History of Island Grove
A post office was established in Island Grove on February 17, 1884. By 1888, ten thousand boxes of oranges and ten thousand crates of vegetables were being shipped annually from the Island Grove station of the Florida Railway and Navigation Company. In 1894 the town had three general stores, a moss factory, cigar factory, and "several hundred inhabitants." Fishing was also an important industry. The name Island Grove reflects the fact that the town was originally surrounded by water; Orange Lake on the south, Cross Creek on the west, an unnamed body of water to the north, and cypress swamps on the east. In 1911 local citizens began drainage projects and raised funds for building the hard roads needed to connect the town with surrounding communities.