic trailing dust from his boots, the standard history of Orlando says he was really “a quiet, courteous, kindly person, but one who could be tough when the occasion demanded.”

The story goes that cattleman Jake Summerlin became an irritating thorn in General Henry S. Sanford’s backside when he opposed Sanford’s ambition to move the county seat and courthouse out of Orlando. So Sanford, a man used to getting his way, decided to come to Orlando and confront Summerlin on the issue.

After arriving at the Summerlin Hotel early one morning Henry Sanford came across a cowboy resting on the hotel porch and proceeded to ask him about the character of Jacob Summerlin.

[Click here to listen to an account of Sanford’s first meeting with Summerlin]

[Click here to listen to an account of Sanford’s first meeting with Summerlin]

Jacob Summerlin got tough in Orlando in 1875 during a face-off with Sanford at a county commission meeting in the small 1869 courthouse. "Keep the courthouse in Orlando where residents voted to have it," he said, "and I’ll loan the county $10,000 to build a new courthouse. If the county can pay me back, that’s fine; if not, that’s OK, too." A three-story frame courthouse was eventually built with Summerlin’s loan at a final cost of $7,800. Jake did get paid back, but it took the county ten years to do it.

The new courthouse became a gathering place not only because of court and county business but because of the well at the southwest corner of its grounds (near Central Boulevard and Court Street).

Courthouse Well Lined with terra cotta and 42 feet deep, the well was topped with a large well house with a shingle roof; water was drawn with a pulley, chain, and two buckets. The well became a popular gathering spot, especially for Orlando boys who amused themselves by dropping lighted matches into the well to see if they would keep burning until they hit the water.

1875 Courthouse Like its predecessor, Orange County’s last frame courthouse had a second life: In 1891, to make way for its grand successor, it became the property of Capt. J. W. Wilmott, who moved it to the northeast corner of Church and Main (Magnolia) to become part of the Tremont Hotel.

Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida

1875: The Courthouse that Jake built.