One morning back in March of 1927, the First Regional Bank of Orlando was held up. But what the city of Orlando didn't realize at the time, was that this was an inside job by three men working for the state. Over $50,000 in gold was on its way from the vault at Fort Sumter to Tallahassee to pay for a refurbishing of the state capital planned to begin in September. While no one was injured during the holdup, the 3 men escaped to a nearby orange grove, one of several near the middle of downtown at that time.
Sheriff Max Bumby and deputies Amagon, Francis and Harland were in hot pursuit but could only capture two of the men. the third man disappeared on horseback with about half the gold (or so they thought at the time) and was never seen again.
Over the next 50 years, Orlando forgot about the third man, Mack Arlington and the gold, assuming that he escaped down into the Everglades area of south Florida. But when the construction of the local East-West Expressway began back in 1973, the roads in front of my house were ripped up to make way for new pavement. When one of the digger claw machines dug down between the two trees in front of my house sand fell while the claw lifted up...along with a stream of gold coins. Construction workers flocked to the scene pocketing coins before cooler heads prevailed and the area was cordened off. When detectives came to investigate, that's when they discovered the gold coins from the robbery almost 50 years earlier...coins that were worth, by their 1973 values, over $400 thousand.
Today you can still see some of the coins at the Orlando Regional History Museum along with part of the buried box. And of course, you can see the famous trees right in front of my house where Mack Arlington hid his gold and even carved an "X" on one tree...presumably to "mark the spot."
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Ok, if you've read this far, I have to confess... The whole story above was made up in a shameless attempt to get people to visit my cache. If you do wish to come, you'll find it, and the trees, in a neighborhood just east of downtown Orlando. Park on a side street and take a short stroll around the neighborhood, enjoying the brick streets, old homes and what's left of the old, stately oaks following the recent hurricanes.
Also, from my house, you are within a 10 minute walk of several caches nearby. Thank you for visiting!