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Friday, Jan. 1, 2021 | Share The Winter Garden businessman was mayor from 1933 to 1939 and in that time brought a quarter of a million dollars and many jobs to the city.
In the 1930s, the city of Winter Garden was so broke that at one point the remaining money in the treasury would either cover payroll or keep the streetlights turned on but not both. One man made it his mission to lead the city out of the financial slump by bringing in much-needed dollars and jobs to the small West Orange County municipality.
George Walker, a World War I veteran, hesitated when he was asked to run for mayor of Winter Garden during the Great Depression. He was content being a husband and father, managing his citrus groves and running his business, Walker Electric Co., in downtown Winter Garden. He agreed to run, and after being elected mayor, he applied for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.