Cattle Barons and Exploding Orange Trees: Downtown Orlando Before Disney
Downtown Orlando's story before the theme parks, built into a walk by a former director of the county's history museum.
Michael Perkins worked at the Orange County Regional History Center for more than 25 years, first as chief curator and then as executive director. This walk is his case that Orlando's history runs much older than Disney's arrival in 1971. It opens with the Seminole settlements and works forward to the citrus farmers, gunslingers and NASA engineers who put the city on the map. The audio plays through the VoiceMap app as you go, starting across the street from the Orlando Public Library and finishing at the History Center, on the same downtown street.
The booking buys the audio. VoiceMap emails an eight-character code that works for everyone on the booking, and the tour stays yours for life, in English, before and after the date you choose. A virtual version also plays at home.
Orlando’s Historical Highlights: A Self-Guided Audio TourSelf-guided GPS audio walk through downtown Orlando in the VoiceMap app, with 28 narrated locations.www.viator.comA Zoo, a Racetrack and a Place Called Mosquito County
The stories reach into the odd corners of local history. The tour description promises the city's connection to William Shakespeare and the reason the public library is called both a dream and a nightmare. It also covers the central park that once held a zoo and even a horse race track. Florida's wild west gets a turn as well, and VoiceMap lists exploding orange trees and Ted Bundy's jail location among the stories covered. The tour frames it all around one question: why would anyone choose to live in a place once called Mosquito County? That name was real. Florida's territorial council created Mosquito County in 1824, and it became Orange County in 1845.
From the Rosalind Club to the Old Train Depot
From the library, a 1966 concrete building by architect John M. Johansen, the route passes the Rosalind Club. The women's club, founded in 1894, took its name from Rosalind, Orlando's sweetheart in Shakespeare's As You Like It. The walk then cuts through a small section of Lake Eola Park while the audio turns to the lake. It continues past the Cathedral of St. Luke, the 11-story Angebilt Hotel of 1923 and Church Street Station, and reaches the Rogers Building, home today to City Arts. Englishman Gordon Rogers built it after arriving in 1886, and the city counts it with the 1890 railroad depot as the oldest structures left downtown. Every stop is taken in from outside: the listing marks each one as a pass-by, and entry to any museum or attraction along the way is not included. The last location sits by the History Center, where the tour ends.
Get the Code Working Before Central Boulevard
There is no guide to meet. You install the VoiceMap app, create an account, choose Tour Codes and then Enter Codes, and download the tour. VoiceMap advises downloading before you head to the start, and the red start button only switches on once you are standing there. The start is outside the parking garage directly across the street from the library. For drivers, VoiceMap calls that garage the most convenient parking, says to enter it on the Central Boulevard side and begins the tour outside that same side. From there the app gives turn-by-turn directions and works offline. A 2024 reviewer noted that each clip starts within a wide radius shown on the map, which smooths over shaky GPS, while a 2023 reviewer got confused once near the old train station. The phone and headphones are yours to bring.
Go Before 11 AM or After 5 PM
The tour's own tips favor the morning before 11:00 AM or the evening after 5:00 PM, when downtown grows livelier as the bars and clubs open. The evening has a catch: the History Center at the finish is open 10 AM to 5 PM Monday to Saturday and noon to 5 PM on Sunday. Summer calls for water and sunblock, and VoiceMap says an umbrella is always a good idea. It also warns that the route crosses several busy intersections. Allow about an hour, or up to 90 minutes by the listing's count. The tour invites a pause at the bars and restaurants along Church Street near the old train depot. At the finish, VoiceMap points listeners to the History Center itself, a museum it says has won national awards for its exhibits and storytelling. It occupies the 1927 county courthouse, and adult admission is USD 10, paid by card only.
All sales are final, and no refund is available for cancellations. The listing sells one ticket type, for ages six and up, and confirmation is instant.
📍 The pin on this page marks Heritage Square Park at 65 East Central Boulevard, in front of the History Center, where the audio ends. The walk starts outside the parking garage across the street from the Orlando Public Library at 101 East Central Boulevard.