Tales Of The Big Potato

Jack Christmas wrote a weekly article in The Apopka Chief entitled "Historical Tidbits," from 2007 until 2011. These articles were generally about Northwest Orange County, Florida. They came from the archives of the Museum of Apopkans, personal memories or interviews with the subjects involved. When writing articles from the Museum archives, he did everything possible to give proper credits to the various authors. Sometimes, however, the author was unknown.
During the 16th century, the Acuera tribe of the Timucua confederation lived on the eastern shores of Lake Apopka, fishing, farming, and trading with other tribes. They called the area "Ahapopka," which means "potato eating place." By the 19th century, the Seminole Indians occupied the area and called the lake "Big Potato." From those days forward, Apopka was known as "The Big Potato."