CHETWYND
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CHETWYND |
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NAME: Chetwynd COUNTY: Lake ROADS: 2WD GRID: 3 CLIMATE: Hot in summer, otherwise moderate BEST TIME TO VISIT: anytime |
COMMENTS:
Site was located just north of present Fruitland Park. REMAINS: Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Fruitland Park |
| At 23, Granville Chetwynd Stapylton, an English banker and pioneer, settled just north of today’s Fruitland Park in 1883. The town boasted the first post office in Lake County, dating back to June 9, 1887. After Stapylton’s arrival, young Englishmen flocked to the settlement to reap the potential of a new land and its valuable citrus groves. The bachelors lived in “the Hall,” a boarding house, and later built homes and shops along Lake Ella. Upon discovering the “debauchery” of Chetwynd’s young bachelors, who preferred racing horses on Sundays over attending church, Stapylton’s father, a pastor, helped establish what is today Fruitland Parks’ Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. The roofed covering was used to shelter pallbearers and clergy before they carried bodies to their final resting places. The unusual gothic lich gate was installed at the church in 1889. It is one of only two gates of its kind in the entire state. Chetwynd's end came about due to the big freezes of 1894-1895. Alfred P. Bosanquet, a descendent of early Chetwynd settler Augustus P. Bosanquet, recalled the day many Chetwynd residents left for good.“I remember as a child growing up and seeing some of the houses still standing, with the breakfast dishes on the table, the blankets on the beds, the windows pulled down but the doors unlocked,” he said. “The people had got discouraged on seeing their groves and all the fruit frozen and caught the first train out. They didn’t even pack up their silver on the table.” Submitted by: Jim Pike |
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