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Description:
Beautifully engraved certificate from the State of Florida issued in 1886. This item is hand signed by the Company's Officers ( William E. Wood and Edward S. Douglas ) and Trustees ( James E. Ingraham and Frederic H. Rand ) and others and is over 117 years old. There are 12 unused coupons attached to the certificate not shown in the scan. This is the first time we have seen this certificate. The Tropical Hotel was built in 1883 on Lake Tohopekaliga.. While it was being erected, it was blown down. The lumber was carefully picked up, and the building was completed. It had 132' frontage on Broadway, 80 rooms, and almost 700 feet of verandas. It faced the railroad tracks, and a 6-story tower overlooked the lake. It was only open during the winter months. For a while, it was caled the Hotel Kissimmee, but was renamed the Tropical before it burned. Behind the hotel on Broadway, the street was solid turf of Bermuda grass lined with boardwalks. Kissimmee had the distinction of having the only grass-covered streets in the U.S. The grass was kept cropped by cows which were allowed by Col. Aderhold as mayor to roam freely, giving the city one reason to be known as a "Cow Town". After the Tropical burned in 1906, the Thurman Hotel was built on the site by Harry Thurman of Philadelphia. It was later renamed the Graystone Hotel which, in 1914, claimed to be fireproof and advertised rooms for $2.50/day. In the 1930s it was bought by Mr. Bostain and became the Bostain Hotel. In the 1940s, it was refurbished and again called the Tropical Hotel. The Tropical Hotel had a national reputation and drew many celebrity guests, including businessman John Jacob Astor, who honeymooned here. The site was later occupied by First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Osceola County, whose building was constructed in the 1970s. An ancient hotel swimming pool lies under the parking lot. First Federal was established in 1934, and was located off the arcade. In the 1940s, it was at 101 Broadway, and in the 1950s it moved to an office at Verona St. and Stewart Ave. Dozens of World War II veterans were granted 4% mortgages to make possible their purchase of homes. James Edmundson Ingraham, born on November 18, 1850, graduated from Racine College in Wisconsin and became a railroad engineer. Ingraham came to Florida in 1874 where he later served as president of Henry S. Sanford's South Florida Railroad Company. Ingraham was a member of the survey party that crossed the Everglades from Fort Myers to Miami in March 1892 in search of a possible railroad route for Henry B. Plant's railroad system. He caught Henry Flagler's attention when he reported that the east coast would serve as a more practicable route. Flagler immediately hired Ingraham and eventually placed him in charge of all land holdings. In 1897, Ingraham was made the third vice-president of the Florida East Coast Railway Company and in 1910 was made its vice-president. Ingraham was also president of several of the Flagler related land companies: Model Land Company, Chuluota Company, Okeechobee Company and Perrine Grant Land Company. From 1915 until 1920 he was mayor of St. Augustine. Ingraham died on October 25, 1924.
| Status: For Sale |
Reference#: stofflbo18 |
| Condition:
See Description |
Year:
See Description
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