Sanford, Florida.
The town of Sanford, Florida is in the middle of the state, about 21 miles north of Orlando. For many travelers, it is best known as the southern terminal of Amtrak’s AutoTrain, a place where you wait for an hour or two for your car to be unloaded, and then hit the road on your way somewhere else. But there is more to Sanford’s history, and it worth taking the time to visit. The area where Sanford is today was settled by European-Americans in 1836, at the start of the first war with the Seminole people. It was part of a chain of forts created by General Zackary Taylor across the territory. While the three wars with the Seminoles were mainly over control of land, another large issue was that the Seminole people took in enslaved people who sought their freedom in the Florida Territory. By 1858, when the third war had ended, the area had already been planted with orange groves, and in 1868, the first fruit packing plant in the area was built. Sanford was founded in 1869 on th...