About Orlando |
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| Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, Orlando Magic, fresh orange juice, children’s laughter, happy faces, these are the things that come in mind first when talking about Orlando, Florida. Orlando is a major city in the central Florida with the population of the city being approximately 231,000 and the population of the metropolitan area being about 2,055,000, which makes it the fifth largest city in Florida. The area sees an estimated 50-60 million visitors on a yearly basis. The road to such was not always the easy one. |
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| In 1513, legendary Ponce de Leon, seeking the mythical “Fountain of Youth”, discovered the new peninsula, named it Florida and claimed it for Spain. Later, the control of Florida was, in different times, in hands of Spain and England up until Spain eventually sold it to the United States in 1819. Florida’s history in the early 19th century was marked by wars with Seminole Indians, the Native American groups who originally populated the peninsula. The military conflicts did not seize up until 1842. |
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| The history of Orlando can be traced back to 1838, when the United States Army built Fort Gatlin in order to prevent Indian attacks on area settlers of that time, who were mainly cattle and citrus farmers. One of the settlers in the area, Aaron Jernigan, together with his brother established the first trading post in the 1840’s, thus naming the area “Jernigan”, which it was called until 1856. |
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| There are some conflicting historic opinions about how Orlando came to be called Orlando. Some suggest that the town was named after Orlando Reeves, an American soldier at Fort Gatlin who was killed during one of the Indian raids. Others insist that Orlando Rees (not Reeves) was a wealthy plantation and sugar mill owner, and pioneer settlers found his named carved on the tree, assuming it was his grave site. They started referring to the area as “Orlando’s grave” and later simply “Orlando”. |
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| Orlando suffered greatly from the Union blockade during the Civil War; however the Reconstruction Era brought great population explosion. As a result Orlando was incorporated as a town on July 31, 1875, and as a city in 1885. The 20-year period between 1875 and 1895 is often referred to as “Orlando’s Golden Era”, when the citrus industry was flourishing and was controlled by numerous independent groves. This was changed by the Great Freeze of 1894 when many farmers had to give it up their land. The citrus operations were eventually shifted south. |
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| Subsequently, Orlando greatly benefited from Florida Land Boom of the 1920’s. The city experienced extensive housing development when several neighborhoods downtown were constructed. World War II brought a whole new population influx to the area, when a number of Army personnel who were stationed at the nearby Army Air Base, decided to make Orlando a new home for their families. Presently Orlando’s economy focuses greatly on aerospace and electronics. As the city is close enough to Cape Canaveral, Patrick Air Force Base and Kennedy Space Center, the residents can easily commute to work. Also, because of such proximity many high-tech companies have shifted their operations to the Orlando area. |
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| But it would not be an exaggeration to say that the most critical event for Orlando’s economy took place in 1965 when Walt Disney announced his plans to build Walt Disney World in the area. Orlando was chosen over Miami and Tampa due to its inland location which is less exposed to major hurricanes threat than the coastal regions. The world famous resort opened in October 1971, marking an explosive and unprecedented population and economic growth for the metropolitan area of Orlando. That was the beginning of another Golden Era for Orlando – the tourism prosperity. The city now boosts more theme parks and entertainment attractions than anywhere else in the world and is consistently ranked as one of the top vacation destinations in the world. Promoters suggest that it will take full 65 8-hour days to visit every attraction of the area’s numerous theme parks have to offer. |
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| Although less entertaining but extremely important factor in Orlando’s growth occurred in 1962, when the new Orlando Jetport (an ancestor of the present day Orlando International Airport) was built. |
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| Another rapidly developing sector of Orlando’s economy is the film, television and electronic gaming industries which are comprised of Universal Studios, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, Full Sail School and many others. |
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