Eustis

Understand

History

The town was ultimately named after the nearby lake, which was named after General Abraham Eustis. During the latter half of the 19th century, a citrus grove was planted and a hotel opened, and the town became a port. Cold weather in the winter of 1894-1895 slowed local development. The town became more prosperous as a winter haven for northerners, which brought success to the Ocklawaha Hotel. The population grew steadily during the 20th century from about 400 people at the 1900 census to about 4,000 in 1950 and more than 15,000 in 2000. By 2019 the population had passed 20,000.

Get in

By car

• State Route (SR)-19 enters Eustis from the north, as it passes just east of Fort Mason, a suburb of Eustis. FL-19 then goes between Trout Lake and Lake Eustis as it enters downtown Eustis as Bay St as a one way street (southbound) through the downtown while Grove St is the northbound route. South of downtown the two streets once again converge and FL-19 as Bay St continues south to an on-ramp to US-441.
• State Route (SR)-44 comes to the eastern edge of Eustis where SR-44 turns south towards US Hwy 441 on the NE edge of Mount Dora. The road itself continues west into town from the turn off as Orange Ave. Going east, SR-44 goes 29 mi to DeLand (nearest Amtrak Station).
• US Hwy 441 goes across the southern edge of town. Travelers can go north on SR-19 or Lake Eustice drive to go into town from Leesburg (13 mi west). US 441 continues east, into/around Mt Dora and down 37 mi towards Orlando via Apopka where it enters as W Orange Blossom Trail.

By bus

lists the intercity bus companies serving the Orlando Metropolitan area from all parts of the state.

* 1 Leesburg - Tavares - Eustis on US 441. Passengers connect in Leesburg to continue north towards the Villages (Rt 1A). * 3 Mount Dora Connector. It connects Eustis to Mount Dora and goes around Mt Dora as a local shuttle. * 4 Altoona - Eustis - Mount Dora - Zellwood. Bus goes around Mount Dora on US 441 on its way from Eustis to the Anthony House in Zellwood. Going North it goes up to Altoona via Umatilla and Dona Vista on SR-19 from Eustis. * Link 44 Continues on US Hwy 441 from the Anthony House in Zellwood towards Apopka. This route is operated by Lynx. LakeXpress goes just over the county line into Orange County where passengers continue further in on Lynx buses. LakeXpress does not serve any of the SunRail Stations. .

Get around

In downtown, FL-19 splits with Bay Street on the west side as the southbound side and Grove St two streets to the east as the northbound route. Downtown is fairly compact.

Go next

• Ocala National Forest to the north
• Mount Dora and Tavares to the southeast and southwest, respectively