Interlachen, FL

Interlachen grew after the Florida Southern Railway reached the area in the 1870s, when the settlement was known as Blue Pond. Citrus and winter visitors shaped its first economy, while the freezes of the 1890s pushed the town toward a different future. Interlachen Hall, built in 1892 after the original town hall burned, has returned to town-office and council-chamber use after restoration. The 1895 Interlachen Academy, now the Sid Martin Building, stands on the high-school campus and remains one of Florida's oldest wooden schoolhouses in continuous use. Putnam County schools and the Interlachen Library keep education and reading in town. Interlachen is a Putnam County town where rail, citrus, an old school, and a restored town hall still line up.