The Village of Florida, N.Y., had its beginnings 300 plus years ago in a highly fertile, ancient lake basin. In a grant of land, called the Wawayanda Patent of 1703, a large area was called the Florida Tract. A hamlet located at the intersection of two free-flowing streams in the early 1700s was originally named Brookland. The name of Florida was officially given to this populated, industrial area
in the 1760s. Florida, in Latin, Floridius Aetas, means land covered with red flowers. The second earliest Presbyterian Church in Orange County was established in 1741. During the Revolutionary War, Florida became an important corridor for troop and supply movement from Newburgh to Philadelphia and beyond. As social, commercial and industrial entities flourished, Florida became a thriving 18th and 19th century community. Among the diligent farm-working families came prominent doctors, lawyers, merchants, craftsmen, etc. Most noteworthy was William Henry Seward, Secretary of State under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. He is most noted for negotiating the treaty to purchase Alaska from Russia. His father, Samuel Sweezy Seward, established Seward Institute in 1848, and it still thrives today as a public school. In 1946, Florida became an incorporated village. Florida in the 21st century is a vibrant, growing, productive community.
