Benson Junction | |
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Coordinates: 28°51′55″N081°19′46″W / 28.86528°N 81.32944°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Florida |
County | Volusia |
Elevation | 26 ft (8 m) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
enter ZIP code | 32713 |
Area code | 386 |
GNIS feature ID | 295127 [1] |
Benson Junction is located in southwest Volusia County, Florida, within the city limits of DeBary. It is the former location of the Ox Fibre Brush Company and presently an industrial location. [2] Benson Junction is located just west of U.S. Highway 17-92 (Charles Richard Beall Blvd.), along Benson Junction Road.
In 1885 Benson Junction was known as Enterprise Junction. [3] By 1918, it became known as Benson Junction. [4] The area consisted primarily of a railroad junction of the Indian River Division, owned by Luther Caldwell and Elijah Watson. The Enterprise Branch consisted of a 3.9 mile stretch of railroad between Enterprise and Enterprise Junction. The railroad continued to Titusville. [5] [6] Through consolidation, the railroad became part of the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway. [7] In 1970, the tracks were removed. [8]
The Ox Fibre Brush Company was founded in Sanford in 1884 by John K. Robinson. Brushes were made from the fibers of the native cabbage (sabal) palms, which are both strong and flexible. The palms were harvested from a 500–600-acre plot of land owned by the company in what is now the Orlandia Heights subdivision. [9] A few years later, the plant was moved to Jacksonville, Florida. On May 3, 1901, a fire in the plant destroyed the plant as well as a significant portion of Jacksonville. The plant was rebuilt in Sanford, Florida, and in 1925, it was moved to a 40-acre site at Benson Junction, where brooms and brushes were produced until the plant closed in the 1970s. [2]
During the prominence of the Ox Fibre Brush Company at Benson Junction, the area also had a post office and a grocery store. [9]
Benson Junction was included in the boundaries of DeBary, when DeBary incorporated as a city in 1993.
Volusia County is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 2010 census. It was founded on December 29, 1854, from part of Orange County, and was named for the community of Volusia, located in northwestern Volusia County. Its first county seat was Enterprise. Since 1887, its county seat has been DeLand.
DeBary is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States, on the eastern shore of the St. Johns River near Lake Monroe. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 20,696. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL metropolitan statistical area, which was home to 553,284 people in 2019.
The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México.
The Seaboard Air Line Railroad, which styled itself as "The Route of Courteous Service", was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. Predecessor railroads dated from the 1830s and reorganized extensively to rebuild after the American Civil War. The company was headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, until 1958, when its main offices were relocated to Richmond, Virginia. The Seaboard Air Line Railway Building in Norfolk's historic Freemason District still stands and has been converted into apartments.
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967, it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. Much of the original ACL network has been part of CSX Transportation since 1986.
The South Florida Railroad was a railroad from Sanford, Florida, to Tampa, Florida, becoming part of the Plant System in 1893 and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. It served as the southernmost segment of the Atlantic Coast Line's main line. The line remains in service today and is now part of the Central Florida Rail Corridor in the Orlando metro area. The rest of the line remains under the ownership of CSX Transportation as part of their A Line.
The Orange Ridge, DeLand and Atlantic Railroad was a railroad in Central Florida, United States, linking DeLand with the main line of the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway. It connected with the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West main line 2 miles (3.2 km) from DeLand Landing at DeLand Junction. The line is still operated by CSX as their DeLand Spur.
DeLand station is a train station in DeLand, Florida, United States. It is served by Amtrak. It is about three miles west of downtown DeLand, at the location formerly known as DeLand Junction. DeLand station was originally built in 1918, and stood across from the former Volusia County Fairgrounds. It is scheduled to be served by the SunRail commuter rail service in the future.
The Orlando metropolitan area, commonly referred to as Greater Orlando, Metro Orlando, Central Florida as well as for U.S. Census purposes as the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a metropolitan area in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. Its principal cities are Orlando, Kissimmee and Sanford. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines it as consisting of the counties of Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole.
The Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway was a railroad and steamboat network in Florida at the end of the 19th century. Most of its lines became part of the Plant System in 1899 and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The line remains in service today with a vast majority of it now being CSX Transportation's Sanford Subdivision.
The Plant System, named after its owner, Henry B. Plant, was a system of railroads and steamboats in the U.S. South, taken over by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. The original line of the system was the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway, running across southern Georgia. The Plant Investment Company was formed in 1882 to lease and buy other railroads and expand the system. Other major lines incorporated into the system include the Savannah and Charleston Railroad and the Brunswick and Western Railroad.
Enterprise is an unincorporated community in Volusia County, in the U.S. state of Florida, and its former county seat. Situated on the northern shore of Lake Monroe, it is flanked by the cities of DeBary and Deltona. Enterprise was once the head of navigation on the St. Johns River and at various times, the county seat for three different counties: Mosquito, which was renamed as Orange; and lastly, for Volusia, which was formed from part of Orange County.
The Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in central and the north portions of Florida consisting of Volusia and Flagler counties in the state of Florida. As of 2013, it is the 88th-largest MSA in the United States, with a census-estimated population of 600,756.
DeBary Hall is a historic site in DeBary, Florida, United States. It is located at 198 Sunrise Boulevard. On July 24, 1972, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Frederick DeBary was a wine importer for Mumms Champagne and built DeBary Hall in 1871 as his hunting retreat along the St. John’s River in central Florida. The area offered various leisure activities such as swimming in the local springs, fishing, and hunting quail, deer, and alligator.
Pennichaw is a rural unincorporated community located in south Volusia County, Florida, United States. It located on Lake Harney Road, approximately 1.8 miles south of Maytown Road.
The Orange Belt Railway was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad established in 1885 by Russian exile Peter Demens in Florida. It was one of the longest narrow gauge railroads in the United States at the time of its completion in 1888, with a mainline 152 miles (245 km) in length between Sanford and St. Petersburg. It carried citrus, vegetables, and passengers; and it interchanged with two standard gauge lines: the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway at Lake Monroe, and the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad at Lacoochee.
DeBary station is a train station in DeBary, Florida. It is the current northern terminus of Phase 1 of SunRail, the commuter train serving Central Florida. The station opened May 1, 2014, and marks the return of passenger rail service to the DeBary area, which previously operated from Benson Junction further to the north. The station is currently the northern terminus of SunRail until Phase 2 North is completed in the future.
The Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision is a group of railroad lines owned by CSX Transportation in and around Jacksonville, which was historically a major railroad hub. The Jacksonville Terminal Subdivision includes about 13.0 miles of track.
The Sanford and Lake Eustis Railway was a historic railroad that ran from Sanford, Florida west to the town of Tavares on Lake Eustis, a distance of 28 miles. The line served as a branch of the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway, a Plant System railroad, that later became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad’s Main Line was the backbone of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's network in the southeastern United States. The main line ran from Richmond, Virginia to Port Tampa just southwest of Tampa, Florida, a distance of nearly 900 miles. Along its route it passed through Petersburg, Rocky Mount, Florence, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Orlando. With the exception of a short 61-mile segment in Greater Orlando, the entire line is still owned by the Atlantic Coast Line's successor, CSX Transportation, and is still in service as their A Line.