Oviedo, Florida

In the late 1870s, individuals living a few miles south of Lake Jesup needed an easily accessible post office in the Florida back country. Andrew Aulin, an early settler and shop-owner, decided to file paperwork for a post office, and in his first site location report, needed a name that was different from any other post office in Florida.[10] Aulin liked having a Spanish name, "to honor the Spanish heritage of the state," and decided to name his post office location "Oviedo" after the city of Oviedo in northern Spain (the capital city of the Principality of Asturias) and the University of Oviedo.[10] Some say he visited the university, while others say he just liked the sound of it, but most agree that he likely pronounced the name correctly oh-vee-AY-doh rather than the Americanized way of oh-VEE-doh. A recent campaign advocates for honoring Aulin's original concept for the town's moniker by returning to the correct Spanish pronunciation oh-vee-AY-doh).

Oviedo is located at 28°40′13″N 81°12′30.5″W.[11]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 40.0 km² (15.4 mi²). 15.1 square miles (39 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km²) of it (2.07%) is water. Oviedo is located about 20 minutes from downtown Orlando, Florida, by highway (SR 417 and SR 408). The Econlockhatchee River runs through the east part of the city, and a tributary, the Little Econlockhatchee River, runs through the southern part of the city.

According to the 2010 United States Census, there were 33,342 people and 11,125 households residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 81.9% white, 8.6% black or African-American, 3.8% Asian, 0.2% Native American, and 2.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.3% of the population.

By the 2017 estimate, there were 40,785 people and 11,717 households residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 79.9% white, 9.6% black or African-American, 4.4% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 0.1% Native American, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.3% of the population.[13]

In 2010, there were 11,125 households, out of which 46.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.4% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 3.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.99 and the average family size was 3.28.

As of 2017, the population was spread out, with 25.9% under the age of 18 and 9.8% over the age of 65. The city was 51.4% female. The median income for a household in the city was $84,916, and the per capita income was $32,834. About 7.0% of the population was below the poverty line. Of adults twenty-five years or older, 95.4% graduated from high school, and 43.9% held a bachelor's degree.[13]

The city of Oviedo has received multiple accolades in various media outlets and national publications:

• Oviedo was ranked #43 on Money Magazine's "Best Places to Live" for 2020. It was the only city in Florida on the list.[14]
• Oviedo was ranked the “best suburb to raise a family in the Orlando area” by Niche.com for 2020.[15]
• Oviedo was ranked as one the “Safest Smallest Cities in Florida” by MoneyGeek Magazine in 2020.[16]
• Oviedo was voted one of the "Best Places to Raise Kids" in Businessweek for 2013.[17]
• Oviedo was listed as one of the "Top 10 Towns for Families" in Family Circle's August 2011 issue.
• Oviedo was ranked #100 on Money Magazine's "Best Places to Live" for 2009.[18]

Up through the early 19th century, the area encompassing Oviedo was sparsely populated save for a few Seminoles and African-American Freemen who associated with the Seminole tribe, known as Black Seminoles, in what was then Spanish Florida. The Seminole tribe had larger clusters of population in other areas of Central Florida, such as nearby Lake Jesup.[19]

The population remained sparse until after the American Civil War, when people devastated by war starting moving South to begin a new life. One mile to the southeast side of Lake Jesup, a small hamlet of settlers established the "Lake Jesup Settlement" in 1875. Letters from that era showcased a difficult life for the Florida Cracker settlers: cooking outdoors with wood stoves, sleeping under mosquito nets, and burning rags to keep the insects away. Wildlife was plentiful, however. Initially, this settlement had around 40 families, but quickly evolved into a thriving trading port. The settlement was named "Oviedo" by Andrew Aulin when the first post office was established to honor the state's Spanish heritage.[20]

Several people played a prominent role in establishing Oviedo's history. George Powell was an early settler who ran a large tract of land, referred to as the "Powell Settlement", which today encompasses most of the northern part of the city—including the downtown area. One of Powell's sons, Lewis Powell, (alias Lewis Payne), became infamous for being John Wilkes Booth's primary accomplice in the plot to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.[20]

George Powell's friend, Henry Foster, was instrumental in transforming Oviedo's citrus and celery industry from obscurity to prominence by giving Oviedo reliable transportation to deliver its goods. He paid for a railway link to Oviedo and founded the Lake Jesup Steamboat Company. Agriculture was Oviedo's primary industry all the way through the 1940s. Foster was also responsible for establishing the Lake Charm area as a resort to entice visitors from the North to vacation in the winter. Foster encouraged settlers to begin attending regular church services on a site of the "Powell Settlement" that would become the First Methodist Church of Oviedo.[20]

