Mount Dora’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 3 old photos of Mount Dora. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The town of Mount Dora began in 1874 when the area was settled by David Simpson, his wife, and two children. In 1880, Ross C. Tremain became the town's first postmaster, and later a major real-estate developer for the area. A post office called Mount Dora has been in operation since 1883. Tremain named the unincorporated village Royellou, after his children, Roy, Ella, and Louis. The community was renamed for Dora Ann Drawdy, who was an early settler of the town in the mid-1880s. In 1846, the surveyors named Lake Dora after her, and in 1883, the town was renamed after the lake. The Mount in Mount Dora reflects the fact that the town is on a plateau 184 feet above sea level. In addition to this, Dora is memorialized through Dora Drawdy Way, an alleyway located in the downtown area. The town’s original name is honored in a similar fashion through another alleyway simply named Royellou.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Mount Dora’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Dora’s history is told.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewGroup portrait of Civil War veter…, 1895: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Mount Dora
See all 2 →
Mount Dora, decade by decade
1950s
CommonsMount Dora City Hall012007
CommonsRoad photo from October 9, 2004 442004
CommonsMDPDcar2004
CommonsLobster Car in Orlando, Florida2004
CommonsFLMap-doton-MountDora2004
CommonsRoad photo from May 31, 2003 472003
CommonsMount Dora Railroad "Herbie"2003
CommonsRoad photo from January 1, 2002 302002
CommonsRoad photo from January 1, 2002 2920025 historic places in Mount Dora
Mount Dora has 5 listings on the National Register, and they protect 572 historic buildings, because Mount Dora Historic District alone counts 564.
Where they are
When they were listed
Listed 1975Donnelly House
Listed 1987Lakeside Inn
Listed 1992Mount Dora A. C. L. Railroad Station, Old
Listed 2009Witherspoon Lodge No. 111 Free and Accepted Masons (F&AM)
Listed 2009Mount Dora Historic DistrictThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Group portrait of Civil War veterans (1895) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (12). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.