The first Orange County Courthouse, a two-story hewn-log affair, was burned in 1868.  Most of the books and records were destroyed.  The County Commission then paid $10 per month rent for the use of a house occupied by the Clerk as a temporary courthouse until a new courthouse was built in 1869 for $1,250.  Subsequently, there was an effort by General Sanford, who founded the town named for him, to have the county seat moved to that town.  Sanford was a much larger community and Orlando had, according to Sanford, "absolutely no apparent prospects of growth."  Yet Jacob Summerlin, the owner of the Summerlin Hotel in orlando, offered to lend $10,000 for the construction of a new courthouse provided it was built in Orlando, and so it was.  It was completed in 1876.

     This courthouse was replaced in 1892 but soon this courthouse was also outgrown and, in 1924, it was decided that a new building was needed.  On October 12, 1927, the new $1 million classic Greek Court House was dedicated in elaborate ceremonies.  The top floor of the courthouse housed the new county jail, the old jail ultimately becoming another parking lot.  This courthouse was used until just a few years ago when the new massive high-rise Orange County Courthouse was completed

Click on thumbnails for a larger view.
(Similar views but they are all so pretty!)