[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 184 (Tuesday, December 4, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2467]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CELEBRATING THE CENTENNIAL OF THE DUNN HOUSE IN CITRUS COUNTY, FLORIDA

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                         HON. GINNY BROWN-WAITE

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 4, 2007

  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 
recognize the centennial celebration of the historic Dunn House in 
Citrus County, FL. The current owners, Rev. Harvey and his wife Astrid 
Dunn, have had the Dunn House in their family since 1916. Originally 
constructed in 1907 as a field house and meeting place for the Florida 
Mutual Mining Company, the building was purchased and turned into a 
home by the Dunn family in 1916.
  At the center of the phosphate boom in the 1890s and into the early 
1900s, Citrus County was home to several mining companies, among them 
the Florida Mutual Mining Company. The company built what became known 
as the Dunn House in 1907, not as a home, but as a field office. 
Historical documents describe the house as a place for the owners and 
stockholders to go when they needed to conduct business in the area.
  The field superintendent of the company's Floral City Mines was 
William Harvey Dunn, Rev. Harvey Dunn's grandfather. While many Dunn 
family members called the house a home, one of the Dunn family members 
born there, Hampton Dunn, became a well-known Citrus County historian 
and writer. A prolific author, Hampton is best known locally for his 
work, ``Back Home, a History of Citrus County, Florida.'' A World War 
II veteran, Hampton also had careers as a reporter, author, editor, 
soldier, historian, preservationist and a crusader for traffic safety.
  In 1973 Harvey and Astrid Dunn took over the Dunn House after a 20-
year vacant period, working to rehabilitate and restore the home to its 
original state and beauty. Today the Dunn House is of the pride and joy 
of Citrus County residents, with its two-story, porch-over-porch house 
and eight original fireplaces. In fact, the front of the house faces an 
old abandoned mine road which existed long before the current Bedford 
Road. Therefore, visitors approach the property from the back and side 
of the house, not the front as you would at most other period homes.
  Madam Speaker, the historic Dunn House is a venerable institution and 
tourist attraction in Citrus County, FL. The residents of Floral City 
take great pride in the home, and look forward to celebrating its 
centennial anniversary this year. I know that the Dunn family has spent 
many years preserving and restoring the Dunn House to its full glory, 
and I congratulate them on their commitment and effort.

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