Winsted ghost town in Florida

WINSTED — Many Laurel City residents are aware of another Winsted in the United States, in Minnesota, which Eli Lewis, a native of Winsted, Conn., founded in the 1850s.

A much lesser known historical fact was revealed last month in Lake County, Fla., where The Daily Commercial reported that a third 19th-century Winsted has been discovered, but has been lost to history and is now considered a ghost town.

The Daily Commercial is running a continuing series of stories in recognition of the county’s 120th anniversary. In "Winsted: another of Lake County’s forgotten towns," contributor Rick Reed notes another Winsted was found south of Lake Harris, about 25 miles northeast of Orlando.

This Winsted was part of Sumter County when the "Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory" was published in 1886. "Not much is known about Winsted aside from what was written in the Gazetteer," Reed notes. "At the time, Winsted had a population of 75."

The ghost town also appears on Lake County maps from 1888 and is mentioned in Charles Norton’s "A Handbook of Florida," published in 1892. Reed notes that Winsted is one of more than 30 Lake County ghost towns.

While the exact date of the founding of Winsted, Fla., and who founded the town are not known, Reed approaches an answer in his review of the historical data, excerpted as follows:

"According to the Gazetteer, Winsted was settled in 1884, though the first settler isn’t mentioned. But Winsted was large enough to take up almost half a page in the Gazetteer.

"It was located 20 miles east of Sumterville, then the Sumter County Seat, and 4 miles southeast of Helena, the nearest shipping point, which was on Helena Run close to where U.S. Highway 27 crosses it.

"Eustis was the closest banking point and Leesburg was the nearest express and telegraph office.

"But Winsted did have a public school and a blacksmith shop. It also had a butcher, Denney Smith, a wagon maker, John Bogert, and three teachers, Charles Bain, Mrs. Summerall and Rev. Wilson. Morgan Holly was the constable and a road commissioner.

"The postmaster was A.J.N. Dilly, which stood for Adams James Nathaniel, according to his granddaughter, Louise Dilly Quale, now 86. Dilly and his son, Edward Miles Dilly, came to Winsted from Winsted, Conn., according to Quale. ‘But there was already family here,’ she said.

"According to the 1880 census, George Dilly, then 60, and his wife, Nancy, then 59, lived in Sumter County, in precinct 5. They were born in New York and George was a farmer.

"An Adams J.N. Dilly appears on the 1910 census. He was 63 at the time and his birthplace was listed as Massachusetts. His residence was listed as Yalaha and his occupation was a fruit farmer.

"But, as already mentioned, A.J.N. Dilly is listed as the Winsted postmaster in 1886. He was also listed as a real estate agent, a justice of the peace, a contractor and a builder in addition to growing bananas, vegetables, grain, oranges and pineapples.

"Dilly wasn’t the only professional or businessman to farm. Bain grew oranges and vegetables, as did Bogert, Smith and Holly. In all there were six grain planters, nine vegetable and truck farmers and citrus growers. Dilly was the only one to grow bananas and pineapples.

"It’s possible that Adam Dilly was the founder of Winsted and named it after his northern hometown. A note at the county historical society mentions that Adams James Nathaniel Dilly and his wife, Sarah, settled in the community between Groveland and Okahumpka in 1882 from Winsted, Conn., calling it Winsted. His son, Edward, was 8 at that time.

"A.J.N. Dilly is listed as voting from 1889 to 1897. And Walter Sime’s history of Lake County lakes mentions Dilly Lake and Dilly Marsh. Sime wrote that Dilly and his wife sold 80 acres abutting the lake in 1886 and sold portions of the section by Dilly Marsh in 1884.

"Also listed on the 1910 census are Edward M. and Sarah. Edward was then 36 and his wife 37. Edward was Quale’s father and Sarah his first wife. He was born in Connecticut and his occupation was listed as a manufacturer, lumber.

"Edward and his second wife and Quale’s mother, Ruth, are buried in the Yalaha Cemetery. He died in 1949 and Ruth, 21 years younger, died in 1984.

"Quale has a postcard of the Florida Broom & Handle Factory with E.M. Dilly noted as the proprietor and its location as Winsted, Lake County, Fla.

"According to the Tangelo, printed by the Lake County Historical Society, Winsted was located about 5 miles south of Lake Harris near the Palatlakaha Creek. Dilly Lake is a little east of the creek, just a little north of the intersection of U.S. 27 and the Florida Turnpike."