Introducing Rooster Tracks, our column of tales from our local past

A monthly series exploring Greater Oviedo and Winter Springs history in an effort to provide a shared sense of place, foster local pride, underscore the critical role local news and history plays in shaping a community, and to deepen connections among neighbors.

George H. Browne, from Wharf clerk to pioneer businessman

George H. Browne worked as a clerk, beginning about 1870, at Solary’s Wharf, the site of the Lake Jesup Post Office and store that received mail and passengers from Sanford by steamboat until the establishment of the railroad in 1886. 

Browne worked his way up to become a partner with Antonio Solary, who built the store, in just a few years. Browne became a fixture in the early community of what would become Oviedo. 

He was elected to the State House in 1880, representing what was then a much-larger Orange County and served as the Speaker of the House in 1887. In 1884 Browne built one of the more stately homes in Oviedo, now known as the Browne-King House, one of only four properties in Oviedo listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Later, Mr. J. H. King, who also served in the Florida Legislature, purchased the home.

This column was produced in partnership with the Oviedo Historical Society and written by local historian Bob Putnam.

Bob Putnam’s Youtube video: