At one time before the city of Orlando existed there was a fort called Gatlan which was built to protect the settlers from Seminole attackers. There is a tale about a wealthy land owner and soldier who was killed with a mortal wound from an arrow in 1835. The story goes that one night he was patrolling the shores and saw wheat he thought was a log. When he realized it was a Seminole Indian he sounded the alarm and was shot. Rumor has it that Orlando and many other men were camping along the lake and were slaughtered. Those men then were buried along the lake shore in unmarked graves. A monument which is along lake Eola is dedicated to Orlando in 1939. Today history shows us that perhaps Orlando did not perish along Lake Eola since the area was swamp land impossible for troops to camp. Historians think that he perished along Lake Cherokee but nobody honestly knows his true grave.

With that in mind that is how the city of Orlando came to be or at least the name of it which in 1857 it was changed to. Before that the settlement surrounding Fort Gatlin was called Jernigan which today many of them burials remain under buildings or were transferred to Greenwood Cemetery nearby.  The other tale is that a local Judge J.G. Speer who loved Shakespeare named the community after a character in As You Like It. Nobody really knows for certain. But the fact is that at one time the Seminoles roamed near Lake Eola so its a fairly old park.

Then in 1854 a man by the name of William A. Lovell came from a small town and settled in the area. He set up a steam-powered sawmill on the north shore of Lake Eola which obviously no longer stands today. Another settler by the name Jacob Summerlin  years later came to Orlando in 1873 and bought the lake and surrounding land roughly 200 acres. His son Robert had a female friend perhaps a lover and called this Lake Eola. Before that time the lake was called "Sandy Beach" or "The Lake" I know not very creative. 

Lake Eoloa in 1888 was finally established as the first parcel of land which would be donated to the City Of Orlando by several families in the area. It then was established as a park in 1892 which would be Orlando's oldest park downtown and make it historical as well.  The park over the years has gone through many different transitions. Some of them have been that along the lake there was a zoo, tennis courts, a pier with a dance floor and music broadcast station, horse race track which all no longer stand today. In 1910 a band shell was built within the park and three others were built later over time which I believe is today's outdoor amphitheatre. 

Then in 1912 Lake Eola fountain was installed by a mayor by the named Sperry then the second one was erected in 1957. The fountains still stand today along the parks path. Then in that same year a man by the name Harry Ustler a flower company clerk from Ohio settled in the area. He realized that growing ferns here was much cheaper then growing them in Ohio. When he was a waiter at the Altamonte Hotel he shared this information with oen of the guest named W.P. Newell. The two started a fernery business and grew them in a shed on Lake Eola. Eventually after it expanded they moved it to Apopka which today is the fern capital of the country. So as you can see alot of history in the early 1900s alone. 

Then in 1924 a giant WWI monument was erected within the park by the Daughters Of The American Revolution. After this time other things would be installed into the park such as a pagoda, wood docks, a playground, a fountain in the center of the lake, a new giant amphitheatre, various memorials, a grave marker, and statues of the World's freedom fighters like Mohandas Gandhi with various epitaphs. There is also other things within the park like a gondola, swan boats, and a statue with an eye embedded into it.

Lake Eola was part of a sinkhole which went 80 feet deep. Today the lake has many swans and lets not forget rats since it is downtown Orlando. The park is 43 acres which 23 acres is the lake. There is many various gardens and including some of the most oldest Oak and Cypress trees in downtown Orlando. Many years ago before the park was cleaned up this park was home to a large number of drifters, vagrants and homeless would sleep under the azalea bushes. Even though there is not many homeless living in the park today we did find a refrigerator box in the park which Lee kicked lol just to make sure nobody would jump out at us. There also seems to be some exhibitionism going on along the lake shore must be all them night clubs nearby lol.

We chose to investigate this because there is alot of history. Some other paranormal groups say that this is a scary place or that a murder has taken place here so they refuse to set foot in this park. But it truly is a really nice park the lake sits amongst the various sky scrapers of downtown Orlando and many other historical sites. You will not see alot of paranormal photography from our first visit basically all we wanted to do was walk around the lake gather psychic impressions and learn about its history. There is in certain areas many strong ghostly energies which we hope to uncover its supernatural mysteries with this ongoing project.

© By

Rick-AngelOfThyNight

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this  message is being distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those  who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for  non-profit research and educational or criticism purposes only.  Notwithstanding  the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phone   records or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement. Anotherwards a few photos are borrowed we do not make any profit off pictures mainly they are used for historical, criticism, theories and other educational purposes therefore we can use them as long as we do not claim them as our own or get paid for those photos specifically. If a photo is yours we can link it to you just let me know.