A citrus-grower named Butler Boston is also credited for helping establish Oviedo's citrus economy by successfully grafting tangerine budwood to grow tangerines, as well as budding the succulent Temple orange from Jamaica to several Oviedo fields. Butler Boston was the son of a doctor, Alexander Atkinson, who had fathered Butler, along with several others with freed black women on his family's plantation.[21] Atkinson moved to Oviedo in 1871 with the 12-year-old Butler to both set up a medical practice and buy a farm. Atkinson gave the land to his son after a freeze when he moved back to Georgia. Boston was so successful that he was hired to bud other Oviedo fields. He became a spokesman for the large black community in the area, and was especially devoted to improving their educational opportunities, and served as a local school trustee. He was also an accomplished bricklayer and oversaw the planning and construction of a new building for the Antioch Baptist Church. His legacy is noted today throughout Oviedo, in sites such as Boston Street, Boston Alley, Boston Cemetery, Boston Hill and Butler Boston Court. His home site is where Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center is located. Its centerpiece is Lake Gem, named by the Boston family for a close family member.[20][22]

Andrew Duda Sr., a Slovak immigrant, established a farm in nearby Slavia in the early 20th century. He left after failing to produce successful crops, but saved up money and returned in 1926 to try again. The second time, he was extraordinarily successful and his farm survived even through the Great Depression. In fact, in 1939, he was able to build St. Luke's Lutheran Church, which has since expanded into a large Lutheran community. The Duda family started a sod division in the 1970s that has since flourished and continues today. The west entrance of Oviedo cuts straight through the sod farm.[20]

Oviedo experienced a major growth spurt during the boom years of the 1920s, and new buildings and banks were built on the main street of downtown, named "Broadway". Some of these buildings still remain, along with the complex of buildings surrounding the Nelson and Co. packing house, which was the center of Oviedo's agricultural industry for decades. This agricultural complex eventually shut down for good during the 1980s after a series of winter freezes. At that time, commercial development had already replaced agriculture as Oviedo's main industry.[20]

Oviedo made the transition from a rural hamlet, to a town, and then, in 1967, became a city through a special referendum. Five miles south of Oviedo, in 1963, residents learned about the impending building of a "space university" in the Orlando Morning Sentinel. Many faculty and staff members of Florida Technological University (now the University of Central Florida) moved into Oviedo, and new businesses and industry soon followed. The adjacent Central Florida Research Park, originally established in 1978, has since become the largest research park in Florida. This has resulted in an exploding population with many new developments in recent years. As the city has grown, its animals have remained a part of the city's character. Although hogs can no longer be seen walking free, chickens and roosters continue to roam the downtown area and have become an Oviedo attraction.[20]

Most of the buildings in the downtown historic area were constructed between the end of the 19th and early 20th century. The Nelson and Company Historic District, the R.W. Estes Celery Company Precooler Historic District, the First Methodist Church of Oviedo, and several houses in Oviedo are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[23][24] The nearby Oviedo Mall features murals of historic areas along with pictures of early European and African-American settlers in the area.

State Road 434, which cuts through downtown Oviedo, is currently being widened and several buildings have been demolished. The Oviedo Preservation Project[25] has been tasked with photographing and documenting the buildings for posterity.

An African-American Oviedo pioneer named Mathew Powell established the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in April 1875.

Although not located in the downtown area, the historic Lake Charm settlement is nearby. This settlement, established by Henry Foster in the 1860s, became one of the first resorts in Florida. It lasted as a resort until the 1890s. Several winter homes built during that era still stand today.

In 2015, the city of Oviedo dedicated a brand new downtown development just south of the current "old downtown" along Oviedo Boulevard. The new town center, named "Oviedo on the Park", is a mixed use development with townhouses, apartment homes, restaurants, and retail. It is centered around the new Center Lake Park with a man-made lake, large amphitheater, playground and veterans tribute.

A 64-bed hospital called the Oviedo Medical Center opened in January, 2017. A new emergency room (ER) hospital, called Oviedo ER, was completed in 2014. Oviedo ER is a department of Central Florida Regional Hospital.[26] The Oviedo ER is located on the corner of Red Bug Lake Road and West Broadway.

The Oviedo Mall, a single-story indoor mall with a movie theater built in 1998, has recently undergone a large-scale renovation by its new owners, 3D Investments. BJ's Restaurant & Brewery[27] opened across from the Oviedo Mall in August 2014. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of the rock group KISS hosted a grand opening celebration for their new Rock & Brews in Oviedo in January 2015.[28] In January 2016, Oviedo's new, expanded Townhouse Restaurant opened a few hundred feet from their old, iconic establishment, which was demolished to make room for the new road project.[29]

Oviedo's new Gym & Aquatic Center features a waterslide, kid's water park, and a large Olympic-sized pool with multiple lanes. Oviedo's Riverside Park also contains a pool, but also in addition has tennis courts and a skate park.[30]

Oviedo also has a YMCA, golf course, county library branch, Little League, bowling/pinball center, a boating complex, and a nature nursery. Several large retailers in Oviedo include Target, Home Depot, and Lowe's amongst others.

