The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Crosby’s promotional newspaper, the Florida Homeseeker

During the founding decade of Avon Park, Oliver Marvin Crosby edited and published a specialized promotional periodical titled the Florida Homeseeker (also rendered Florida Home Seeker), which served as the primary national and international marketing organ for the Florida Development Company.[pineapple][fa-1893-11-08][wpa-1939]

What of it survives

No copy is catalogued in any library, and exhaustive searches of WorldCat, HathiTrust, the American Antiquarian Society, Chronicling America, and the National Archives have returned zero hits.[api-sweep-2026] A single bibliographic trace of the publication run was recovered from the List of the Agricultural Periodicals of the United States and Canada Published During the Century July 1810 to July 1910, which records the Florida Home-Seeker as a monthly publication running from approximately 1890 to 1891, associated with New York, Avon Park, and Fort Meade.[ag-periodicals-list] A privately held 1891 issue (the “Second World’s Fair Edition”) survives in the collectors’ market; the eight-page paper, printed at Avon Park, contains a detailed local map and articles such as “Avon Park at Chicago.”[amazon-1891]

The paper’s text is not entirely lost. Mrs. William King, the first settler’s wife, still had an 1895 issue in 1937, and lent it to Barbara Berry Darsey, who was then writing the Avon Park Guide for the Federal Writers’ Project. Darsey copied several columns of it, along with passages from the issues of December 1891, 1892 and June 1894, into her typescript, and those transcriptions are gathered in this archive at The Florida Home Seeker, Avon Park’s own newspaper.[darsey-1937]

Publication History and Regional Distribution

The Florida Homeseeker was initially issued from Fort Meade (the regional railhead) before Crosby moved its permanent editorial and printing operations to Avon Park in 1892.[pineapple]

  • Regional Advertising: In 1892 and 1893, the Pabor Lake Pineapple carried prominent masthead notices announcing that the Florida Homeseeker was published at Avon Park by “O. M. CROSBY, Editor.”[pineapple] However, the two papers engaged in a public dispute in early 1893: after the Home Seeker’s February 1893 issue claimed W. E. Pabor’s and H. G. Burnet’s Pabor Lake homes as part of Avon Park, the Pineapple publicly rebuked the claim, insisting that Pabor Lake “has no connection with the town of Avon Park.”[pineapple] Additionally, in May 1893 the Pineapple reported that the Home Seeker’s printing had only then relocated to Avon Park “from Fort Meade, as heretofore,” although Avon Park had been advertised as its address since the previous autumn.[pineapple]

  • Statewide Campaigns: Throughout 1893, weekly display advertisements ran across central Florida in The Florida Agriculturist (DeLand), advertising land offerings and travel itineraries:

    The Florida Homeseeker. O. M. CROSBY, Editor, Avon Park, DeSoto County, Florida. Full of information valuable to Northern enquirers as to routes, rates, where to locate, cheap hotel board, etc. Where to buy homes, or orange groves — Oh so cheaply. Address, O. M. CROSBY, Avon Park, Florida.[fa-1893-11-08]

  • Claimed Circulation: In a 1923 retrospective interview, Crosby stated that the publication attained a national and overseas circulation of approximately 10,000 copies, distributed to prospective homeseekers in the northeastern United States and Great Britain.[findagrave-crosby]

The Founding Editorial and Temperance Colony Standards

While complete standalone issues of the periodical have not survived in institutional libraries, a foundational editorial was recorded and transcribed by the Federal Writers’ Project in 1939, detailing the moral, economic, and social prerequisites established for Avon Park settlers:

Land was offered at $25 an acre. “An ideal proposition for a quiet man with a yearly income of about $500,” an early editorial stated, “But do not come expecting an easy berth or that oranges grow without work. Mischief makers are not welcome; and above all, do not come to Avon Park if you must have strong drink or questionable entertainment. Do not come to sober up, or reform!”[wpa-1939]

This editorial defined the Florida Development Company’s policy of establishing Avon Park as a strict temperance colony, providing the ideological backing for deed restrictions against the liquor trade and the community’s subsequent support for local-option prohibition.

References

  • darsey-1937 — Barbara Berry Darsey. Avon Park Guide, typescript for the Federal Writers’ Project, pages 22, 26, 121, 190–192 and 199–206. 31 December 1938. avon-park-guide-federal-writers-project-1937.md
  • pineapple — W. E. Pabor and E. A. Pabor. Pabor Lake Pineapple, October 1892 to September 1897. 15 September 1897. pabor-lake-pineapple.md
  • fa-1893-11-08 — O. M. Crosby, in The Florida Agriculturist (DeLand, Fla.). The Florida Agriculturist, 8 November 1893, page 6: advertisement for The Florida Homeseeker. 8 November 1893. florida-agriculturist.md
  • wpa-1939 — Federal Writers’ Project, Work Projects Administration for the State of Florida. Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State (American Guide Series), Federal Writers’ Project of the Work Projects Administration, 1939 — pages 60, 498-499. 1939. https://archive.org/details/FloridaGuideToSouthernmostState_126045_p634_CMU
  • findagrave-crosby — Find a Grave contributors. Oliver Marvin Crosby memorial, with transcribed Tampa Tribune interview, 1923. 31 August 2026. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26474976/oliver-marvin-crosby
  • ag-periodicals-list — Stephen Conrad Stuntz. List of the Agricultural Periodicals of the United States and Canada Published During the Century July 1810 to July 1910. 1910. https://archive.org
  • api-sweep-2026 — Avon Park Historical Society Research Agent. Library and Archive Database Sweep Log: WorldCat, HathiTrust, American Antiquarian Society, Chronicling America, and National Archives. 17 September 2026. https://search.worldcat.org
  • amazon-1891 — Amazon marketplace. Rare AVON PARK Highlands County FLORIDA Founding Development 1891 Old Newspaper THE FLORIDA HOME SEEKER, Avon Park, Florida, 1891. 9 September 2026. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WDTR7B1

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. Barbara Berry Darsey, Avon Park Guide, typescript for the Federal Writers' Project, pages 22, 26, 121, 190–192 and 199–206 (references/avon-park-guide-federal-writers-project-1937.md) (1938) · archival
  2. W. E. Pabor and E. A. Pabor, Pabor Lake Pineapple, October 1892 to September 1897 (1897)
  3. O. M. Crosby, in The Florida Agriculturist (DeLand, Fla.), The Florida Agriculturist, 8 November 1893, page 6: advertisement for The Florida Homeseeker (1893)
  4. Federal Writers' Project, Work Projects Administration for the State of Florida, Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State (American Guide Series), Federal Writers' Project of the Work Projects Administration, 1939 — pages 60, 498-499 (1939)
  5. Find a Grave contributors, Oliver Marvin Crosby memorial, with transcribed Tampa Tribune interview, 1923 (2026)
  6. Stephen Conrad Stuntz, List of the Agricultural Periodicals of the United States and Canada Published During the Century July 1810 to July 1910 (1910) · book
  7. Avon Park Historical Society Research Agent, Library and Archive Database Sweep Log: WorldCat, HathiTrust, American Antiquarian Society, Chronicling America, and National Archives (2026) · secondary
  8. Amazon marketplace, Rare AVON PARK Highlands County FLORIDA Founding Development 1891 Old Newspaper THE FLORIDA HOME SEEKER, Avon Park, Florida, 1891 (2026) · secondary

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