BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The Friends of Keystone Heights, FL. Inc. started the city’s yearlong celebration of its first 100 years with a gala at the Keystone Heights RV Park on Saturday, December 28.
The organization’s president, Ginger Lee, said her group sold around 160 tickets for the gala, which featured the Jacksonville-based band Duval County Line and food from Lake Region restaurants, which the event labeled “A Taste of Keystone.”
The gala launched the yearlong observance and raised money for the nonprofit organization leading the centennial. Tickets were sold for $100.
Living in a Hallmark movie
Dave Rodenroth emceed the event and introduced his wife, Keystone Heights Mayor Nina Rodenroth, who welcomed the crowd and highlighted the benefits of living in what she called an oasis among the lakes.
“Our small-town charm, historic homes, seasonal activities with small-town parades, and our historic pavilion are the initial attractions for the lifestyle that most people dream about when visiting Keystone Heights,” she said. “Lower taxes and utilities, our excellent Clay County school system, low crime rates, and affordable housing are also benefits.”
The mayor also boasted of the city’s thriving business community and airport.
“These are the reasons that prompted Dave and I to relocate from Jacksonville to Keystone Heights in 2017,” she said. “We love our new quality of life. Two years ago, after several visits, our previous neighbors relocated here because they also wanted to experience what it is like to live in a Hallmark movie.”
Rodenroth outlined the town’s population, stating that of its 1,566 residents, 70% are homeowners, and the median age is 36.
“As of 2024, our population is growing at an annual rate of 1.9%,” she said, adding that the city is home to 111 veterans and 322 children.
The mayor cited an early marketing brochure from the Lawrence Developing Company, highlighting the town’s tourism appeal.
“Keystone Heights is a delightful place for rest and relaxation,” she said, citing the marketing piece. “The brochure also included swimming, fishing, sparkling waters along shaded shores, and a picturesque town.”
Rodenroth also looked to the future, acknowledging that after decades of receding water levels in Lake Geneva, the Black Creek Water Resource Development Project promises to restore the town’s most treasured asset to its former prominence.
The mayor concluded her remarks by toasting the city’s founders, John and Agnes Lawrence.
Saved the city during the Great Depression
Keystone Heights Heritage Commission Chair Christine Arnold also addressed the crowd, giving guests an overview of the city’s early years.
She said that in the early 1920s, the railroad provided the only reliable access to the town due to poor roads and Florida’s open-range laws.
She added that John Lawrance was determined to make Keystone more than just a whistle-stop along the railway.
“He wanted it to be a resort destination,” she said. “Some place where people could go and be intellectually fulfilled— physically, we have all kinds of hunting and fishing— but also spiritually.”
Arnold credited Pennsylvania State Senator Frank Miller with the town’s continued growth after the Lawrences sold Miller a controlling interest in their developing company in December 1923.
Arnold said that although John Lawrence remained the community’s spiritual leader, Miller’s money and political connections contributed to the town’s continued development until the late 1920s when the Great Depression threatened to wipe Keystone Heights off the map.
“Keystone Heights was developed with outside money,” Arnold said, “and these were all second homes, so it was the first thing to go, and we were really in danger of losing our town.”
She added that with only 22 permanent residents, many homeowners could not pay their property taxes or get access to the money in their bank accounts.
In response to the economic crisis, the town reduced its city limits, and there was talk of revoking the city charter.
Arnold said Ed Larson, whom Miller installed as Keystone’s first city manager, saved the town.
“The Great Depression lasted from 1928 to 1938,” she said. “The really bad part of it was right around 1932, and Larson stayed and took care of the town and made sure that we were going to make it.”
Arnold said Larson, who was later elected Florida’s state treasurer, enacted budget cuts, secured state financial support, and kept Keystone out of debt during those critical years.
The Heritage Commission chair added that the town’s spirit of volunteerism also carried Keystone Heights through the depression, recalling the Community Christian Church and the Woman’s Club’s central role in helping the city survive.
Arnold said the town’s early development coincided with prohibition and the women’s suffrage movement, adding that the Woman’s Club membership included teachers, musicians, and a pharmacist.
“They weren’t going to sit back,” Arnold said of the women. “They took an active role in the town.”
