Hello From Orlando – Part 9: Exploring Scenic Mount

Hello From Orlando – Part 9: Exploring Scenic Mount Dora On The Herbie Express

In my quest to find unusual destinations to visit in the Orlando area, I stumbled over a little town by the name of Mount Dora just about 45 minutes north of Orlando. I had read that it was a very picturesque small town located on a lake, and one of its main attractions was a scenic railway.

Mount Dora is only 27 miles or 43 km northwest of Orlando. It has an elevation of 184 feet above Lake Dora, which makes it Florida’s only “mountain top town”. Indeed the rolling hillsides and winding roads are a welcome unique feature in the generally flat topography of Florida.

Mount Dora’s history dates back to the 1800s. In 1846 Lake Dora was named for Dora Ann Drawdy. She and her husband homesteaded two miles south of Mount Dora. In 1880 the towns first name was Royellou, named after the three children of Postmaster R. C. Tremain – Roy, Ella, and Louis.

Then in 1883 the town was renamed Mount Dora. Incorporated as a town in 1910 with 370 residents, the town now has a population of around 10,000 people. The first railroad service through Mount...