# Old Dixie: Cassadaga to Kissimmee *Orlando before the Mouse* Old Dixie: Cassadaga to Kissimmee is a ~75-mile back-roads route from Cassadaga to Kissimmee on US 17-92, driven in 1 day, that stays off I-4 through the Florida Peninsula. - **Drive:** Cassadaga → Kissimmee - **Distance:** ~75 mi - **Days:** 1 - **Highways:** US 17-92 - **Avoids:** I-4 - **Region:** Florida Peninsula - **Themes:** Oddities & Roadside Wonders, Literary South, Small Towns, Cult Classics & Pop Lore US 17-92 is the old Dixie Highway spine through the middle of Florida, and it remembers everything I-4 paved over: a Spiritualist camp town where mediums post office hours, the celery empire that built Sanford, the oldest incorporated Black municipality in America and its most famous daughter, Zora Neale Hurston, and the greatest Tiffany glass hoard on earth. It ends at a monument literally built from the states, in the town the Mouse made a suburb. Markers: Eatonville's historic markers and Sanford's downtown district plaques do heavy lifting on a short route. ## The drive, segment by segment ### Spirits & Celery *Cassadaga → Sanford · ~20 mi* A morning with the mediums, then Sanford's brick downtown, the town celery built and the ferry-and-rail hub before Orlando mattered. Stops: - **Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp** (Cassadaga) · Oddities & Roadside Wonders — Founded 1894 and still run by certified mediums; the 'Psychic Capital of the World' is a whole town of readings, seances and a haunted hotel. Skeptics welcome, allegedly expected. - **Historic Sanford Riverfront** (Sanford) · Small Towns — 'Celery City': a brick 1880s downtown on Lake Monroe built by Henry Sanford's farm empire, now breweries and antique rooms. The zoo began with a rhesus monkey traded for produce. ### Zora's Eatonville *Sanford → Orlando · ~25 mi* Maitland's art colony, Eatonville's living history, Winter Park's Tiffany trove, and the old motel-row 17-92 into Orlando. Stops: - **Zora Neale Hurston Museum** (Eatonville) · Literary South — Eatonville incorporated in 1887 as America's first all-Black municipality, and raised the woman who wrote it into the canon. The Zora! Festival takes over every January. - **Morse Museum** (Winter Park) · History & Markers — The most comprehensive Tiffany collection in existence, including the chapel he built for the 1893 Chicago world's fair, reassembled here piece by leaded-glass piece. ### Old 17-92 South *Orlando → Kissimmee · ~30 mi* The pre-Disney tourist strip, ending at Kissimmee's courthouse square and the strangest patriotic monument in the South. Stops: - **Lake Eola & old Orlando** (Orlando) · Small Towns — The swan boats and 1920s skyline of the citrus-money city that existed before 1971. Orlando was a real place; downtown still is. - **Monument of States** (Kissimmee) · Oddities & Roadside Wonders — A 50-foot 1943 pylon of stones donated from every state, built to prove wartime tourists still mattered. Folk-art patriotism at its most concrete. ## Tips and best time to go - Cassadaga readings book out on weekends; walk-ins do better midweek mornings. - The Zora! Festival (late January) is the right week for Eatonville, and the wrong week to find a room. ## Worth a detour - **Big Tree Park** — Home of Lady Liberty, a 2,000-year-old cypress, sister of The Senator, the 3,500-year-old giant lost to fire in 2012. Old Florida measured in millennia. - **Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour** — An hour through lakes and hand-dug canals past the old estates, running daily since 1938. The best $20 in Central Florida. ## Spurs & side-roads - Mount Dora (US 441 Old Dixie) ## Frequently asked questions ### How long is Old Dixie: Cassadaga to Kissimmee and how many days does it take? Old Dixie: Cassadaga to Kissimmee is about 75 miles and takes 1 day at a back-roads pace. ### Where does Old Dixie: Cassadaga to Kissimmee start and end? It runs from Cassadaga to Kissimmee. ### Which highways does Old Dixie: Cassadaga to Kissimmee follow? It follows US 17-92. ### Which interstate does Old Dixie: Cassadaga to Kissimmee replace? It avoids I-4, using US 17-92 instead. ### How many stops are on Old Dixie: Cassadaga to Kissimmee, and what are the highlights? 6 stops are mapped, including Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp, Historic Sanford Riverfront, Zora Neale Hurston Museum, Morse Museum and Lake Eola & old Orlando. ### Which ready-made itineraries include Old Dixie: Cassadaga to Kissimmee? Florida's Mystic Coast (3 days). ### When is the best time to drive Old Dixie: Cassadaga to Kissimmee? The atlas’s seasonal note for this route: “The Zora! Festival (late January) is the right week for Eatonville, and the wrong week to find a room.” ## Ready-made itineraries using this route - [Florida's Mystic Coast](https://dixieroadtrip.com/trips/mystic-florida) — 3 days, ~280 mi ## Connects with - [A1A: Flagler's Coast](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/a1a-flagler) — St. Augustine → Titusville - [The Space & Treasure Coast](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/space-treasure) — Titusville → Jupiter - [Cross Creek & the Springs](https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/cross-creek-springs) — Palatka → Ocala --- Canonical URL: https://dixieroadtrip.com/routes/old-dixie-cassadaga Publisher: Dixie Media (Dixie Road Trip, https://dixieroadtrip.com/) Last updated: 2026-10-05