Seat of Three Counties

Mosquito County originally encompassed an area from Matanzas Inlet to Jupiter in south Florida with New Smyrna the county seat. In 1843 Taylor was elected Territorial Representative for Mosquito County and had Enterprise made the county seat. Two years later Orange County was formed, and Enterprise continued as county seat for six months until the designation went to Mellonville, present day Sanford, across the lake. This was the source of longstanding animosity between the two communities for years to come. In 1854 when Volusia County was formed, Enterprise was again named county seat. (Map of Mosquito County 1834 USF Special Collections)

Enterprise: Most Scenic Spot on the River

In 1845, Whitfield Brooks, a guest staying at Taylor’s inn on top of the Enterprise shell mound, characterized “Major Taylor’s plantation” as the most charming and romantic spot he had ever encountered on the river. The plantation spread out around the shell mound along the lakeshore bounded on the east by the Green Springs run.

With the proper companionship, Brooks declared, Taylor’s plantation would be “the sweetest spot imaginable to spend a winter.” He declared it to have “more attractive qualities that inspire the imagination” than any place he had seen.

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