Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: The William H. Gleason House was built around 1884 by William Henry Gleason (c.1830-1902) and his wife Sarah Griffin Gleason. Gleason came to Florida in 1866 with his wife and two sons from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and settled in Dade County. In 1870, he bought a 16,000-acre tract of land in Brevard County and named the area Eau Gallie (“Eau” from his hometown, meaning water, and “Gallie,” a derivative of a Seminole word meaning rocky). Convinced the area was likely to develop, Gleason moved his family to Eau Gallie in 1882. Here he practiced law, was a partner in a sawmill business, and was director of the town’s first bank, the State Bank of Eau Gallie. In 1887, he convinced Henry Flagler to extend his railroad to Eau Gallie by offering the railroad right-of-way through the area. Gleason was also interested in politics during Reconstruction, and was instrumental in framing the 1868 state constitution. He was Florida’s first elected Lieutenant Governor, under Governor Harrison Reed, in 1868. The Gleason House is an outstanding example of Queen Anne style architecture and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.