One can walk within the village and see homesteading, cattle, citrus, hunting, fishing and trapping themes of how these pioneers lived in the Orange County wilderness. The seven restored homes preserve the Cracker architecture of Orange County from the 1870s to the 1930s. 

I would like to take the time to discuss a little bit about the structures within the village with a little bit of history on each. One can fathom the supernatural when walking around this dismal village at night like the feeling of an old lady sitting on her rocker or a man working in the black smith shop.

The first structure we will discuss is the Union School established in 1906 which was a one room school. The school united the locals around Christmas to educate there kids. In the 1920s the school was enlarged with a small room added. The teachers house during that time and garage were also added on. In 1932 a lunch room and stage was added to the big room. They called this the Christmas School and it was eventually closed in 1969 but during its time it boasted many graduations. As Christmas grew the school was no longer needed and a bigger one was built nearby.

The lunch room was made because the children used to eat outdoors. The lunch room provided shelter from the rain and cold. Kids would bring there lunch in a bucket or a basket to school. In the 1930s the school hired a cook and helper to provide hot lunches for the students. Dove Nettles was the cook for many years. Ozelma Canada, Sadie Hatch and other local women also helped provide meals for the students. When a child had a birthday a home baked cake was presented for each child. 

Then we have the Simmons 2 House built in the 1880s. The Simmons family had settled on Taylor Creek near fort Christmas in the 1870s. George Washington Simmons and Ann McDougald Simmons were married at Silver Springs in 1856. If you look ahead you will clearly see we investigated the Silver Springs area which might be haunted by their ghost possibly.  The house had one room and over the years many  more were added with covered porches and breezeways. 

Then we have another house called the Yates house which was the home of John Burl Yates III and Polly Canada born in in 1874. John Yates lived in this homestead which belong to John Burl Yates II located on Taylor Creek when the first were married. They converted the old shed into a living area and prepared all their meals on a cook stand out in the open outdoors. Eventually they started to homestead the property where they built this one room house living off the land. They raised livestock, hunted deer, turkey, wild boar and even had a garden. The kitchen was on the front porch and a rear room was added for Polly's sons after the death of her husband in 1923. The stick and clay chimney later was added using a local clay pit in the Taylor Creek Area. 

Then we have the Brown House built by Ephriam Legrand Brown in 1904. He worked as a surveyor coming to Florida in the 1870s born in Georgia in 1859.  In 1882 Brown married Julia Roberts of the Roberts plantation on Lake Mills and purchased a 40 acre parcel of land where he built a log home and planted citrus crops. The log home eventually was destroyed by a fire and the family lived in the barn till anew home would be built. He used the charred wood from the log  home for floor joints in the new house. Those trees he planted last till about 1985 till a freeze destroyed them all. They were basically a very well known farm family in the area.

Then we have the Wheeler and Bass house built in 1905 which began as a barn which was converted to a home. The house did not have glass windows but rather board shutters which would be opened to allow light to come in. Batten strips were usually placed over the joints in the board siding to seal the building from thunder storms. The shingles on the roof were made of woods. The family owned six acres of citrus, planed a garden and raised its own livestock.

Then from the 1860s to about the 1930s cow camps were formed in the area which often were situated by water, shade and prairie's. The area of Christmas was the perfect location for these. Cow Camps provided shelter for cowboys, dogs and ponies. The cow camps were about a days drive apart. The cow camps were built in an hour and could be used repeatedly by simply replacing or adding palmetto fronds to the roof to shelter the weary travelers.

The pen style cow camp was built to use during cattle round ups in the area. Horses could be corralled in the pen while men slept in an open area outdoors. In 1930 a more fancier cow camp was constructed. It was two stories tall and the cow hunters slept upstairs. The area below would be used for storing gear and providing shelter for horses and dogs. This style was very similar to a barn.

Then we have the 3rd Simmons House which was built in 1915. George Simmons born in 1867 and his sister Martha born in 1873 were children of George and Anna Simmons. They never got married and remained on the family farm caring for their father and mother in their final  years of residing in Christmas. In 1912 his father had passed on so he constructed a new house just a little ways away from the old place. The house had a center living room, bedrooms, dining room and a separate kitchen. They were farmers growing vegetables that they would sell to the turpentine camps nearby. George was also a carpenter to some of the local structures.

Then we have another cracker style home called the Beehead Ranch House. The cracker name for a group of trees is called a head. Bees filled the hollows of the live oak trees with honey. The area where the ranch was built was located amongst many honey trees resulting in the name Beehead. Built in 1917 by the Tosohatchee Ranch Company the Beehead Ranch House provided housing for the ranch foreman and his family. In 1925 the ranch was purchased by a group of sportsmen from Sanford and Orlando. It became a hunting club called the Tosohatchee Game Preserve known for its excellent hunting and annual BBQ. The property was sold to the state of Florida in 1977 which is now the Tosohatchee State Reserve. The ranch house was moved to the Fort Christmas Pioneer Village in 1993 and is being used to reflect life on a cattle ranch of the early 1900s.

The last house we will discuss for now is the Woods House built in 1927 by Thomas Jefferson Woods who was born in 1896. He was the son of Francis Jackson Woods and Emma Matilda Save who lived by Savage Creek. At the time they were living in a palmetto thatched lean-to and were trying to get the house complete by the time of there first child. Tom learned to hunt and trap as a child and used this skills to provide for his family by selling alligator hides, raccoon, opossum and otters which were very popular for men's and women's fashions. The Christmas area was perfect for hunting, fishing and trapping. 

So as you can see there are many different houses with different histories to them. There are other ones within the pioneer village but the ones talked about most are the ones I have listed information on. Walking through the pioneer village gives you a sense of history. In my opinion I felt as if I stepped into a time machine and went back to the 1800s. As you walk through the village you see things like a well, wagon wheel, machinery, horseshoes, old wood furniture, barns, houses etc etc it really gives you a sense for what life was like and of course around ever turn is something of the supernatural that lurks from the beyond.

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Rick-LordOfThyNight