Sanford’s English Bicycle and Tennis Club

It might sound strange that there was an “English Colony” located in Sanford. This is because of town founder Henry Sanford’s connections in the United Kingdom. Many of the investors of the Florida Land and Colonization Company, the company that made Sanford, were English. These Englishmen hired other Englishmen to be agents to report on how the “Florida scheme” was coming along. This exhibit focuses on a club comprised of many of these Englishmen and women, why specifically they sought out cycling and tennis, and how their love of those two sports not only changed Sanford’s social scene in the late 19th century, but all of central Florida’s. This exhibit is brought to you through the research of Sanford Historical Society member and Sanford Museum volunteer David Brachett. The Sanford Museum’s Staff would like to thank him for his hard work.