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Osowaw Junction | Photo © 2011 Bullet, www.abandonedfl.com

Osowaw Junction

City/Town:
Location Class:
Built: 1914 | Abandoned: N/A
Status: Disappearing Town
Photojournalist: David Bulit
Osowaw Junction | Photo © 2011 Bullet, www.abandonedfl.com
A roadside fruit stand along US 441

In 1914, a train station was established at this location, north of Fort Drum along the Kissimmee Valley Extension of the Florida East Coast Railroad and several miles south of what would become Jackass Crossing, home to the Desert Inn. It was given the name Osowaw, a Seminole Indian word meaning “bird”. It was a citrus town, with many orange and tangerine groves. It had a steady and growing population due to the railroad, including by 1921 it’s own public school. The end came about when the rail line was abandoned causing most residents to leave the area for better opportunities, and the town of Osowaw Junction disappeared.

According to some farmworkers I met there in 2011, the farmhouse collapsed due to strong winds as a cold front was moving through Florida, and what remained of the ghost town was subsequently cleared out by the owners of the property. Even though it’s gone, it still holds a special place in my heart as it was one of the first places I photographed when I received a beginner’s DSLR, a Nikon D40. That night is still clear in my mind as I can still feel the cold air, the spider webs of the banana spiders that clung to the walls, and the howling of the coyotes that roamed the citrus groves.




Bullet

David Bulit is a photographer, author, and historian from Miami, Florida. He has published a number of books on abandoned and forgotten locales throughout the United States and continues to advocate for preserving these historic landmarks. His work has been featured throughout the world in news outlets such as the Miami New Times, the Florida Times-Union, the Orlando Sentinel, NPR, Yahoo News, MSN, the Daily Mail, UK Sun, and many others. You can find more of his work at davidbulit.com as well as amazon.com/author/davidbulit.

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