Freedom Ride 2

I guess if you do something two years in a row, it's a tradition.  Last year I did a quick bike ride/photo safari on the 4th of July so I followed it up with a peddle though the summer heat this year as well. I documented anything that spoke to me in the communities of Conway, Belle Isle, Pinecastle and Edgewood near Orlando.

Happy Independence Day!

The Dairy around the corner

The new historic Orlando Group on Facebook has been a great source of information about the City Beautiful, and a post requesting information about Datson Dairy yielded surprising results. My original blog detailing my quest to find out more about the area surrounding my house, had limited information about the Dairy. But I was delighted when members of the Datson family, still living in the area, posted some valuable information to help fill in some of the gaps.

According to posts on the page, Datson Dairy opened in 1910 and was operated by Clarence Dotson who was said to be a "pioneer" in the nearby community of Pinecastle. Much of the information was provided by Priscilla Crawford Datson, providing family history and images. Mrs. Datson explained "Clarence Datson and his three brothers operated the dairy, each brother except Theodore, who chose to go into more of just the political end of farming, had and operated their own dairy farms. The processing plant was downtown at the corner of South St. and the railroad." She continued "after the death of his father, Glen Datson Sr. had a dairy farm in the Conway area.The original farm was in the Lake Hourglass area, the farmhouse being built for my husband’s Grandmother was finished after his Grandfather was killed in an auto accident, and the the brothers took over the original operation, that is when the farm in the Conway area was started by Glen Sr." She explained that the boundaries of the original farm on the shore of Lake Hourglass (the first photo in the post) extended east to Bumby Avenue and north and south between Kaley and Curry Ford Road. 

Theodore Datson, Vice President of the Florida Dairy Industry gives an address, 1950
UF Digital Collections (UFDC)

Priscilla's son-in-law posted these images of a postcard of the South Street bottling plant that was later sold to Borden.

I also learned that the farmhouse built in 1926, is still standing, and the family still lives in it! For a historyhead like myself, it doesn't get much better than that! I was able to find the cypress tree that is in on the right hand side of the farm photo, larger and still going strong!

And this is the general area where the farm used to be. The large Cypress to the right of the palm tree sits on a narrow county park that I now know was donated to the county by the Datsons.

Here is a 1954 aerial of Lake Hourglass. There are no more citrus groves, only houses. The farm would have been on the east side of the larger half of the lake.

It's fun finding pieces of the puzzle, but it also whets my appetite to want to learn more. As I slowly learn more about the place I call home, I feel solidly grounded in the present and connected to the area's colorful past. Thanks to Priscilla Crawford Datson and her son-in-law Dan for their images and information.

More Conway Kids' art

"What I like about Florida" by Ms. Summers' 5th Grade class and Ms. A's 3rd grade class of Conway Elementary, Orlando, FL. Kudos to the school staff for continuing the tradition of "Arts at Conway." With the ever-shrinking school budgets, it is critical that the arts not be left out as a fundamental part of a well-rounded student curriculum. For at least one day a year, at this school, the arts are front and center. Bravo!

By Zack

By Erin

By Abby

By Breana

"Florida Rocks" by Gabbie

By Naseem

Visual Ephemera goes back to school

Conway Elementary is one of the oldest schools in Central Florida, tracing its roots back to the original two room Conway School that opened in 1875. The old 1954 building recently gave way to a brand new school that is a state-of-the art facility. One of the traditions they've carried on from the old school is Arts at Conway Day. The entire day is devoted to teaching students about the arts – from opera to television technology.

I participated in this annual event for the second time and asked two classes to help create content for today's blog. The assignment was to create artwork based on what they liked best about Florida. Students were asked to write, draw or work on a postcard template I provided. No one elected to write much, but I was very impressed with their artwork (it may take more than one blog to show it all!) I'm not sure whether or not I taught the kids anything, but maybe pausing to consider their favorite thing in Florida will make them appreciate the "state they're in."

Caption reads "I like that Florida is so beautiful filled with all kinds of trees and plants and rivers." By Diamond

By Billie

By Jordan

By Samoth

By Mauriana

By Paloma

By Alexandra

by McKenna

By Dayton

By Justin

Colorful Conway II

In these times of economic crisis in the Sunshine State, our "wise" leaders are cutting education budgets to the point that Florida's per student spending is the lowest in the country. As they brainstorm ways to save even more money, one of the options in Orange County is to close several small neighborhood schools like Kaley Elementary. Kaley is unique because the architecture doesn't look like anything else in Central Florida. The school's website has the following historical information: "Kaley Elementary School was constructed of Depression bricks in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers. The outer beauty of the school lies in its old English style of architecture. " I find it interesting that the only thing that may keep this New Deal era school open is a 21st century federal stimulus package. My hope is that we can find long term solutions to keep Kaley and all the neighborhood schools open.

Not far up the road from Kaley on Bumby is another property unique to Conway. I've driven by this house, many times but finally stopped to take a closer look this weekend. The front yard features two Koi ponds, dozens of statues, a waterfall, and a delightful mural on the front of the house. The mural creates the illusion of a huge waterfall filling the Koi pond and is created by the same artist who created the murals on Whiskey Lou's, an establishment down the road.

Whiskey Lou's

In fact the mural tradition seems to be alive and well in Conway and in neighborhoods near downtown. While many of the historic murals painted early in the 20th century by Florida's artists are lost, contemporary artists continue their legacy, creating their own fantastic interpretations of our state.