Oviedo is also home to numerous housing developments including Alafaya Woods, Whispering Woods, Aloma Woods, Remington Park, Huntington, Carillon, Little Creek, Sanctuary, Kingsbridge, Riverside, Riverwind Apartments, Twin Rivers, Waverlee Woods and Bear Creek. Newer subdivisions include Oviedo Forest, Oviedo Gardens, Providence, Clayton's Crossing, Stratford Green, the Trails, Live Oak Reserve, and Aulin's Landing of Oviedo—named after one of the city's founding settlers and first postmaster, Andrew Aulin.

Black Hammock Adventures is a complex that offers airboat rides and a display of live gators. Lukas Butterfly Encounter is also located in Oviedo. The Pinball Lounge, located in the Oviedo Bowling Center, has the largest concentration of pinball machines in the state.[31]

The "Oviedo Lights" is a local roadside attraction.[32] A mural dedicated to the phenomenon is painted on the wall of the local Tijuana Flats.

"The Rising"[33]

This annual event is held the last Saturday each October and invites the entire town to travel a 5K route that leads past 10 historic sites, then "enjoy a homemade pancake breakfast while watching an interactive performance from actors in costume portraying Oviedo's founders, who are back from beyond the grave for one magical weekend." This is a kid-friendly event not designed to be scary, but to educate people on the town's history.

Oviedo chickens

A chicken in Oviedo

Part of Oviedo's southern charm is the population of chickens that roam the downtown area. There are so many of them roaming the area that traffic often stops as they cross the roads. The chickens have been featured on Oviedo T-shirts and coffee mugs and a poster commemorating one of Oviedo's yearly festivals, "A Taste of Oviedo." An image of a rooster is painted on all welcome signs for roads leading into Oviedo, and many residents have bumper stickers that say, "I brake for Oviedo's chickens".

Contrary to what some believe, there are no specific laws or statutes surrounding the chickens, neither for their protection nor for their removal - the latter being something some residents would like to see due to the danger they pose with traffic in the congested town center. For others, however, the chickens add an element of fun.

There are city ordinances that protect birds in the city limits, and the entire city is designated a bird sanctuary. Chickens are afforded the courtesy of protection under the code.[34]

The chickens were also the subject of a short documentary that was part of the Florida Film Festival 2009.[35]

The Seminole Voice and The Seminole Chronicle (publication ceased in July 2014) are both print newspapers that cover Seminole County news, with a focus on the Winter Springs, Oviedo, and Chuluota areas of the county. The Oviedo Voice has covered Oviedo since 1993. The Oviedo Citizen is an online publication that has been covering Oviedo news since August 2008.

• Jenny (Barringer) Simpson - professional runner and Olympic medalist, current American record holder in steeplechase[37]
• Mark Bellhorn - professional baseball player
• Denée Benton - Broadway actress/singer
• Blake Bortles - NFL quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams
• Ryan Carpenter - professional hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks
• Kayli Carter - actress
• Talia Joy Castellano - thirteen-year-old Internet celebrity, died from neuroblastoma and preleukemia
• Steve Deleonardis - YouTuber and part of Nelk entertainment[38][39]
• Jeff Driskel - Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback [40]
• Zach Eflin - professional baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies of the MLB.
• Randy Fontanez - former professional baseball player for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers & Team Puerto Rico of the 2013 World Baseball Classic
• Stuart Fullerton - entomologist, founder of the "Bug Closet" at the University of Central Florida[41]
• Hal King - former Major League Baseball player[42]
• Robert T. Kuhn - past president of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod[43]
• Chaunte Lowe - Olympic medalist high jumper
• Theodore Mead - horticulturalist and naturalist
• Peter Pritchard - zoologist specializing in turtles and tortoises, founder of the Chelonian Research Institute
• Tom Rhodes - comedian and actor
• Monty Sopp - professional wrestler under the ring names Billy Gunn and "The Outlaw"
• Shin-Tson Wu - optical physicist and pioneer of liquid crystal displays
• Alwyn Cashe - US Army non-commissioned officer, posthumously awarded the Silver Star for valor in Iraq (currently under review for Medal of Honor)

• Oviedo Mall
• Chuluota, Florida
• Taintsville, Florida
• Winter Springs, Florida
• Orlando, Florida
• Category:People from Oviedo, Florida

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oviedo, Florida.

• City of Oviedo, Florida Website Portal style website, Government, Business, Library, Recreation and more
• City-Data.com Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Oviedo
• Seminole County Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Oviedo - Winter Springs Regional Chamber of Commerce
• GFWC Oviedo Woman's Club
• Great Day in the Country Arts & Crafts Festival