Island Grove Methodist Church

History of Island Grove, Florida

Founded in 1882 by William J. Moore, the small town of Island Grove saw its first post office established on February 17, 1884, with Moore serving as the inaugural postmaster. The town earned its name from its unique geography; early descriptions indicate the small village was on an island, surrounded by the waters of Orange Lake and Lake Lochloosa, and numerous ponds, creeks, and swamps.

In 1883, Carl Webber published The Eden of the South, a guide that notably omitted any mention of Island Grove. However, the publication highlighted the flourishing orange groves surrounding Hawthorne to the north, one of several communities east of Gainesville that had “sprung into existence by means of the railroads.” This agricultural success was part of a larger trend known as “Orange Fever,” a period of high profitability for citrus growers in Alachua County that lasted from the 1860s through the late 1800s.

By the time Island Grove made its debut in the 1886–87 Florida Business Directory, it was a small but burgeoning community of 50 residents. Its growth was fueled by the Florida Railway and Navigation Company, which had extended its tracks south toward Marion County to offer daily service. Even in these early years, the town’s agricultural identity was well-established, boasting seventeen orange growers and six truck farmers, while its infrastructure already included three stores, two churches, a hotel, and a school.

One notable grower, William Henry Dupree, established his residence in 1885. At the time of its construction, the house sat at the center of an expansive 80-acre citrus estate. His 1905 obituary reads: “In the death of this warm-hearted gentleman the community has sustained a sad loss. He was a man of marked individuality and strong character, and what he was as friend and neighbor is known to all. No man ever enjoyed more fully the confidence and esteem of a community than he did. A kind father, a staunch friend and good neighbor who was always ready to oblige any one who asked a favor of him, his death is a sad blow to all.”

Notable Residents

Historical records from 1925 reveal a diverse workforce that sustained the community. Key figures included postmaster William J. Evans, grocer Buren Leroy Clayton, and Charles Henry Slater as the town butcher, as well as merchants Daniel O. Howard and Hoyt Hayman. Another prominent figure among Island Grove’s 1931 orange growers was George Fairbanks, the area’s largest landowner with an impressive 150 acres. The Fairbanks family had secured vast tracts of prime citrus land along the shores of Orange Lake, a result of George R. Fairbanks’s close professional association with the influential railroad developer David Yulee.

Adding to the area’s historical significance, the nearby Antioch Cemetery is the final resting place of acclaimed author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. She would later write Cross Creek, a memoir detailing her life on a citrus grove in the nearby hamlet of Cross Creek. In it, he affectionately referred to Island Grove as “the village,” the central hub where she shopped for groceries, socialized with friends, and managed her daily affairs. It was from here that she picked up her mail, boarded the train, and brought her orange harvests to be shipped to market.

By 1939, the Federal Writers’ Project guidebook for Florida’s tourist attractions recognized Island Grove, then a community of 275, as the home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Yearling.

Island Grove Today

Today, Island Grove’s history is preserved through its enduring architecture. The Island Grove Masonic Lodge No. 125 is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places and now serves as a substation for the Cross Creek Fire Department. The former residence of William Henry Dupree also remains standing, having been preserved in its original state throughout the decades.

Meanwhile, the old Methodist church, a centerpiece of local heritage, served as the spiritual heart of the community for its fishermen, farmers, and citrus growers since its erection in 1885. In his book The Creek, J. T. Glisson noted that his family, along with the majority of residents, frequented both the Baptist and Methodist churches. This communal religious life was made possible by the two congregations offering services on alternate Sundays, ensuring the village had a place of worship every week.

The church lay silent in 1972, when its final services were held, and its silhouette was forever changed in the mid-1980s when the steeple was lost. Though it was once slated for demolition, the owners of the Dupree House intervened, purchasing the property to save the historic structure from being torn down. Further, they invested in the building’s preservation by installing a new roof.

Complications with insurance eventually forced a change in ownership. Because the owners were unable to properly insure their property while the church remained on-site, the building’s footprint was subdivided from the larger tract of land. This smaller parcel was subsequently sold, and the church, having deteriorated for decades, finally collapsed in 2021.

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