Lake County, Florida: History
Lake County was created in 1887 from portions of Sumter and Orange counties. The Bill creating Lake County, was introduced by Representative Henry Holcomb Duncan, a resident of Tavares, Florida. Upon the creation of Lake County, he became the first Clerk of Court and Mr. Duncan served in that capacity until his death in 1920. It was named for the many lakes contained within its borders (250 named lakes and 1,735 other bodies of water).
In the 1800s, the two main industries in the area were growing cotton and breeding cattle. In the latter part of the 19th century, people started to grow citrus trees. Citrus was introduced by Melton Haynes. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, citrus production increased and grew into the area's leading industry. The December 1989 United States cold wave destroyed most of the citrus groves, dealing an economic blow from which many growers could not recover. Grove owners sold massive amounts of land to developers, resulting in increasing urban sprawl.