Longwood Inn
Of course, at the time of Edward W. Henck, Longwood was starting to become lively as the city was newly founded. In 1883, the hotel was started on for construction by Josiah B. Clouser and was listed for sale sometime in 1885 by a realtor named John Sinclair. Carlos Cushing who bought it in 1886, finished the construction to make the hotel "life-ready". He named this hotel "The Waltham". Close to 1887, Edward W. Henck put up a Longwood promotion flyer in which he described The Waltham with great beauty. Calling it a "new house with all improvements of a first class hotel, having electric bells and bathrooms" and "it is nicely furnished, and invalids all the comforts of a winter home". Just like many of those hotels in Florida, The Waltham was only open for the winter. The Waltham became a popular attraction and many people resided as it became "a haven for winter tourists".
Unfortunately, around this time, the infamous "Great Freeze" hit. This resulted in the loss of thousands of visitors and hundreds of guests. Following this major event, in 1910, the hotel was bought out by Charles W. Entzminger and named "The Longwood Hotel". Before Etzminger could do much, the hotel was once again bought, this time by George Clark in 1922 who named it the "St. George Hotel". Clark did a lot for the hotel and even hosted a party for all the tourists in April of 1923. During this party, Clark was discovered laying on the ground because of a trip accident. The next day, he was found dead in his home. Three years later in 1926, Ed Crocker bought the hotel and renamed it to the beloved The Longwood Hotel.
After the roaring twenties, of course came The Great Depression. During this time, the hotel went into severe decline and F.B. Clark regained the property. Sometime later in 1947, the property was again sold a few more times and landed at the hands of Maximillian Shepard. Shepard is known for making the hotel the gem it once was, attracting many visitors and gaining popularity for its special food. The popular trend of this hotel seems to be sales and as you could guess the hotel was sold once more to Louis T. Hunt at an auction in 1957. The Hunt's family's ideology created a "low rent boarding house for migrants" in Florida. During autumn of 1972, Mrs. Robert S Bradford bought the hotel, she is most well known for being one of the founders of the Longwood Historic Society. She made many changes including the name of course, and changed it to "Longwood Village Inn". The whole Bradford family began renovations that same year and held a grand opening in1973. Under the Bradfords, this hotel became the center of many banquets, parties, and weddings. Most popularly, Reubin Askew, the governor of Florida from 1971 to 1979 visited this hotel.
