PHOTO COURTESY CITY OF ORANGE CITY
In its heyday — The home at 257 S. Volusia Ave. will be auctioned by Higgenbotham Auctioneers Dec. 4. This is a photo of the home when it was still in use. Orange City Mayor Harley Strickland said he hopes whoever buys the buildings will be willing to work with the City of Orange City to keep them intact. The property will be broken into three parcels, which will be sold separately.
PHOTO COURTESY JOAN LAFLEUR
Melissa Dickinson — Melissa Dickinson's home on South Volusia Avenue in Orange City will go to auction Dec. 4. The Dickinson family were Orange City pioneers and philanthropists. The Orange City library — Dickinson Memorial Library — was dedicated by Melissa's brother Albert in her memory after she died.
PHOTO COURTESY EARL WILLIAMS/HIGGENBOTHAM AUCTIONEERS
Third lot — This house at 239 S. Volusia Ave., a two-story home on the Dickinson property, was built in 1921.
PHOTO COURTESY EARL WILLIAMS/HIGGENBOTHAM AUCTIONEERS
Today — Melissa Dickinson's home, at 257 S. Volusia Ave., was built in 1886.
Dickinson family homes are for sale
posted Nov 23, 2008 - 5:37:43pm
The Dickinson family walks hand in hand with the history of Orange City.
Frances Dickinson had the first airport in Orange City, and Arowana Estates is where that airport — with the same name — used to be.
Dickinson Memorial Library, which is still in use, was dedicated by Albert Dickinson in 1918 in the memory of his sister Melissa.
The Dickinsons were philanthropists and community pioneers.
Three parcels of Dickinson family history are now on the auction block.
The Melissa Dickinson family home and six other buildings on 5 commercially zoned acres will be offered. The auction begins at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, at 257 S. Volusia Ave. in Orange City.
Auctioneer Earl Williams of Higgenbotham Auctioneers said the current owner wants to retire, and sell the property.
Mayor Harley Strickland talked about the Dickinson family, and what his wish for the property would be.
"The Dickinson family moved here from Illinois," he said. "I believe they were in the feed and grain business, and were very, very successful. They were fairly large landowners, in both developed and undeveloped land."
As the three Dickinson lots go to auction, he said some people in the community have expressed concern the homes could be torn down to make room for modern commercial development. The property is commercially zoned and has been home to businesses throughout the years.
"We have no clear preservation ordinance that has identified these as historically protected properties," Strickland said. "A new owner could use them, or remove them, or tear them down, whatever they would like to do with it."
Strickland said he has been in close contact with the city's development-services staff, and the city is willing to work with any new owner to preserve and redevelop the property, which could include moving the structures farther back on the lots and developing the existing structures as a commercial district.
"I have talked with our folks in our development-services department to see how we might best work with anyone who might buy the properties," Strickland said.
The ideal vision, in Strickland's opinion, would be to create a unified commercial development from the existing buildings.
"That would be my thought and wish," Strickland said.
Orange City Development Services staff liaison Elaine Wilson echoed Strickland.
"We very much want to see the homes used," she said.
Wilson said, by her recollection, Susan B. Anthony was related to the Dickinsons, and the Dickinson sisters were involved in suffrage movements, and while there was no written history, it is believed that Anthony likely visited her cousins, and stayed in the Volusia Avenue home. It makes the homes just that much more historically significant to the area.
The Great Floridian 2000 Web site does list Dr. Frances Dickinson, a suffragist who helped Orange City become the first city in the area to grant women the right to register and vote.
Wilson repeated the city's willingness to work with a new owner, saying the property was "Integral to our historical area."
Joan LaFleur, a member of the Orange City Historical Society, said the main house for sale was actually the Melissa Dickinson house, though it is often thought that Frances Dickinson lived there.
LaFleur cleared it up,
"It was Melissa's house," she said. "When she died, she left it to Frances. Frances probably lived in that house when she retired. But that house should be thought of as Melissa's house."
Auctioneer Earl Williams was enthusiastic about the upcoming auction, and called the home unique and very much "Old Florida."
"The main home is unique within itself," Williams said. "You can see so much of the original building structure. The stairwells are intact and in great shape — it's a special property."
Williams said the homes weren't the only noteworthy aspect. He talked about the large tree canopies on the grounds.
"There are just wonderful trees here," he said. "You have to see the property to really appreciate it."
Higgenbotham Auctioneers International is based in Lakeland, and specializes in the sale of corporate real estate.
Here is Higgenbotham's descriptions of the three parcels that will be sold (measurements are approximate):
Parcel 1: 227 S. Volusia Ave.
• Two-story building: 2,417 square feet
• Lot: 0.46 acre
• Year built: 1932
Parcel 2: 239 S. Volusia Ave.
• Two-story building: 1,043 square feet
• Lot: 2.2 acres
• Year built: 1921
Parcel 3: 257 S. Volusia Ave.
• Lot: 2.35 acres
• Includes: the 5,180-square-foot, two-story main building, built in 1886, along with a 1,876-square-foot carriage house, a shed and three cottages.
For more information on this property, contact Earl Williams at Higgenbotham Auctioneers at (800) 257-4161 or visit www.Higgenbotham.com.
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