Orlando Reeves

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According to one tale on the origin of the name of Orlando, Florida, Sentinel Orlando Reeves was an American soldier who was killed during the Seminole War, when he was about to fire a warning shot to his fellow soldiers. But, this is a gross distortion of the historical record.

The real namesake was a man named Orlando Rees, who operated a sugar mill and plantation about thirty miles north of the modern city at Spring Garden in Volusia County. He carved his name in a tree near what is now Lake Eola, which later settlers assumed was a grave marker. Their speculations as to the carving's origin led to the various fanciful accounts of Seminole War battles, and the area around the tree became known as "Orlando's Grave" or simply "Orlando."

Note, there were no recorded skirmishes with the Seminoles near downtown Orlando. The closest was at Hatcheelustee, on what is now Walt Disney World property several miles south of the city. And, no federal or state muster rolls list any soldier with a name even remotely similar to Orlando Reeves or Rees.

An alternative explanation for the name is a founders of the city was anamoured with Shakespeare, and named the city for the hero of As You Like It. Rosalind Avenue runs though downtown, as Rosalind ran through Orlando's heart.^{[citation needed]}