Desert Inn Marker

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Yeehaw Junction in Osceola County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Desert Inn

By Julie Szabo, September 14, 2007

1. Desert Inn Marker

Inscription. The Desert Inn was founded as a trading post in the late 1880s. The present building dates before 1925 and served as a supply and recreational center for cattle drovers, lumber men and tourists during the era when much of Osceola County was still undeveloped wilderness. Cowmen working the free ranging cattle on the palmetto prairie and lumber men cutting timber in the nearby pine lands came to the Desert Inn to eat, drink, and dance at this “oasis” where they could enjoy some relief from their arduous labors. Local patrons of the trading post and restaurant included African Americans and Seminoles, who had separate dining facilities in the era of segregation. The construction of roads in the 1930s brought tourists to the area, and a set of overnight cabins were erected behind the original building. Today the Desert Inn continues to be a popular destination for tourists and local residents. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

Erected 1996 by The Desert Inn and the Florida Department of State. A Florida Heritage Site. (Marker Number F-369.)

Location. 27° 42′ N, 80° 54.277′ W. Marker is in Yeehaw Junction, Florida, in Osceola County. Marker is at the intersection of

Desert Inn and Marker Photo, Click for full size

By Julie Szabo, September 14, 2007

2. Desert Inn and Marker

Florida Route 60 and South Kenansville Road (U.S. 441), on the left when traveling east on State Route 60. Click for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5570 South Kenansville Rd., Okeechobee FL 34972, United States of America.

Also see . . . Desert Inn Restaurant website. (Submitted on November 4, 2007.)

Credits. This page originally submitted on November 1, 2007, by Julie Szabo of Oldsmar, Florida. This page has been viewed 957 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. Submitted on November 1, 2007, by Julie Szabo of Oldsmar, Florida. • J. J. Prats was the editor who published this page.