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Acron is a ghost town in eastern Lake County, Florida. Established during the late 19th century, near Paisley on Lake Acron, it is best known as the town where Flora Call and Elias Disney, the parents of Walt Disney, and Roy O. Disney lived for a short time after they were married in nearby Kismet on New Year's Day, 1888.[1] Roy was born in Florida and after living in Acron for several years they moved to Chicago shortly before Walt was born. The location, which is just northeast of Lake Akron, is about forty miles (65 km) due north of what is now Walt Disney World.

History
Acron also spelled Ackron and Akron was established in the 1860's and is now known as Paisley. It was home to a sawmill, gristmill, farming families and citrus groves. In order to reach Acron people would have to pay a $6.00 fare to take a streamer down the St. John’s River from Jacksonville to Hawkinsville. Then there would be an overland trip by mule cart waiting for them in Hawkinsville to take them to Acron. Acron originally had a population of 30 but which grew to 300. Acron mostly consisted of orange and vegetable growers unlike the rest of the Florida panhandle which was cotton country. In 1875 The Acron School was established consisting of a two-story log school which also served as a Sunday school, Masonic hall, voting precinct, church house and a location for the local Mason meetings. Sara Campbell was the first teacher at the school later followed by Flora Call the mother of Roy and Walt Disney. A local store was established in 1886 called Gardiner & Hethcox, it was a general merchandise built by Jennie Gardiner and J.C. Hethcox. John C. Campbell became the first postmaster in Acron when the post office was established in 1877. The post office was run from Campbell's home which also served as the local hotel for a short time. The original Campbell home was destroyed in 1910 and the community has since disappeared.

Disney Family
The Disney family has several connections to Acron and the area. After being issued one of the first marriage licenses in the newly formed Lake County on December 27, 1887 Walt’s parents visited Kismet’s hotel for their honeymoon. The hotel was later moved to Eustis and became the Grand View Hotel. The town of Kismet later became a ghost town. After their honeymoon the Disney’s moved to Acron and later on moved again to Chicago in 1901 shortly before Walt was born. Walt and his brother Roy visited the area many times in their teen years. Their aunt, Jessie Perkins, lived in Acron and the Disney brothers liked to hunt and fish in the Ocala National Forest. Walt considered putting his theme park in the Paisley area at one point and even looked at real estate there. Walt eventually chose to build Disney World the world’s number one tourist destination just 50 miles away in Orlando, Florida.

The Town Today
The town has been abandoned since the early 1900’s and only remnants remain of this small town. These remnants can be found north of Paisley in the Ocala National Forest area near Lake Akron. There are a maze of dirt roads and trails leading to the town and alongside these roads and in nearby areas one can find remnants of the town including old bottles, glass, wood, metal wire and ceramics. The town once had a sawmill on the lake but there are no longer any structural remains including any bricks or other building materials. There is nothing left of the town but these few item and a small clearing in the Ocala National Forest.

Sister Towns & Communities

 * Town of Astatula
 * City of Clermont
 * City of Eustis
 * City of Fruitland Park
 * City of Groveland
 * Town of Howey-in-the-Hills
 * Town of Lady Lake
 * City of Leesburg
 * City of Mascotte
 * City of Minneola
 * Town of Montverde
 * City of Mount Dora
 * City of Tavares
 * City of Umatilla