Flying orbs, phantom trucks, ghost hitchhikers – sounds like something from the Disney Haunted Mansion, but instead they are in reference to sightings on Interstate four (I-4) between Orlando and Daytona. It is easy to think that all of that talk about ghostly figures on I-4 is all fake or tricks on people’s minds…but what about the 2,000 car accident deaths on one single overpass on I-4 since the highway was built in 1963…

In 1887, a yellow fever epidemic hit the Central Florida area, specifically a Roman Catholic Colony, called the St.Joseph’s Colony, and sadly the only colony’s priest died. So when a family of four passed from the yellow fever epidemic, there was no one to bless the graves. Therefore the living members of the colony buried the family of four without any ceremony with four unmarked graves.

The land was purchased by Albert Hawkins in 1905 for farming and when he found the four graves, he built his farm around the graves out of respect for the family. Hawkins took care of the graves by mowing the grass and keeping the land clean. In time, his care for the land became well-known and nicknames the Field of the Dead by other local settlers.

When Albert Hawkins died in 1935, his wife took care of the land and the graves. However in 1960, the land was purchased to build Interstate 4. The state surveyors were told about the graves and originally marked them off to be removed and placed somewhere else…but for some reason this never happened. Instead fill dirt was placed on the graves and they started building I-4 right on top of them.

As soon as the building began over the graves, things started to happen. Hurricane Donna, known as one of the worst hurricanes in Central Florida, eerily made its way right over the site of the graves with the eye of the hurricane sitting above the new construction site of I-4. This could just be a coincidence, but what was weird was how the hurricane got there. It started out breaking land from the Atlantic Ocean in South Florida. It then moved across the state completely to the Gulf Of Mexico, but then it moved back onto land and started moving up the newly made I-4. Hurricane Donna’s eye lay over the graves at around midnight after it’s second landfall…It was several months before construction of I-4 could continue due to the extreme damage of Hurricane Donna, which made people think it was the dead fighting back from their resting place .

Ever since the highway was completed, people have reported seeing ghosts along the highway, ghost hitchikers in their cars, phantom trucks, and orbs crossing the highway. Some people say that when they are on their cell phones in this spot that weird unrecognizable voices will come on the line interrupting their conversations. Radio stations have been known to go from a perfectly clear signal to static and sometimes even eerie voices will be heard over the radio speakers…It is hard to ignore the over 2,000 deaths that have occurred due to accidents on this overpass…some of those who lived through their accident claimed they swerved to not hit the family of four crossing the street. Others say they hit a few people. However no people or bodies were ever found.

The ghost sitings and the massive amount of highways deaths in this area of I-4 where the family of four still lie is known as the “Dead Zone”.

Want to know where it is? Check out this picture of the area and this map. Most of us will have to drive over the Dead Zone at some point, but now that you know where it is, be careful of what you see and beware of the Dead Zone.

Sheriff David Mizell went to arrest Moses Barber after he did not pay a bill for cattle. The Sheriff brought his sons Billy and Morgan along with him to make the arrest. On their way, the three Mizells stopped to give their horses some water, and then there was gunfire. Sheriff David Mizell was shot down dead, presumably by the Barbers.

A month later, Moss Barber Jr. was caught and brought out to Lake Conway. He was tied up and put in a sack with weights. Moss Barber Jr. was then thrown in the lake. However, somehow he surfaced and started swimming to shore. The new Sheriff shot down Moss Barber, and he died in the lake.

For a while after, there were stories that Lake Conway was haunted by the ghost of Moss Barber Jr. That was not the end of the revenge, however.

Isaac Barber was captured and tied to a tree. Twenty gun shots later, Isaac Barber was dead and so ends the Barber-Mizell feud.

I found a couple of different versions of this story, but it is interesting to see what happened in Orlando before Disney. It is all part of Orlando’s Culture. My version came from  A guide to Historic Orlando by Steve Rajtar and The Barber-Mizell Fued.

The city of Orlando was not originally named Orlando. On the contrary, our dear city was named “Jernigan” after the first family that settled here. As of 1850, the city was named Jernigan. However in 1857, the name changed to Orlando. Why?

No one really knows. There are four stories of where the name “Orlando” came from.

The first story is that Judge James Speer, who helped Orlando gain the county seat, named the city after a friend of his. The second story is that Judge James Speer named the city for a character in Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”.The third story is that Mr. Orlando was on his way to Tampa with ox and he died of a sickness. He was buried here therefore people would come through this area and say “Here lies Orlando” and the name stuck.

The final story is that there was  a group of soldiers battling Indians during the Seminole Wars. The soldiers battled the Indians to the swamps on the east side of Lake Minnie and the soldiers decided to settle for the night. Sentinel Orlando Reeves was guarding the camp and saw a log floating toward him. Orlando noticed this was an Indian disguise and so he fired his gun to warn his fellow soldiers. The Indians ambushed the camp and took Orlando down with arrows. After the group of soldiers battled the Indians back into the swamps, they buried Orlando Reeves on the south side of Lake Eola.

We hope you enjoyed a little history about the city we love.