Tavares

Tavares was founded in 1880 by Alexander St. Clair-Abrams, a New Orleans-born newspaper and railroad man of Creole heritage, who gave the town the surname of a Portuguese ancestor. Abrams envisioned Tavares as a great industrial center and lobbied — ultimately unsuccessfully — for it to become the Florida state capital. What he did achieve was lasting: in 1887, Tavares was designated the county seat of Lake County, a status it retains today. A post office was established in 1883; a hotel, sawmill, and several stores followed within a year. The Tavares and Gulf Railroad, which Abrams chartered to connect the town to Orlando, cemented its early commercial role.

For most of the 20th century, Tavares developed as a working county seat town on the shores of Lake Dora, part of the Harris Chain of Lakes — a system of connected lakes that give boaters access to Lake Harris, Lake Eustis, Lake Griffin, the Oklawaha River, the St. Johns River, and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean. Agriculture, county government, and small-scale commerce drove the local economy through the postwar decades, while the lakeshore attracted modest vacation development that slowly converted to permanent residency.

The city's modern transformation began in earnest in the early 2000s when the concept of 'America's Seaplane City' took shape. By 2010, Tavares had constructed a dedicated seaplane base and marina on Lake Dora, obtained FAA approval for a 3,000-foot virtual runway on the water, and begun developing a waterfront district with hotel and event facilities. The seaplane designation brought national media attention and tourism dollars that accelerated the renovation of the historic downtown and sparked new residential interest from buyers who wanted lakefront character at Lake County prices.