| Orange County was originally called Mosquito County | | | | as much as 80,000 acres of Orange County were |
| after early settlers named it after the incessant | | | | groves of some kind. |
| mosquitoes in the area. Mosquito County was | | | | During the 1980s several weather freezes |
| created in 1824. | | | | devastated the citrus crops in Orange County and |
| After the civil war early settlers discovered wild citrus | | | | many citrus growers were unable to continue |
| growing in the area. The county was renamed | | | | growing their crops. Several packing plants and |
| Orange County in 1845 as citrus became the areas | | | | wholesalers remain in the area, but most of the |
| main industry later spawning local citrus magnates | | | | functional groves are now maintained in the outer |
| such as Dr. Phillips. | | | | rural areas of the state. |
| The Florida Legislature in 1862 passed the Florida | | | | As area businesses have thrived such as Universal |
| Homestead Act which allowed settlers to deed up to | | | | and the Walt Disney World © theme parks, the |
| 150 acres in exchange for a modest filing fee once | | | | local population has expanded rapidly since the 1970s. |
| they had freeholded land for 5 years. This attracted | | | | As a result, most of the county's former citrus areas |
| at lot of the early settlers to the state. | | | | have been replaced with higher opportunity cost |
| At the height of the citrus industry in the early 1970s | | | | projects. |