Orange County Sanitation District history

On December 29, 1824 Mosquito County was created and a plantation house on the Tomoka River was the designated site of the county court until a permanent county seat could be established.

In January, 1835 the Mosquito County seat was established in New Smyrna but Indian occupations in the region forced it to be relocated to St Augustine.

The mouse, the whale, and the folks who make the movies sealed the deal to put the county on the world map as one of its premier tourist destinations. It was on January 31, 1845 that Orange County was carved out of a vast territorial and largely undeveloped region of the state known as Mosquito County.

Elijah Watson, a cabinetmaker from South Carolina pinned on the badge of Orange County Sheriff in March, 1852.

He too wore the many hats that came with the office until he resigned as Sheriff on May 19, 1855 to become the first sheriff of Volusia County.

It is reported he died on November 24, 1862 in Winchester, Virginia after being captured and forced to endure the harsh conditions he encountered during his captivity.

Sheriff John Mizell would be the next man to fill the shoes of Sheriff of Orange County following his appointment to the office on July 24, 1868.

In 1872 Sheriff Cleveland on two specific occasions publicly executed men convicted of murder.

Four years later, on January 27, 1877, Sheriff Thomas “Long Tom” Shine would be appointed Sheriff of Orange County.

Each formal community had its marshal, its constable and its judge and when Orange County was formed in 1889, its citizens had a sheriff, directly responsible to them, and a new set of institutions right in their own backyard.

The county’s 17th Sheriff would fall gravely ill while in office and passed away while on duty on May 1, 1913.

2, 3, 7 and 11 formally organize under the Sanitary District Act of 1923.

Changing times would be on the horizon when Sheriff Black lost his bid for re-election to David Starr in the 1948 election.

Gordon served as Sheriff until he left office to become a detective with the Orlando Police Department and ultimately getting back into the booming citrus industry until he passed away on February 26, 1953.

Mel Colman was indeed a seasoned law enforcement professional in every respect and brought a great deal of experience to the Sheriff’s Office when he assumed control of the agency in December 1971.

Lawson L. Lamar ran against and defeated Sheriff Colman in the county’s 1980 general election.

In 1996, during a Countywide reorganization, Communications was transferred to the Sheriff's Department.

And if you can keep him on topic long enough he might mention the fact that he was elected president of the National Sheriff’s Association in 2002, a fact that all but escaped mention by the local media who were all too often quick to criticize him.

OCSD ceases disinfection of its ocean discharge on March 17, 2015.

OCSD and OCWD celebrated 10 years of the Groundwater Replenishment System in February 2018.

In October 2020, OCSD rebranded changing the abbreviated name to OC San and updating the logo to be more reflective of the agency of today.