Considered “one of Kissimmee’s most colorful inhabitants”, Mr. Walter Savage, also known as Rube Lamont (LaMonte), was born in Morris County, New Jersey, in 1875 and raised mainly in Kansas. But he would find his way to Osceola County in the early 1900s by traveling with and befriending a circus aerial act, The Flying Costellos, made up of Charlie, Doc, and Edith Laughlin from Kissimmee. […]
With ties to local commerce, law, aviation, and an estate once located on Paradise Island, the Vans Agnew family is one for the history books. Two Vans Agnew brothers would marry local historic sisters Marian and Olivia Fell, daughters of the British entrepreneur Edward Nelson Fell, for whom Fell’s Point on East Lake Tohopekaliga and Fellsmere in Indian River County, take their names. With most […]
Like the epic Appalachian family feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys, did you know Orange and Osceola counties have their own version of two legendary families? The Barbers and the Mizells are just that – another epic American tale. Beginning in 1870, the Barber and Mizell family feud would claim the lives of at least eight people and span more than 50 years, ending […]
As our National Zoos and Aquariums are celebrated this month, Osceola History wants to honor the long history of the Kissimmee Zoo. Whether captured in picture postcards or promotional maps of the area, a unique lakefront zoo was once located on the shores of Lake Tohopekaliga, just blocks from historic downtown Kissimmee. A municipal menagerie located between Stewart and Ruby Avenue hosted kids and adults […]