Kismet was founded in 1884 by the Kismet Land and Improvement Company near Lake Dorr. There was a 50 room hotel for winter visitors. Kismet, a citrus community, grew until the great freeze of 1889 destroyed all the groves and crops. This "89 Big Freeze" was the demise of a number of flourishing citrus towns in Florida. Many packed up and left. The hotel was torn down and hauled to Eustis. It was rebuilt on the corner of Grove and Magnolia Street where it stood as the Eustis Grandview Hotel for decades. The hotel was torn down about 1955. Submitted by: Mike Woodfin

Kismet was once a town pioneered by people from Ohio, Virginia,Kentucky, and Missouri . At the time the price of an acre was $15.00 - $20.00 The post office, established in 1884, shared the town with a hotel, sawmill, tavern, and school. The St. Johns and Eustis Railroad once planned a spur railroad track in the late 1880s, but the hard freeze of 1889 killed all the citrus changing the railroad plans. The sawmill burned down the following year. North of Kismet was the Kismet Cemetery, established in the 1880s. It included the tomb of Duke Alexander for whom Alexander Springs was named. The tomb has since been destroyed by vandals, but apparantly remains could still be found in the 1970s. The precise site of the cemetery is difficult to find but is a part of the Shockley Heights subdivision, on the north side of SR 445. The cemetery was acquired by an individual sometime in the 1990's who wanted to use the area as a homesite. After looking for decendants he was allowed to remove the gravestones, since no living relatives had been found. This spelled the end of all traces of the town of Kismet Mike Woodfin