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	Record Group Number:	900000
	Series/Collection Number:	N2020- 7
	Creator:
	Title, Dates:	Orange Belt Railway collection, ca. 1880s-1953.
	Amount:	.25 cubic ft.
	Medium Included:	photographs
	Organization/Arrangement:	Unarranged.
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	Biographical/Historical:	In 1881, Russian nobleman Pyotr Dementyev (1850-1919) left Russia for the United States, settling in Longwood, Florida and anglicizing his name to Peter Demens. He became a sawmill operator and sold crossties to a group of men seeking to build a short rail line, but the men defaulted in their payments and in 1885, Demens formed the Orange Belt Investment Company to launch construction of the Orange Belt Railway. Soon after the company's founding, Virginia-born Alexander Moffett Taylor (1847-1899) moved to Longwood with his family, including his teenage daughter May Hannah Taylor (1871-1958). Taylor joined the investment company and became president of the Orange Belt Railway. The railroad's construction concluded in 1888; its terminus was St. Petersburg, which Demens and landowner John C. Williams co-founded and named for the capital city of imperial Russia. The Orange Belt Railway ran through Central Florida from Sanford to St. Petersburg, carrying crops and passengers, and opening that area to development. However, by 1889, Demens had incurred too much debt and he sold the railway to financier Edward Stotesbury, who reorganized it as the Stanford and St. Petersburg Railroad. However, an outbreak of yellow fever and the Great Freeze of 1894-1895 negatively affected the train's business. Stotesbury sold the line to Henry Plant in 1895, who made it part of the Plant System in Florida. After Stotesbury's purchase of the railway, Demens retired to Alta Loma, California, where he died. Alexander Moffett Taylor moved the original lumber company and his family to Asheville, North Carolina, where he died. May Hannah Taylor married Adolph Homeier in Virginia and became May Taylor Homeier.
	Summary:	This collection contains photographs and writings documenting the construction and operation of the Orange Belt Railway in Central Florida. The images include portraits of Peter A. Demens and his children, and Alexander M. Taylor. There are several photographs depicting the Orange Belt Railway and environs, including train cars, stations, and the varied landscapes through which the railway passed. The collection also contains a series of letters between historian John C. Blocker and May Taylor Homeier regarding Blocker's interest in the history of the Orange Belt Railway, as well as Homeier's short manuscript describing the history of the railway and the numerous individuals involved in its development.
	Finding Aids:	Folder listing available. 0
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	Subject Access Fields:	Demens, Peter A. 1850-1919 Orange Belt Railway. Railroad stations Florida. Railroads Design and construction Florida. Railroads Florida Railroads Design and construction Florida St. Petersburg (Fla.) Tampa Bay (Fla.)
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