Prior to embracing The City Beautiful as its slogan, Orlando’s well-earned trademark had been The Phenomenal City. Introduced in 1886, the name changed in 1909 after the beautiful sight of citrus blossoms had begun appearing once again on previously thought dead trees. A decade had passed since the disastrous freeze of 1894-95 had wiped out Central Florida’s thriving economic engine, and folks began thinking of Orlando as a beautiful city again, although history supports the notion that it had remained a phenomenal city as well.

“The Phenomenal City,” said the Ocala Evening News, “while not presenting the scenes of a dozen years ago, as the trains rolled in and groups of passengers, prospective settlers and winter visitors stepped from the car steps, yet the streets were quite lively with people many of whom are annual visitors to their cozy winter homes in that pleasant city.”

The unexpected rebirth of Orange County’s citrus industry in the early 1900s was merely one in a seemingly endless history of hurdles the county seat had had to clear. Established in 1857 after a dash of trickery by a Fort Gatlin landowner made the town of Orlando official, the village was then incorporated in 1875, four years before Mayor Munger dissolved the town in 1879. Orange County’s seat of government truly has had more than its fair share of earthshattering challenges. Orlando has also had more than its fair share of mysteries.