The Florida Land Boom of the 1920s attracted John J. Lawrence of Pittsburgh, PA, an ordained minister, to establish a community in the southern Clay County “lake region”. After abandoning plans for real estate development in Miami, Lawrence became active for a time in the development of Sebring, Florida, where he met J. B. Zell, who owned land near Lake Brooklyn in Clay County. In 1919, the region around Lake Brooklyn and Lake Geneva was still very sparsely settled. The village of Lake Geneva was founded around 1903 on the north edge of Lake Geneva. By 1908, it had a post office and a depot on the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad line, which ran between Valdosta, GA, and Palatka.
The GS&F also had a small depot a few miles to the west at Brooklyn, and William King built the Brooklyn Hotel near the depot. Lawrence, impressed with the mild climate, good drainage, clear water of the lakes and the wooded landscape, brought his three brothers, Jess, Joe and Claude, into his visionary enterprise, the Lawrence Developing Company, founded in 1919 and headquartered at first in the Brooklyn Hotel. The Company had purchased thousands of acres of land and named the new town Keystone Heights. Most of the early settlers, along with the developers, were from Pennsylvania, the “Keystone State.” Some of the early buildings had signs or symbols in the shape of a keystone, still seen on several of the historic buildings. Lawrence persuaded the railroad to move its depot from Brooklyn to Keystone, and a new depot was constructed. In 1924, the Brooklyn post office closed and the Keystone Heights post office opened.
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In 1922, civil engineer C. Ray Lawrence platted the streets.
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The Company organized an intensive promotional campaign. Maps, postcards, and brochures were printed and distributed, featuring the colorful maps created by C. Ray Lawrence. The first settlers set about building modest homes, some living in tents until their houses were ready. Some of the first homeowners were from Meadville, PA, where the Lawrence family was from. They were an educated and energetic group that included artists, teachers, businessmen, clergy, and engineers. They were also practical and resourceful, setting up small businesses to serve the town’s economic needs and public services such as schools, utilities, parks and recreational facilities from scratch to improve their new community. In addition to home sites, new citizens of Keystone Heights were also encouraged to purchase agricultural acreage near the town, which John J. Lawrence had already planted with young peach and pecan trees. Like the Penney Farms community, Lawrence Developing Company incorporated an element of commitment to the future in its early plans, hoping that its citizens would reap the benefits of producing and selling crops grown on their own land. However, due to problems with soil, insects and other disappointments, this never materialized. However, fruits and flowers did flourish in the gardens of the new settlers.
John Lawrence, an ordained minister, was very interested in religion and one of the earliest institutions in Keystone Heights was the Community Church, an interdenominational house of worship founded in 1923. Lawrence also wanted a suitable place for prospective land purchasers to stay, and the Company built the comfortable, three-story Keystone Inn on a site overlooking Lake Geneva, but not directly on the waterfront, reserving those parcels for sale. Jess Lawrence supervised the construction crew, made up of local men. The Keystone Inn opened on January 1, 1924, and became the hub of social activities in the town. The Board of Trade was organized there and the Inn was the site of weddings, card parties, Chautauqua Circuit gatherings, and was the headquarters for the convention of the National Federation of Women’s Club in the late 1920s. In its heyday of the 1920s, the Inn was so popular in the winter that it was likely to be overbooked. The Pavilion at Keystone beach was erected shortly thereafter and was used for dances, boat rides, and the use of locals and guests of the hotel.
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