An 1883 photograph of the Austin, Wilson & Company. Real Estate Agents and Ticket Office for the De Bary Merchants Line of Steamers. Located in Orange City, Florida.

Henry A. DeLand referred to the “Wisconsin settlement of Orange City” which he passed through on his first trip to Volusia in 1876. This town was settled by a colony from the vicinity of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in the early 1870’s. The first settlers whose names can be ascertained, are Seth French, D. P. Graves, J. E. Stillman, and a Mr. Thorpe, who are said to have come here about 1871. The early records of the town appear to have been lost or destroyed, and it is difficult to obtain definite data. However, it is understood that the settlement was incorporated in 1882, but it has been impossible to secure the names of the first Mayor and Councilmen. It was a thriving settlement in 1880.

Excerpt from, History of Volusia County, Florida

Written by, Pleasant Daniel Gold