The Oviedo-Winter Springs Regional Chamber of Commerce is fortunate to reside in the historic Lawton House.

Built in 1890, this home originally stood at the location of the present Memorial Building on Central Avenue. The ten acre orange grove at this location was in the Lee family holdings since the 1880s.

In about 1910, J.H. Lee, Sr. sold the land to his daughter, Lottie Lee Lawton, and her husband, Thomas Willington Lawton. They then moved the house on piers or rollers to its present site at 200 West Broadway Street in Oviedo. Water was stored in a tank topped by a windmill, and a battery provided electricity for the lighting.

Mr. Lawton was born in 1882.  The son of Narcissa Melissa Lawton, matriarch of the largest Oviedo family, Narcissa died in 1883, and Tom and his brothers Alex and Robert, and sister Martha (who married Walter Gwynn) settled in Oviedo. Tom attended the Oviedo School, Rollins Academy, and was the sole member of his 1903 Rollins College graduating class. He received his master's degree from Andover Newton College in Boston, and returned to Oviedo to serve as principal from 1905 to 1907. In 1916, he became the first elected Superintendent of Schools of Seminole County, and held that post until 1952.

Please come visit our Chamber headquarters for a true “Old Florida” experience!