Like many towns in Florida, LAKE NONA began as a tourist destination.
But, because it is not located in close proximity to the state’s many beaches, the town’s founders had to develop another way to attract Northerners to their community. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, LAKE NONA was promoted as a resort community to business magnates from the country’s biggest Northeastern cities.
LAKE NONA — An Unlikely Early Promoter
One of the first people to put LAKE NONA on the map came from one of the unlikeliest of places: The White House.
After visiting the sleepy backwater town in the 1880s, President Chester A. Arthur was quoted in newspapers as saying that LAKE NONA was “the prettiest place I have seen in Florida.”
His praise may have been what encouraged another president, Grover Cleveland, to include a visit to the town on his tour of Florida in 1888, during which he stated that the “Bounding Horse Cart” ride he took there was the best part of his trip to the Sunshine State.
Through the years, two other presidents also have visited LAKE NONA — Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Barack Obama — both of whom received honorary degrees from Rollins College.
LAKE NONA — Serving Today’s Families
Today, LAKE NONA is a very different community than the one visited by the 19th century presidents.
The city features sprawling subdivisions that are home to thousands of young parents, devoted to providing their children with the best opportunities in the 21st century.
The Amazing Explorers Academy, which will soon open its latest daycare and pre-school center in LAKE NONA, provides the kind of early educational opportunities that these parents want for their children.
With its STEAM-focused curriculum (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics), even the youngest children can benefit from Amazing Explorers’ hands-on approach to early childhood education.
And who knows? Maybe someday one of them will grow up to be president!
