Orange County's Rock Spring location is a Pleistocene fossil-bearing area and has yielded a vast variety of birds and mammals including giant sloth, mammoth, camel, and the dire wolf dating around 1.1 million years ago.

[12] Immediately following the transfer of Florida from the Spanish to the United States in 1821, Governor Andrew Jackson created two counties: Escambia to the west of the Suwannee River and St. Johns to the east.

[14] After the population increased in the region, the legislature organized several counties, such as Osceola (1887), Seminole (1913), Lake (1887), and Volusia (1854), from its territory.

[15] Orlando, establishing itself as a city in 1885,[16] experienced rapid growth from 1875 to 1895, due to it becoming the hub of Florida's citrus industry.

[18] Florida had the highest per-capita rate of lynchings of any state in the South, where the great majority of these extrajudicial murders took place.

[19] Among the terrorist lynchings was the death of Julius "July" Perry of Ocoee, whose body was found November 3, 1920, hanged from a lightpole in Orlando, near the house of a judge known to be sympathetic to black voting.

[18] But this was part of a much larger story of KKK and other white attempts to suppress black voting in Ocoee and the state.

[20] After Norman was twice turned away, white violence broke out, resulting in a riot through the black community, leaving an estimated 50 to 60 African-Americans dead and all the properties destroyed.

With no realistic avenues for agricultural use of this rural land, and Florida's continuing strong population growth and its attendant needs (aided and supported by the success of nearby Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Florida), these areas began to be developed for housing and other industries, especially after World War II.

The predecessor of modern-day Orlando International Airport, it was built from a portion of the McCoy Air Force Base.

[22][23] Despite the rapid development in the county, thanks to gentrification relics of the historic core of "Old Orlando" still reside in downtown Orlando (along Church Street, between Orange Avenue and Garland Avenue), as well as within Orange County communities outside city limits, such as in Eatonville, Windermere, and Winter Park.

Boggy Creek rises from the Orlando International Airport at 70 feet (21 m) above sea level, which is the primary inflow for East Lake Tohopekaliga in nearby Osceola County.

Orange County is divided into six regions; the (central) Downtown area (with urban characteristics); the (southwestern) tourist strip (with a mixture of permanent dwellings, resorts, and hotels); a mixture of working-class, middle-class, and wealthier suburbs in the west (with some exurban characteristics); more historically established suburbs to the north (with inner-ring characteristics, attributed to the SunRail); a mixture of suburbs with more accessibly priced homes in the east (within the influence of University of Central Florida); and working-class neighborhoods and additional tourist attractions to the south (within the influence of nearby Kissimmee in neighboring Osceola County).

[33] Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Kia Center, Lake Eola, Orlando Museum of Art, and other attractions are located in downtown, along with corporate offices for banks such as Wells Fargo, Seacoast, and Suntrust banks, and government building such as Orange County Courthouse and Orlando City Hall.

International Drive, commonly known as I-Drive, is a major 11.1-mile (17.9 km) thoroughfare that traverses central and southern portions of unincorporated Orange County.

An additional extension is known as International Drive South, partly located in the northern portion of Osceola County.

[38] This region is most known for being the location of Walt Disney World Resort, which covers nearly 25,000 acres (39 sq mi; 101 km2) (of which half has been developed).

Other communities in southwestern Orange County, which have primarily suburban and exurban characteristics, include Bay Hill, Dr. Phillips, Four Corners, Horizon West, MetroWest, Williamsburg, and Windermere.

Orange County communities due west of Downtown Orlando, which primarily have exurban characteristics, include Apoka, Gotha, Oakland, Ocoee, Pine Hills, Tildenville, and Winter Garden.

[42] Orange County communities due south of Downtown Orlando, which primarily have suburban characteristics, include Conway, Hunter's Creek, Lake Nona, Meadow Woods, Oak Ridge, Southchase, and Taft.

ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Atlantic.net, Central Florida Expressway Authority, Darden Restaurants, Miller's Ale House, Planet Hollywood, and Tijuana Flats (among others) have their corporate headquarters in the county.

The OCCC hosts events attracting about 1.5 million people annually, injecting $2.5 billion into the region's economy.

The transient nature of Orange County makes it a major regional commercial hub for the State of Florida.

[95] Walt Disney Imagineers took inspiration from real coastal towns in Florida, such as St. Augustine and Coral Gables.

However in February 2020, it was reported that the Golf Channel would consolidate its television operations with the remainder of NBC Sports at its facilities in Stamford, Connecticut.

The county is also served by a clerk of courts, sheriff, property appraiser, tax collector, supervisor of elections, state attorney, and public defender.

As a result of such independence, voters were inundated with non-stop television and radio ads months preceding a general election.

It eventually became one of the stronger Republican bastions in Florida, as evidenced when it gave Barry Goldwater 56 percent of its vote in 1964.

The OCLS Wi-Fi network which is available at all branches remains free of charge to all users including Reciprocal borrowers and visitors who use their own iPad, Mac, PC, Smartphone or tablet devices.

Maitland and Winter Park Library do not provide reciprocal privileges to OCLS patrons and charge non-residents a yearly user fee.