Reached via the Atlantic Coast Line Railway was a lavish inland retreat of its time, the Runnymede Lodge. Comprised of fishing grounds and the lush surroundings of the Runnymede area itself, the lodging was undoubtedly special. The area was close to Narcoossee, Fells Cove, and Ashton. English settlers were developing each town, and the principal attraction was a large hotel erected around 1885, situated three miles east of St. Cloud, one mile southwest of Narcoossee on the shores of Lake Runnymede and East Lake Tohopekaliga.
In 1892, the Runnymede Planting Company purchased the hotel and 150 acres from John and Jennie Hill of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the price of $12,000; although no cash changed hands. The land was paid for with a mortgage. Mr. Allen Thomas, Jr., was the president of the Runnymede Planting Company at the time, and his uncle, Colonel Bringier, was in charge of the St. Cloud Sugar plantation that Disston owned in the late 1880s.
During this time, the hotel was said to be used by the Disston Drainage Co. as a temporary headquarters (Cody & Cody, 70). The Seminole Land & Investment Co. bought much of the land held by Hamilton Disston’s businesses after his death, so the site then functioned as veterans’ lodgings for those coming down to view St. Cloud before potential housing was built there.
Later, an Englishman, Beachamp Watson, bought the original property in 1912 with the intention of developing Runnymede. Watson built his house, a store, and a few surrounding structures, intending to start an agricultural school, managing the Runnymede hotel in the meantime. He catered to visitors from the North, and the lodge itself was recognized as a showy, three-story building.
Years later, J. Edward Krause of Indianapolis purchased the property, adding it to his chain of hotels. The site was remodeled, and guest cottages were added to the grounds. Considered “homey bungalows,” these private additions allowed guests the opportunity to live close to nature as advertised. With the Runnymede Lodge’s exclusive features and unique environment, it was quite unlike any other hostelry of its era.
Now, an exquisite artifact – an antique hutch – once the property of the historic hotel in Narcoossee, is on permanent view, see it on display at the Osceola County Welcome Center & History Museum, open daily from 10 am – 4 pm, located at 4155 W. Vine St. Originally part of a set, the large-scale object with 21 different patterns carved into its Canadian Black Walnut wood exterior was purchased by Mrs. Arthur Roland Thompkins at a “final” auction for $7.50, before the hotel was torn down in the 1930s. The building is forever captured in picture postcards and local stories but seeing a remnant of its grandeur up close and personal is a testament to the lavish lodgings. The object is on extended Loan Courtesy of the Donald Thompkins Family.
Sources:
Cody, A.M., & Cody, R.S. (1987). Osceola County: The First 100 Years. Osceola County Historical Society. Pp. 69 – 75.
Photographs Courtesy of Osceola County Historical Society Archives housed at Spence Research Center.