They gathered at the Citra Community Center the other day for a reunion and homecoming for the historic Citra school, a joyous but damp gathering of old-timers who could remember the good times (and bad) when it seemed this North Marion community could survive any obstacle to progress.

Of course, memories didn't go that far back, but when the Florida Peninsular Railroad finally reached down from Waldo to Citra in 1880, many residents knew the community was well on its way to becoming a trade center. The future seemed unlimited.

Citra already was the center of the citrus industry, with citrus trees spreading over the countryside south of Orange Lake “as far as the eye could see,” as one visitor put it. The road coming down from Island Grove, across the east end of Orange Lake, wasn't much, but as time marched on, it would turn into a part of the much-advertised Dixie Highway, then the four-lane U.S. 301.

The arrival of a second railroad, the Florida Southern coming out of Palatka, was seen as positive proof that citrus and other agricultural products would have easy access to northern markets and better profits than ever before.

Under the leadership of men like E.L. Wartmann, J.B. Borland and, later, W.J. Crosby and many others, Citra's economic role in Marion County seemed assured. What they didn't figure on were freezes and economic collapse. But all of that was in the future in the 1880s.

The beginning of orange culture was already there, around Orange Lake, when the first settlers came after the United States took ownership of Florida from the Spanish. Some say the Indians dropped seed from oranges they obtained from the Spanish to account for the plethora of orange trees, which were mostly sour orange.

What these observers failed to note were the Spanish missions, and the real possibility that the religious men who sought to convert the natives to their brand of religion actually planted groves to supply an ample amount of fruit. Whatever the case, the first settlers found orange trees and saw the potential.

Eventually, the Citra area would become known as the home of the sweet pineapple orange, the finest citrus fruit to be found anywhere. It was a great marketing tool, and was effective as long as the citrus industry lasted in this area.

The industry's decline is a sad, sad story, and today few citrus trees are to be seen.

Finding some documentation of the first schools in the Citra area ranges from difficult to impossible at this late date.

There are references to “the old Citra school.” The Citra New Era mentions the opening of the Citra Free School in September 1887, with Irma Porter and Miss E.R. Wartmann as teachers.

Citra came into the modern era in the spring of 1901, when an election was held to create a special tax district for the Citra school.

It was one of four such elections held in the county that year, all of them receiving a favorable vote.

Only in Anthony did a special election run into trouble. The tax district there was voted down, presumably because there was a serious, fist-shaking debate between Anthony and Sparr about the attendance zones.

Citra had a tax district but no money. J.B. Borland represented the Citra school at a meeting in Ocala where School Superintendent W.D. Carn told the new district representatives they would have to go to the banks to borrow money against future tax receipts. Citra had no bank at the time. That would come later.

In 1903, the county school board bought three wagons from A.G. Gates in Ocala to transport students. One of those wagons began to haul outlying children to the Citra school. That may have been the beginning of today's massive school transportation system.

School trustees C.W. Driver, Wartmann and Crosby went before the county school board in 1913 to seek an $8,000 bond issue to build a new facility for the Citra school. A year later, the bond issue was approved unanimously by the property owners.

E.C. Hosford was hired to design the school and W.V. Henry of Jacksonville was awarded the contract to build the school. The new school was completed in 1915 at a cost of $10,265. It took an act of the State Legislature to validate the bonds, but that is another story.

The old school building, which had served only white students, was moved to a new location where it became a school for black students.

Another election had to be held to gain approval to expand Citra's tax district because the money coming in wouldn't cover school costs. That worked, but not without controversy. In the end, however, another bond issue was necessary.

Trustees R.S. Shortridge, I.J. Ellis and Crosby sought approval of a new bond issue for only $2,500. It was approved by the voters.

With the coming of World War I, the Citra schools went on short terms. By 1920, the Sparr district was asking to discontinue its school and assign the students to Citra. However, the Sparr school was continued at that time. But consolidation was on the horizon.

In 1935, the county school board asked for federal money to construct an auditorium and renovate the Citra school. A $15,000 grant was approved two years later, and Frank Parziale of Ocala was hired as architect. H.B. Trauger of Lakeland got the construction contract.

An election was held in 1941 for approval to begin consolidating the county’s many high schools. It was a clear warning of what was coming. In the 1950s, a state team called for a new school to serve North Marion. It took awhile, but the eventual result was North Marion High School at a new location. Memories of the Citra school extend back from there.

An avid Marion County historian, David Cook is a retired editor of the Star-Banner. He may be contacted at 237-2535.