Altamonte Chapel history

The post office name changed to Altamonte Springs in 1887.

The winter flush of Northern visitors who came to Altamonte Springs and lived in grand "cottages" or spent the season at The Altamonte resort hotel saved the community when the back-to-back hard freezes of the winter of 1894-95 killed the citrus trees.

In 1895, a disastrous freeze destroyed the orange groves that the settlers depended upon for survival.

The owner fell on hard times and in 1897 transferred the Chapel deed and surrounding land to Rollins College in exchange for his two daughter’s tuition.

In the early 1900′s two enterprising pioneers from the developing area now known as Altamonte Springs bought the building from Rollins College.

McIntyre, a winter resident from New Hartford, N.Y., who in 1906 bought the Altamonte Hotel and much of the surrounding land, paid Rollins College $600 for the sanctuary.

Fosgate came to Florida from Boston in 1907 to learn the citrus business.

Hermit's Trail was the entrance to Frank Haithcox's Sanlando, "the Suburb Beautiful." The mid-1920s developer, who started out as an actor and traveling show promoter, named Hermit's Trail for a man named Dawson who died in the early 1920s.

In 1925, Seventh-day Adventists bought 500 acres from Bear Lake to Lake Brantley Road, starting a boarding school for the children of missionaries that evolved into today's Forest Lake Academy.

Fosgate bought the plant in 1929.

In 1955, as the congregation grew and became a year-round group, they affiliated with the UCC and called a full-time minister.

In 1969, the chapel was moved to its present location to make room for a new and larger Sanctuary to accommodate a growing membership.