Sanford Commercial District

The PICO Building, also known as the PICO Hotel, is an historic 2-story redbrick building located at 209 North Oak Avenue, corner of West Commercial Street, in Sanford, Florida. Built during 1886-1887 for Henry B. Plant of Plant Investment Co. (PICO) to serve travelers arriving in Sanford on his railroad and steamship lines, it was designed by local architect William T. Cotter in the Romanesque Revival and Moorish Revival styles of architecture and built by the H. M. Papworth Construction Company. In 1906 the building was remodeled and sold to the Takach family, which had operated the restaurant for Plant by Mrs. Bertha E. Takach and family, Hungarian immigrants. According to the Orlando Sentinel on April 22,1973, "Mrs. Takch, the owner (of an adjacent restaurant), had such good food... she got all the customers. So, in 1889, Mr. Plant, whose dining room was losing out, made a deal with Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Takach to take over their Pico Hotel." In fact, "they DID, in 1891...from that time, many called the Pico Hotel the Takach Hotel. It had gas lights, white table cloths, and the people who ate there were well dressed, as train travelers always were in that era." "Their restaurant continued in the building for about 50 years. The building's original onion dome was destroyed in a 1950s storm. The building then went on to become an office building used primarily for law offices. In 1989, it was listed in A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture prepared by the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects and published by the University of Florida Press.The building is a contributing property in the Sanford Commercial District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 15, 1976.

The Ritz Theater (also known as the Milane Theatre or the Helen Stairs Theatre) is a historic theatre in Sanford, Florida, United States. It is located at 201 South Magnolia Avenue. On January 29, 2001, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. After getting donations from Wayne Densch it has now been named the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center.

The Old Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital (also known as the Florida Hotel or George Fernald House) is a historic site in Sanford, Florida, United States. It is located at 500 South Oak Avenue. On May 21, 1987, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

The Sanford Grammar School, also known as the Sanford High School and as the Margaret K. Reynolds Building, is a historic school building located at 301 West 7th Street in Sanford, Florida, United States. Built in 1902, it was designed by Wilbur B. Talley in the Romanesque Revival style of architecture. Sanford architect Elton James Moughton designed the wings which were added in 1916. On November 23, 1984, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. In 1989, it was listed in A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture prepared by the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects and published by the University of Florida Press.

The Sanford Residential Historic District is a U.S. Historic District (designated as such on December 15, 1989) located in Sanford, Florida. The district is bounded by Sanford Avenue, 14th Street, Elm Avenue, and 3rd Street. It contains 432 historic buildings, including the Old Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital and Sanford Grammar School.

St. James A. M. E. Church is a congregation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Sanford, Florida, United States. The oldest church in Sanford founded by African Americans, it was established in 1867, when the church purchased land on the corner of East Ninth Street and South Cypress Avenue. The original church building was replaced in 1913 with a red brick Gothic Revival building designed by local architect Prince W. Spears. In 1989, it was listed in A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture prepared by the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects and published by the University of Florida Press. On April 24, 1992, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Lake Monroe is one of the lakes that make up the St. Johns River system. The port city of Sanford is situated along the southern shore, while DeBary and Deltona are located along the northern shore. Two major central Florida roadways that run near the lake are State Road 415 and Interstate 4. It forms the border of Seminole County and Volusia County It is the 8th largest lake in the Orlando metropolitan area, after Lake Jesup, 7 miles (11 km) to the south.

Hopper Academy is a former school for African Americans in Sanford, Florida. It closed in the early 1960s, was used by the school district, and was then abandoned and fell into disrepair. It has been restored and is now a community center. It is on the Florida Black Heritage Trail and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The two-story wooden schoolhouse was built in 1906. William C. McLester was the school's first principal. Joseph N. Crooms also served as one of its principals. Following the completion of Crooms Academy in 1926, Hopper was converted to an elementary and middle school, housing kindergarten through eighth grade. It closed in the 1960s and fell into disrepair.The building is being restored for use as a community center. It is part of the Florida Black History Heritage Trail. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. It is located in the Georgetown section of Sanford.

Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium is a baseball stadium located in Sanford, Florida. The ballpark is located just south of Lake Monroe on Mellonville Avenue, less than a mile from Historic Downtown Sanford. The stadium stands at the site of the old Sanford Field, which was originally built in 1926. The stadium was built on the old site in 1951 as the Spring Training Facility of the New York Giants. Many Major League stars have played in the stadium including Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Tim Raines, and David Eckstein. The Stadium was refurbished in 2001 at a cost of two million dollars, and now offers many modern amenities along with the classic architecture typical of stadiums built in the early to mid 1900s.The Stadium is currently home to the Orlando Baseball Association (OBA), 25t, 35t and 45t leagues, as well as Sanford Babe Ruth Baseball and the Sanford River Rats of the Florida Collegiate Summer League. It was also home to the Seminole County Naturals of the Florida Winter Baseball League during the 2009 season; the league subsequently suspended operations during the season due to a lack of funding. The stadium previously served as a spring training facility for the New York Giants and Atlanta Braves. In 1942, the Boston Braves used the old field as its primary facility.Sanford Stadium is the location where Jackie Robinson first took to the field in 1946 to play baseball as a member of a white Class AAA International League Team in Daytona Beach, Florida, which was partnered with the Montreal Royals. Unfortunately, this was also during an era of racial segregation and racial tensions, especially in that part of the Southern United States which made up the former Confederacy. By the time Robinson took the field, the crowd of local white citizens in the stands ended up booing him off the field and he was not able to play. The then-Sanford police chief had actually threatened to cancel the game if Robinson took the field.On April 20, 1997, fifty years after Robinson had broken the color barrier in major league baseball, Mayor Larry Dale of Sanford issued a proclamation honoring Jackie Robinson and apologizing for the City of Sanford's, "...regrettable actions in 1946," when the city forced Robinson off Municipal Athletic Field. However, per author Chris Lamb's book, Blackout: The Untold Story of Jackie Robinson's First Spring Training, despite the passage of over half a century, Mayor Dale's proclamation still didn't sit well with all residents of Sanford, especially those long-time residents or their descendants who were present or traced their lineage back to the city in 1946. Many believed that the city had let Robinson play and therefore had no reason to apologize, while others saw no reason to dredge up the sins of the past.

Goldsboro is a community and former town in Seminole County, Florida. It was founded by the Freedmen's Bureau and later incorporated in 1891. One of the oldest African-American founded communities in the United States, it was established only a few years after nearby Eatonville. Angola, Florida, a settlement of escaped slaves, was established during Spanish rule in Florida. In 1911, the community was annexed into Sanford, Florida.

Sanford station is a railroad terminal in Sanford, Florida. It is the southern terminus for Amtrak's Auto Train, which runs between this station and Lorton, Virginia. As of 2022, the Auto Train loads its passengers on two tracks in Sanford, as no single track is long enough for all of the passenger railcars. A railroad crossing runs through the middle of Sanford's rail yard, an unusual situation for a modern station and yard.

Sanford is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Seminole County. It is located in Central Florida and its population was 61,051 as of the 2020 census. Known as the "Historic Waterfront Gateway City", Sanford sits on the southern shore of Lake Monroe at the head of navigation on the St. Johns River. Native Americans first settled the area thousands of years before the city was formed. The Seminoles arrived in the area in the 18th century. During the Second Seminole War in 1836, the United States Army established Camp Monroe and built a road now known as Mellonville Avenue. Sanford is about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Orlando. Sanford is home to Seminole State College of Florida and the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Its downtown attracts tourists with shops, restaurants, a marina, and a lakefront walking trail. The Orlando Sanford International Airport, in the heart of the town, functions as the secondary commercial airport for international and domestic carriers in the Orlando metropolitan area.