A Place Called “Eiland's Hammock”

A Place Called “Eiland's Hammock”. . , Alla Cordilla Hancock married William L. Eiland in 1889. Around 1900, they settled on five acres adjoining the Skipper homestead. Cordie, as she was known, was Jonathan Skipper's cousin. , In 1902, W.L. and Cordie purchased eighty acres of property near the center of the hammock in the vicinity of what is now the park's amphitheater. In 1903, they sold fifteen acres of their property to Jonathan Skipper. , Ten years later, the family moved to Sebring and ran a boarding house out of a large two-story home. It was here that many of the railroad men stayed while the town of Sebring was being established. W.L. made trips by mule wagon to the hammock to harvest oranges, which he sold to tourists in town. In 1914, at 49 years of age, W.L. died, leaving Cordie to raise seven children on her own. , In 1917, Cordie sold the original five acre parcel to Jonathan's son, Chesley A. Skipper. While living in town, she continued to sell off parcels of the hammock until her last 14.5 acres were sold in 1921 to the Bridges Cattle Company. It was a corporation owned by the Skipper family. , [captions] , . Eiland family picnic 1915 , . “Eiland Land Buggy” , . W.L. and Cordie Eiland’s home in the Hammock (background image) , Exhibit sponsored by Highlands County Historic Preservation Commission and the Friends of Highlands Hammock State Park. Special thanks to the Skipper and Eiland families.