OSCEOLA COUNTY

Osceola County was created in May, 1887 from portions of Orange and Brevard Counties. One of its sponsors was Senator J. Milton Bryan, who suggested the new county be named for Osceola, the great Seminole warrior. The new county was Florida's fortieth and had 815 citizens. Kissimmee was named the county seat. In 1889, Osceola citizens voted a $30,000 bond issue to build this Romanesque Revival style courthouse, which has remained in daily use since 1890. It's significance was recognized by its listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Osceola is Florida's sixth largest county. It has a rich history of cattle raising extending back to the days of the Seminole Indians. Other landmarks in county agricultural and economic history include the rise and decline of Hamilton Disston's Land and sugar empire, steamboating, and lumbering. Cattle and agriculture remain Osceola County's economic bulwarks, although it has experienced growth in manufacturing and tourism since the late 1960s.