Twenty years from now, some kid will ask: “How come they called it the Orange Blossom Trail? There’s no oranges!”
Another slice of Florida heritage is going away, as the last two orange groves go up for sale.
I wasn’t around to see the great forest of groves that used to be Orange County, but even in my short time in Florida, I’ve noticed the conversion of acres of fruit trees into strip malls and office complexes.
At the height of the Trail’s citrus production in the late 1950s and early ’60s, there were more than 5 million citrus trees and 55,000 acres of groves in Orange County. This year, there are just 867,600 citrus trees on 6,884 acres throughout the county, according to the Florida Agriculture Statistic Service.
I wonder if they’ll rename the Trail after its current number one attraction?