Deer Park

Deer Park. . In 1895 George Washington Hopkins from Michigan began buying land in eastern Osceola and Brevard County. He founded the Union Cypress Company, operating a saw and planing mill in Hopkins, a small town south of Melbourne. Deer Park was founded to provide homes for workers of the logging and mill operation, it consisted of a post office, two general stores, a hotel, boarding houses, churches and two schools. A railroad built in 1911-12 ran across the St. Johns River to transport logs, workers, mail, goods and groceries. Hopkins' son-in-law, W.H. Kempfer arrived in 1914 to run the timber operations and in 1915 Hopkins and Kempfer Land and Cattle Co. was formed and continued until the death of Hopkins. In 1925 N. Ray Carroll of Bedford, Ohio (later to become State Senator from Osceola County) acquired 55,000 acres of land on the north side of US 192 from the Hopkins estate which later became the Carrollton Ranch. In 1950 he sold the ranch to a group of Mormon businessmen which became the first acquisition of land for the Mormons in Florida who now own some 330,000 acres in 3 Counties. On the south side of US 192 is the Kempfer Ranch which has been operated by the descendants of Mr. Hopkins for over 100 years. Great Grandsons of George Washington Hopkins, Billy and Reed Kempfer and their families continue to run the ranch and sawmill.