Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
W.C. Howes settled on the river north of Snyder Hill and ran a general store there. Later, Howes built and ran a general store at this location. Howes served as postmaster from 1894 to 1903.
From 1906 until 1925, the store was operated by L.L. Mosby. He sold it to his brother-in-law, Van Buren Baldwin. The building burned down in 1925 and Baldwin built a new one the same year. It was later owned by Bobby and Dana Greatrex.
In 1925, the year Oak Hill was incorporated, organizers recognized the need for a jail. They sent a delegation to Daytona Beach, and they purchased a building with two cells of frame and metal. It was brought back to this site on a train flatcar.
In 1911, the Village Improvement Association was founded with trustees F.W. Hatch, H.J. Magruder and L.L. Mosby. Its headquarters were built here in 1921 by F.W. Hatch. The octagon-shaped building has been used for governmental and social gatherings.
W.C. Howes, one of Oak Hill's early settlers, built this home. It was acquired in 1920 by Thurlow Simmons of Mims. It later became the home of George Bennett Lopez and his wife, Alice Simmons.
This house was built in 1910 as the residence of Horace and Gertrude Mosby Bennett. He served as a county commissioner.
Percy and Gertrude Mosby Bennett Threlkeld lived in a house on this corner, built in 1900.
The Owen and Little Company owned Oak Hill's first large store in the early 1900s. They had a turpentine commissary at this location, which later housed the post office. Later, the Baptist Church was built here and later became the Church of God.
This building was used as a boarding house, operated by Minnie McCullough. The school teachers lived here. Later, this was the residence of Horace E. and Jackie Casad Treadwell.
The church moved here from a previous building located at the corner of Halifax Dr. and Campton St. Its organizers included John and Annie Brooke Osteen, who moved here from Ft. Lauderdale in 1905. The present church is built on the site of the former home of Arthur and Eva Sargent Brooks.
The first area school for white students was built near this site in 1895. Mr. Story was its first principal. It served 25 to 40 students in grades one through eight. The faculty was increased to three in 1906. Later, another shcool was built on the west side of the street to handle grades one and two.
Mary Adelaide Redding Dewees moved to this area in 1945 with her husband, Adelbert C. Dewees. She served as the president of the Garden Club and the Village Improvement Association. In 1950, she became the area's first Avon Lady. During the 1970s, she raised money for the establishment of this park, and it was named after her.
Tom M. Adams built a large house near here in 1918, and with his wife operated it as a boarding house. Its residents included wives of men stationed at the Coast Guard Station built in 1860 on the oceanfront, who came here on the wekends to visit them. The boarding house later burned.
Before it was converted to a residence, this building was the Congregational Church, the first church building erected in Oak Hill. Before 1900, it was cross-shaped. During the 1880s, Congregationalist minister Rev. Wicks ran a public school located here. He had nine pupils.
In 1878, Henry S. Barker built this two-story building as a boarding house. He later sold it to John and Aleathea Andrews.
This rise of land was an Indian mound with a large live oak tree growing on it. It was called Live Oak Hill until a hurricane blew down the tree in 1911, and thereafter was called Oak Hill.
Shortly after 1900, Lord and Lady Hatton Turner built a 14-room home here. It was later bought by W.K. Snyder, and the land was renamed Snyder Hill.
In 1911, the home known as Seminole Rest was built here. Later owners include Frank and Penny Instone.
W.C. Howes opened a general store on the north end of Snyder Hill in 1894. It included a post office, with Seagrave Adams as its postmaster. The store was later acquired by E.A. and Eunice Smith.
The hotel previously located near here on high ground known as "Hotel Mound" was built by Henry J. Faulkner of New York and Mr. McMurray in 1882-83. It was the second hotel in Volusia County licensed to sell spiritous liquors. After four years, McMurray bought out Faulkner's interest. The hotel had a pool supplied by a six-inch well.
East of here is the fish camp bought and operated by Frank and Virginia Teague LeFils, who after a few years sold it to William and Adelbert Dewees.
This was the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Warren Williams. It had been built by his grandfather, Col. John Coleman, in 1884.
The first school building at this site was erected in 1925. It began as one story, and later was increased to two. At first it handled 12 grades, then dropped to nine before World War II, to eight soon after, and to six in 1957. The building was torn down in October of 1959.
Other school buildings were erected here in 1960 and 1968. On December 5, 1974, the school was renamed the W.F. Burns Elementary School in honor of William F. Burns, who started here as a teacher in 1930 and served as its principal from 1936 to 1957.
This house was built by Oscar Dee Alderman and his wife, Mamie Estelle Hall Alderman. He was a butcher and she was a teacher, and they raised bees.
The first church with a black congregation met in a brush arbor near Dixie Hwy. They then built this church, which later was remodeled as the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Norman.
Oak Hill incorporated in 1925 and Howard G. Putman served as its first mayor.
This church held its early services in a brush arbor on US 1, then built a one-room church building on Church St. Later, this sanctuary was erected here.
The first person buried in this cemetery was Elizabeth, the infant daughter of Jonathan Washington Fountain and Sarah J. Johnson, who died in 1870. Others buried here include Confederate veterans and members of the Adams and Putman families.
The Oak Hill Citrus Association, a branch of the Florida Citrus Exchange, began as the New Smyrna Hawks Park Citrus Association in 1909. It moved to Oak Hill in 1924. For a time, Howard G. Putman served as its president.
This garage was built in 1946 by Fred Wheeler, who had come here from Zephyrhills in 1935 to work in J.B. Treadwell's garage.
During the 1920s, an ice cream shop was operated here by Fred M. Stanley. It was later owned by Bobby and Dana Greatrex.
History and Memories of Oak Hill, Florida, by Mary A. Dewees (1984)
Click here for a copy of the trail rules.