Traditional Pathways and Ladies Club Pavilion

Traditional Pathways and Ladies Club Pavilion. . Eatonville is strategically located between two lakes, Lake Sybelia at the northeastern edge of the original Eatonville Town site and Lake Belle in the southeastern corner. The pathways between these two natural lakes were an early means of moving through the "back-side” of the Town. By following them, much can be learned about early residential life in Eatonville. The first settlers used the water supply in the lakes for cooking, bathing, doing laundry, and irrigating crops. The lakes also served as sources of recreation. Approximately one-quarter mile to the east, in Maitland, the Eatonville Ladies Club erected a pavilion near the shores of Lake Sybelia. This location became the focal point for many leisure-time activities - fishing, boating, picnicking, and playing ball games. By 1918, the townspeople had dug two ditches or canals, connecting Lake Belle with Lake Sybelia. They carried surface storm water away from the central part of Town. These ditches were filled in and abandoned about 1928, as sewers were built. Long-time settlers can still locate the traditional paths., "Late one afternoon, my mother had taken me for a walk down around Lake Belle. On our way home, the sun had set. It was good and dark when we came to the turning-off place that would take us straight home. At that spot, the trees stood apart, and the surface of the lake was plain. I saw the early moon laying a shiny track across the water." , , Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road, (Captions) , This is a map of Eatonville's Corporate limit in 1920. Shown are two old "ditches" (canals) and the trail path., This c. 1920 photo shows a group of Eatonville ladies who formed a sewing circle to provide clothing for needy school children.