The Pine Castle Homestead
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Pleasure Beach

The Pine Castle Homestead, also, Pleasure Beach. . , The Pine Castle Homestead , Will Wallace Harney built a large English-style home he called Pine Castle on his homestead along the western shore of Lake Conway in 1873. The house was constructed from the pine trees which grew on his land. Two turrets flanked the front entrance of the house, and the boards that formed the exterior walls were attached vertically instead of horizontally, the more common method. , Harney planted a variety of crops on his land but made his living primarily as a writer. He became an unofficial ambassador for Florida when he submitted articles about the wonders of the state to newspapers such as the Cincinnati Commercial during 1870s. His writing transported readers to the exotic land of orange groves, pine forests, and alligators when Florida tourism was in its infancy. , In 1884, Harney moved to Kissimmee and established a weekly newspaper, The Bittersweet. His once grand home was left vacant and fell into disrepair before being destroyed by fire in 1894. Harney then retired to Jacksonville, where his only son had settled. , Pleasure Beach , Pleasure Beach at the end of Wallace Road con Lake Conway was a popular gathering places for Pine Castle residents, especially in the 1920s. Church, school, and family picnics were held by the shore, and the Union Church, used the area for baptisms, There was a long dock containing park-like, benches and at the end low and high diving boards and a water slide. Canoes were available for rides around the lake. , The-nearby pavilion contained a bath house on the first f1oor and a place for dancing and skating upstairs. Slot machines were installed, drawing people from as far away as Windermere and Apopka to gamble. , The pavilion, burned in the late "1920s, but the "dock and beach continued to be used by the public. In the 1940s, a family built a home on the property and closed the beach to the public.