Seminole County, Florida
The story of Oviedo
Everything below is a single verifiable claim with a citation attached. Where the record is a local legend rather than a document, it says so.
- 1875Lake Jesup Settlement
- 1925Becomes a town
- 1967Becomes a city
founding
How it started
- 1925
Settlement began in the early 1800s; the Lake Jesup Settlement was established in 1875 with around forty families. Oviedo became a town in 1925 and a city by referendum in 1967.
etymology
How it got its name
-
Andrew Aulin, an early settler and shopkeeper, named the post office Oviedo after the Spanish city and university, to honour the state's Spanish heritage.
industry
What it lived on
-
Agriculture ran the economy into the 1940s - citrus and celery. Butler Boston is credited with successfully grafting tangerine budwood and the temple orange from Jamaica.
claim to fame
What it is known for
-
Oviedo is known for the chickens that roam its downtown, alongside its historic houses and buildings.
landmark
What still stands
-
Lake Jesup, a mile northwest of the settlement that started the town.
- 1875
The site of the 1875 Lake Jesup Settlement, which grew from forty families into a thriving trading post.