Discover the agricultural heritage that helped shape Winter Park. Golden Roots: The Citrus Legacy of Winter Park explores how citrus transformed the city’s economy, landscape, and community—and helped establish Central Florida’s reputation as a place of sunshine, health, and opportunity.
Long before Winter Park became known as the “City of Homes,” orange groves, packing houses, and railroads were central to life in the growing community. Citrus attracted settlers, supported local businesses, and connected Winter Park to markets across the nation.
Through historic photographs, artifacts, colorful citrus crate labels, and interactive experiences, Golden Roots introduces the people behind the harvest. Discover the origins of the famous Temple Orange, learn about Chinese American horticulturist Lue Gim Gong and his connection to Winter Park, and meet local families whose lives and livelihoods were rooted in the citrus industry.
The exhibition also highlights the grove owners, packing house workers, and African American families of Hannibal Square whose labor, agricultural knowledge, and entrepreneurship helped sustain Winter Park’s citrus industry for generations. Their stories reveal the many ways citrus created opportunities and contributed to the community Winter Park is today.
Fittingly, Golden Roots is presented inside the original Atlantic Coast Line Freight Depot, where thousands of crates of locally grown citrus were once weighed, documented, and loaded onto railcars bound for cities across America. Visitors can stand in the very building that once served as the gateway between Winter Park’s groves and the rest of the country.
Explore the innovations that helped make Florida citrus a national brand—from packing houses and refrigerated transportation to cooperative marketing and orange juice production—and follow the industry through periods of growth, resilience, and transformation. The exhibition also examines the freezes, disease, and development that gradually changed Winter Park’s citrus landscape.
Families can enjoy hands-on children’s activities and a scavenger hunt throughout the Museum.
Admission is free!
This project is funded in part by Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs program.
