Kissimmee 125th Birthday Celebration Festival
The origin of the name Kissimmee had different stories on how it got its name. One story is that a Spanish map in 1752 called Kissimmee Cacema, Cacema is the area where Kissimmee is now located. Some say that it is a modern name of an old Indian tribe; an author links the name to a village of the Jororo. Some historians trace back the name to on the mission group from Span that tried to convert the native Indians to Christianity. The name of that mission group was Atissimi.
Allendale community was the original community of Kissimmee where there was a small trading post on the northern bank of Lake Tohopekaliga. Hamilton Disston, the owner of Disston Saw Company in Philadelphia purchased four million acres of marshland and plains after the Civil War. It was in 1845 that Florida was granted statehood.
Hamilton Disston was born August 23, 1844, in Philadelphia. He worked in his father’s saw manufacturing plant until he signed up to join the troops fighting in the Civil War. Hamilton Disston purchased four million acres of marshland shortly after the Civil War. Included in his purchase was the small trading post of Allendale, which was eventually renamed Kissimmee. Disston wished to drain the area surrounding Kissimmee and deepen the Kissimmee River, so products could be shipped into the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Many steamboats passed through the area with cargoes of cypress lumber and sugar cane.
On 1997 Kissimmee received a Main Street designation from Bureau of Historic Preservation under Main Street Florida, located in Tallahassee and the National Main Street Center in Washington, D.C. The purpose was to promote economic development in Kissimmees Main Street area by bringing in patrons, new business, and assisting existing businesses to flourish while preserving the historic feel of the downtown area.
On March 21, 2009 from 11:00AM to 5:00 PM Kissimmee will be celebrating their 125th birthday at Kissimmee Main Street. The admission fee for this festival is free for the public. This 125th Kissimmee birthday celebration will also honor the citys cattle ranching heritage. There will be live entertainment from the local and national musician, unique games, different handmade crafts and the 23rd Annual meatloaf Cook-off.
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