Florida Baptist Orphanage

Florida Baptist Orphanage. . The Florida Baptist Children’s Homes began when the Florida Baptist State Convention authorized the establishment of the Florida Baptist Orphanage in Arcadia in 1901 to care for care for orphaned children until they were 18 years old or were adopted into a Christian home. John L. Jones of DeSoto County donated 80 acres of land on which the orphanage was founded, starting with two buildings. Juanita Martinez was the first child to live in the home, beginning in 1904. B.M. Bean was the first superintendent (1904-1911). J.E. Trice, the second superintendent (1911-1932), designed most of the six vernacular buildings that remain of the original eight built between 1903 and 1927: superintenden's home, nursery, older girls' home, small girls' home, a steam laundry, and a classroom building. Trice also began a vocational arts program that developed into a factory for making masonry products. The orphanage name was changed to the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes in 1925, and the institution moved to Lakeland in 1948. Beginning in 1958, Florida Baptist Children’s Homes had multiple facilities around the state, providing residential care, emergency shelter care, foster care, adoption care, maternity care and counseling. . This historical marker was erected in 2009 by The Florida Baptist Historical Society and the Florida Department of State. It is in Arcadia in DeSoto County Florida