The HARPER House of Montverde

 

The HARPER Residence of MONTVERDE

Harper House, 17498 Porter Ave., Montverde, FL

 

Reuben Wyatt Harper was a bachelor when, in 1891, he acquired the historic residence shown above. The house, located on Porter Street in Montverde, according to Lake County records, was built in 1881. Reuben bought the home a decade after it was built, says a history monument out front of the residence today, first for a store and Montverde Post Office, and later as a personal residence. A Florida Heritage Site, the Harper House is believed to be the oldest building in Montverde.

Reuben Harper, born 1863 in Alabama’s Sumter County, came here to Florida’s Sumter County in the 1880s, married Mary Jane McQuaig in 1892, and converted his store into a family residence. Mary Jane was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson & Nancy (Tootle) McQuaig. The McQuaig’s had relocated as well to Sumter County in the 1890s.

 

Montverde Railroad Station

Homesteaders began arriving in an area that was to become Montverde a decade prior to the 19^th century village of Montverde being formally established. At that time Sumter County, pioneers John W. Harden and Homer J. M. Porter had been among the first to be drawn to the high ground overlooking the west shore of Lake Apopka. Each arrived in the late 1870s, and each received a Homestead deed, aka ‘Patent’, after fulfilling a five-year residency requirement. Both Harden and Porter were included in the Sumter County census of 1880.

Navy Lt. James Franklin and wife Fannie (Ross) also arrived in 1880. This couple, featured in two of my books, including Chapter 29: Gulf Coast Gateway – Clermont of the latest, ‘Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County’, likely suggested the name Montverde because of similarities the countryside had to their homeland in the north. Lt. Franklin is also the namesake of nearby Franklin’s Pond.

Above: Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County

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James & Fannie Franklin are also true-life characters in my historic novel ‘The Rutland Mule Matter’. Arriving at Lake Apopka in 1880, the Franklin’s, in my Novel, assist another true-life settler and neighbor, Othman Rutland, in planning a journey to Washington, DC. Othman began searching for information regarding his father – missing since the Civil War. And on his journey to DC, following the tip from the Franklin’s – Othman Rutland learns more on the origins of the name Montverde than he does of his missing father’s whereabouts – or so he thinks upon his return to Florida. (Othman’s real-life father was Isaac N. Rutland, who had voted NO to Florida’s Secession in January 1861.)

Rated 5 Stars from multiple verified buyers – The Rutland Mule Matter

 

Webb’s Historical of 1885 – a valuable historian tool when researching central Florida of the 1880s, does not mention Montverde among Sumter County places featured. Neither Harden nor Porter were mentioned either, but both James Franklin and O. Rutland were named as owners of orange groves in the West Apopka area. Now known as Ferndale, West Apopka was the nearest “place” to Montverde in 1885, where a boat landing and stagecoach service was available four times weekly between Orlando and Sumterville.

Montverde and West Apopka were evolving during the mid-1880s. And although not mentioned by Webb’s Historical of 1885, both John Harden and Homer Porter were about to join with Franklin to become key players in Montverde’s growth, development that benefited from the actual arrival in March 1887 of a Tavares train, a train that had long-been in the planning.

 

Plat of the “Lakeside Division” of Montverde (1922)

Star indicates Harper House location, (1) Truskett Park; (2) Trail photo below

 

According to Central Florida Railroad Museum historian Phil Cross, Harden convinced railroad organizers to shift the track alignment to enter Montverde. On January 1, 1889, John W. Harden, James Franklin, and Homer J. M. Porter pooled portions of their homesteads to form a Tropical Construction Company, a firm organized to sell Montverde lots. Porter’s Addition to Montverde was part of the original acreage conveyed to Tropical Construction, acreage that included Porter Street – where the 1881 residence had been located, the home shown above - purchased in 1891 by Reuben Wyatt Harper

Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad, later known as Tavares & Gulf Railroad, followed closely a route taken today by Highway 455 between Ferndale to Montverde, but where 455 now takes a sharp turn in downtown Montverde, the 1880s train instead continued due east, veering south as it approached Lake Apopka. Note the track alignment in the Lakeside Division plat above, and how the track passed east of the historic Harper House before continuing south toward Waite’s Junction, Minneola, and Clermont.

One of the few signs today of the 19^th century railroad alignment is a walking Montverde trail shown below.

Montverde walking trail where once the T& G Railroad traveled

TRUSKETT Park now overlooks Lake Apopka at the east end of Porter Avenue in Montverde. The Harper house sits on the south side of Porter Avenue, a block west of the park. (As a side note, the park is well worth a visit, for a boardwalk leads down to a dock extending into Lake Apopka, offering great vistas of the body of water Indians once called ‘Ahapopka’.

Lake Apopka from Truskett Park, Montverde, Florida

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