~$250,000
Personal loss sustained by Henry A. DeLand when he honored his freeze-loss guarantee to settlers who had planted orange groves on his word.
Source: Wikipedia [S01]
The Great Freeze of 1894–95 — DeLand's Hardest Winter
Quick answer: The Great Freeze of 1894–95 was a back-to-back Florida freeze that collapsed the state's citrus industry. DeLand founder Henry A. DeLand had personally guaranteed settlers against freeze losses; honoring that promise cost him nearly $250,000 and ultimately bankrupted him.
What was the Great Freeze?
Two hard freezes in December 1894 and February 1895 destroyed the young citrus groves across Central Florida. The second freeze was worse than the first because the trees had begun to re-sprout, and the cold killed the trunks as well as the fruit.
Henry DeLand's personal guarantee
Henry A. DeLand had promised he would cover anyone who moved to the area and planted oranges against loss of their crop to a freeze. When the freeze came, he honored the promise and lost nearly $250,000 [S01, S02].
By 1896 he had sold everything
By 1896, DeLand had sold all his property in Florida and in Fairport, New York. He died penniless on March 13, 1908 [S01].
Read Henry A. DeLand's biographyThe university survives
John B. Stetson's philanthropy was one of the key reasons the university — and by extension the town's cultural infrastructure — survived the economic collapse [S19, S20].
Frequently asked questions
- When was the Great Freeze?
- December 1894 and February 1895 — two back-to-back hard freezes. [S01]
- How much did the Great Freeze cost Henry A. DeLand personally?
- Approximately $250,000. He honored a personal guarantee made to early orange-grove settlers. [S01, S02]
- Did Henry DeLand recover financially?
- No. By 1896 he had sold all of his property. He died penniless on March 13, 1908. [S01]