Lawton House

Oviedo pioneer J. H. Lee Sr. built the Lawton House in 1890 on South Central Avenue near the old downtown crossroads. In 1910, he sold it to his newly wed daughter Charlotte “Lottie” Lee and her husband Thomas Willington Lawton Sr., and the house was moved on rollers to its present site. The home once had seven rooms, including a wrap around porch, and a deep well supplied water to an elevated wooden tank. About 1920, it was retrofitted with a battery lighting system with on the wall wiring throughout the house. T. W. and Charlotte Lawton raised three children there. Thomas W. Lawton served as principal of the Oviedo School from 1905 to 1907, later kept a general store with his brother Winborn Joseph Lawton until 1916, and on June 6, 1916, was elected superintendent for Seminole County Schools before being appointed by the Governor in October 1916 to complete his predecessor’s unexpired term. He retired in 1952 and remained the longest serving Seminole County school superintendent. He died on October 20, 1963, forty-seven years to the day after the Governor appointed him superintendent. In 1968, the Oviedo School was renamed T. W. Lawton Elementary School in his memory. The house is now home to the Oviedo Historical Society and is owned by the City of Oviedo.

Oviedo, Florida · United States