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History<br />
<strong>Sebring</strong> continues to extend<br />
the same warm welcome it<br />
has since it was founded in<br />
1912 by Ohio industrialist George<br />
<strong>Sebring</strong>.<br />
The pioneer visionary designed a circular<br />
plan as a focal point for the entire<br />
lakeside community he planned<br />
as “The City on the Circle.” George<br />
<strong>Sebring</strong>’s idea was that all roads<br />
would radiate from the center of the<br />
community. Despite many modern<br />
improvements, his design remains<br />
essentially the same today as when<br />
the concept was still a sketch.<br />
Archival records indicate the founder’s<br />
“Circle Plan” for the downtown<br />
area was based on the design of<br />
Heliopolis, an ancient Egyptian city.<br />
The unique design of the new town<br />
14 Welcome to <strong>Sebring</strong><br />
quickly caught the attention of<br />
investors, real estate entrepreneurs<br />
and bankers who were drawn to the<br />
layout of the community, seeing it<br />
as a potential financial bonanza.<br />
Adding to the allure was the development<br />
of cattle ranches and<br />
citrus groves complemented by<br />
connections via Seaboard Air Line<br />
Railroad’s famous “Orange Blossom<br />
Special” to other cities across the<br />
nation’s eastern coastline.<br />
By the mid-1920s, the population<br />
of <strong>Sebring</strong> had grown nearly<br />
fourfold, and much of the city’s<br />
early development had reached its<br />
peak. The City on the Circle had<br />
developed into the business mecca<br />
George <strong>Sebring</strong> had envisioned. But<br />
the demand for housing outpaced<br />
the ability of developers’ ability to<br />
<strong>Sebring</strong> Train Depot<br />
Ralph Lyon<br />
construct. That didn’t stop Biltmore<br />
investors from financing the $30<br />
million development of Harder Hall<br />
as a major resort complex complete<br />
with its own golf course and home<br />
sites.<br />
By the late 1920s, an end to the<br />
boom brought fraudulent land<br />
sales, railroad embargoes and<br />
clogged shipyards. The City of<br />
<strong>Sebring</strong> suffered along with the rest<br />
of the nation following the stock<br />
market’s “Crash of ‘29.” But the area<br />
got a tremendous boost from the<br />
establishment of Highlands Hammock<br />
State Park — Florida’s very<br />
first state park — and the construction<br />
of Hendrick’s Field by the U.S.<br />
Army Air Force. Today, the airfield<br />
is home to <strong>Sebring</strong> Regional Airport.