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Walking Tour of Historic Orange City
Item 8 of 23
The house at 345 North Oak Avenue represents an example of Craftsman Bungalow residential architectural style of which only few example exist in Orange City. This house originally had a porte-cochere, which was located a the North end of the front porch and leaded glass transom windows on the first floor. In the last few years this house has received much renovation to the exterior and interior, which includes a brick paver driveway and new landscaping.

Dr. Carey Mitchell House

Dr. Carey Mitchell House

345 N. Oak Ave c.2007

Front of home before historic windows were removed.

Address: 345 North Oak Avenue

The residential structure was constructed in 1926 and is a contributing structure to the Orange City National Register Historic District. It represents a primarily Bungalow architectural style, characterized by a low pitched roof on a gabled or hipped roof with large over hanging eaves with exposed beams that embodies the Craftsman style of 1900-1920. The original owner of the property was the Rev. Cornelius Sweet, a Methodist minister and Civil War veteran from New York. Rev. Sweet built the brick house after moving with his wife Charlotte to Florida in 1926. Mr. Sweet sold the bungalow in 1939, returning to his home in NY until his death in 1940.

Dr. Cary T. Mitchell was a 1912 graduate of the University of Chicago Medical Department who specialized in medicine of the eye, ear, nose and throat. In 1939, Dr. Mitchell, left a successful location in Nashville, Tennessee to move to Orange City. He purchased the property at 345 North Oak and opened a practice in DeLand for ear, nose and throat. In 1961, he closed his practice in DeLand and moved his equipment to his residence where he continued to practice general medicine.

He served as Mayor of Orange City from 1942-1944, and during World War II was in charge of The Rationing Board. Dr. Mitchell was a member of the Masons, the Pilgrim Community Church and the Regional Blood Program of the American Red Cross.

The house was also the home of Orange City's former Mayor Tom Laputka from 2011-2016.

Orange City (2018).Tour of Historic Homes and Buildings Saturday, December 8,2012 [Brochure]. Orange City,FL

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service (2004). National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Orange City Historic District Orange City, Volusia County, Florida

LaFleur, J.(Ed.). (2000). Our Story of Orange City, Florida. Florida: Village Improvement Association, Inc.

"Rev Cornelius Sweet Dies at Northern Home." DeLand Sun News (Deland) January 19th 1940. Vol. 26 No. 90 ed, 1-2.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Photo by Ted Marsolek

Village Improvement Association Orange City Woman's Club