Midway/Canaan City
Posted by: 
Markerman62
N 28° 47.278 W 081° 13.861
17R E 477452 N 3184516
Located at Sipes Avenue and Kings Road, east of Sanford
Waymark Code: WM19VZ3
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 04/21/2024
Views: 1
Side 1
The migrant settlement of Midway/Canaan City was established for blacks during the celery boom of the 1920’s. However, a few blacks were residing in the area as early as 1865 - 1890. Much of Midway’s population were delivered by midwives and lived in Cameron City and the Hammocks, while others lived in Fort Reed/Sand Hill, which is now the location of Orlando/Sanford International Airport.
Each summer, migrant workers were transported from the South to work the farms and orchards in the North.
Initially, the settlement was called “The Midway Point” because two artesian wells on Sipes Avenue were used to water livestock being driven from Cameron City to the Sanford Freight yards. Later, the name was shortened to “Midway.”
A section of the Midway community became known as Canaan City. The name “Canaan Land” was derived from references
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Side 2
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made by two itinerant preachers, Reverend Beatty and Father Owens, from “Canaan Land,” as mentioned in the Bible.
Education began in Midway/Canaan Community in 1906 when Mrs. Millie Morgan, a graduate of Shaw University, started a private school in her home. Later a public school was established on Midway Avenue, where the present Battern Quarters is located. The school included a tenth grade. When the old school burned, a new school was constructed at its present location, 2251 Jitway Avenue.
The community boasts the first black to graduate from the University of Florida Law School, the first black elected to city government and includes black cowboys, seven professional athletes, ministers, doctors, lawyers, educators, engineers and hard working people.
Marker Number: None
Date: None
County: Seminole
Marker Type: Roadside
Sponsored or placed by: Seminole County
Website: Not listed
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