THE HARLAN HOTEL

The Harlan Hotel, referred to by Mrs. Sheldon, was built by my father, Henry A. DeLand, and opened on Thanksgiving night, 1884, under the able management of Kate A. Wyatt of Asbury Park, New Jersey. It was located in the park of towering pines, still standing in all their beauty. The hotel was burned in 1922. During the early years it was the social center for those living in Lake Helen, as well as for tourists. There were card parties, euchre and whist, dances, waltzes and quadrilles, tableaux, masquerades and musicales. Out of doors, croquet, tennis, horse and boat races and always picnics. I recall with pleasure Gertrude Westlake's spirited music with which she delighted audiences in the hotel parlors; and a picnic at DeLeon Springs to which everybody went, managers, help and guests.

Not all the associations of the hotel were happy ones. The first of March, 1890, Dr. Martin B. Anderson and his wife died there. They were a devoted couple. She cared for her husband, until she was told that he could live but a few days. Then, she, took to her bed and died a day or two before he did. The bodies were taken to Rochester, New York. He was president of Rochester University and greatly beloved. He was called Rochester's first citizen.

delandhistoricalsociety.com

Except from, The Story of DeLand and Lake Helen, Florida.

Written by, Helen Parce DeLand