The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Crosby Ran a Connecticut Colony in Marion County Before Avon Park

Prior to founding Avon Park on the Lake Wales Ridge in 1886, Oliver Marvin Crosby developed and tested his immigrant colonization model in southern Marion County, Florida[gaz-1886][crosby-1887-book].

The Danbury Settlement in Marion County (1885–1886)

The Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1886–87 documents the settlement of Danbury, Marion County, situated on the Florida Railway and Navigation Company line 1.5 miles northwest of Belleview and seven miles southeast of Ocala, adjoining the settlement of Welshton[gaz-1886]:

“A colony of settlers, mostly from Danbury, Conn. Prof. O. M. Crosby, whose office is at Jacksonville, and who is horticultural editor of The South and manager of the Florida Department of that journal, is also manager of this colony. Fruit and vegetable raising is the chief pursuit of those residing here. The price of land is $10 per acre, and purchasers are limited to 10-acre tracts.”[gaz-1886]

In the gazetteer’s Jacksonville section, Crosby was listed as “Crosby Oliver M. Prof., horticultural editor and man. Florida dept. of The South,” published by the South Publishing Company at 85 Warren Street, New York[gaz-1886].

The Colonization Methodology Transferred to Avon Park

The Danbury settlement established the operational pattern that Crosby subsequently deployed on a townsite scale in DeSoto County[gaz-1886][crosby-1887-book]:

  1. Hometown Kinship Networks: Crosby married Mary Emma Miller in Danbury, Connecticut, on 30 December 1874. His early colonization ventures relied directly on recruiting skilled tradesmen, hatting-industry families, and agricultural homeseekers from western Connecticut[gaz-1886][crosby-1888].
  2. Small-Tract Subdivision: By limiting sales to 10-acre agricultural parcels and 50-by-150-foot town lots at fixed, accessible prices, Crosby maximized settler density and rapid land clearing[gaz-1886].
  3. Northern Media Promotion: Crosby utilized his editorial platform at The South in New York, followed by his own promotional handbooks (Florida Facts Both Bright and Blue in 1887 and Common Sense About Florida in 1888) and his local monthly newspaper (The Florida Homeseeker), to generate continuous northern inquiries[gaz-1886][crosby-1887-book].

Following the severe statewide freeze of January 1886, Crosby shifted his primary promotional focus southward from Marion County to the high frost-drained sands of Township 33 South, Range 28 East, where he platted Lake Forest and Avon Park, while the transient Danbury colony in Marion County was absorbed into the Belleview–Lake Weir agricultural district[gaz-1886][crosby-1887-book]. In September 1891, while in London raising capital ahead of the incorporation of the Florida Development Company, Crosby wrote to a Jacksonville friend that he had “just sold 2,500 acres of land known as Welshton, a hotel and storehouse to an English company for $210,000 cash,” liquidating his adjoining Marion County holdings to focus on Avon Park[savannah-1891-09-29].

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. South Publishing Company, The Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1886-87, s.v. Danbury, Marion County (1886) · book
  2. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida (references/the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md) (1976) · book
  3. Oliver Marvin Crosby, Florida Facts, Both Bright and Blue (references/florida-facts-both-bright-and-blue_oliver-marvin-crosby_1887.md) (1887) · book
  4. The Morning News (Savannah, Ga.), The Morning News (Savannah, Ga.), 29 September 1891, page 6: O. M. Crosby in London and the sale of Welshton (1891) · newspaper

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