The Florida Citrus Tower is a structure in

Clermont, Florida Clermont is a city in Lake County in central Florida, United States, about west of Orlando and southeast of Leesburg. The population was 43,021 in 2020. The city is residential in character and its economy is centered in retail trade, lodging, ...

. Built in 1956 to allow visitors to observe the miles of surrounding

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

groves, it was once among the most famous landmarks of the

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

area.

History

Construction began in 1955, funded by a public sale of stock in the project, conceived by A.W. Thacker and Jack Toole "to showcase the thriving citrus industry," ''Orlando Weekly'' wrote in 2005. The project eventually consumed of concrete and of reinforcing steel. The tower opened on July 14, 1956, with representatives from Silver Springs and

Cypress Gardens Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden and theme park near Winter Haven, Florida that operated from 1936 to 2009. As of 2011, the botanical garden portion had been preserved inside the newly formed Legoland Florida. History Billed as Florida' ...

in attendance. During the first several years of operation, the tower drew up to 500,000 visitors a year, thanks to its location on

US 27 U.S. Route 27 (US 27) is a north–south United States Highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus is at US 1 in Miami, Florida. The northern terminus is at Interstate 69 (I-69) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. F ...

between Cypress Gardens and Silver Springs. However, in 1964

Florida's Turnpike Florida's Turnpike, designated as unsigned State Road 91 (SR 91), is a toll road in the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE). Spanning approximately along a northwest–southeast axis, the turnpike is in two s ...

was extended north, providing a faster route south through

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

. Since then, the tower has been sold several times. In the 1980s, three harsh freezes (1983,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, and 1989) killed most of the citrus groves in Lake County; this caused a decrease in visitation to the tower. In 1988, a tram was built to offer visitors tours of various citrus crops. The tower was purchased in 1995 by Greg Homan, who had it painted white and turquoise. In April 2015, the Citrus Tower was repainted in its original color scheme, with orange and white stripes.

Attraction

The Citrus Tower includes a coin drop where visitors can hear their coin drop to the bottom. At the lobby is ROOM: Valencia: a banquet facility, gift shop, and museum of the tower's history. Near the tower is the Presidents Hall of Fame, with wax tributes to 46 Presidents of the United States and a model of the interior of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

Gallery

File:Citrus Tower Clermont01.jpg, The Citrus Tower as it appeared from 1995 to 2015. File:Citrus Tower Clermont elevator01.jpg, The mostly unmodernized

Otis Otis may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Otis (Superman), in the films ''Superman'' and ''Superman II'' and related DC Comics media ** Otis Graves, in the TV series ''Supergirl'' * Otis (The Walking Dead), Otis (''The Walking Dead' ...

elevator of the Citrus Tower (now modernized)

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.citrustower.com
Citrus Tower Photo Gallery

Presidents Hall of Fame
Towers in Florida Observation towers in the United States Towers completed in 1956 Buildings and structures in Lake County, Florida 1956 establishments in Florida Clermont, Florida Citrus industry in Florida