Lake Eola Park began as a sinkhole. In 1873, cattle baron Jacob Summerlin bought 200 acres of central Orlando land, and shortly after, a sinkhole began forming at its edge. Fed by an underground aquifer and stormwater runoff, it became a lake. Summerlin donated the land in 1883, naming it after his sweetheart. Not his wife. His sweetheart.

The park has evolved since then. It once had a zoo, a horse racing track and a pier with a dance floor. Today its most recognisable residents are its swans, introduced in 1922 by an Englishman who'd originally kept them at nearby Lake Lucerne, where they turned aggressive. Orlando's solution: exile them here.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours use Lake Eola to trace Orlando's origins. They weave together competing legends about the city's name, the cattle-and-citrus economy that shaped it, and the park's long role at the heart of downtown life.