Pallets in Sanford, on the lake and the interstate

The town

Sanford sits at the head of navigation on the St. Johns River, near the northeastern end of the I-4 corridor between Daytona Beach and Orlando, and counted 61,051 residents in 2020. Its ZIP codes are 32771 and 32773. It is the southern terminus of Amtrak's Auto Train, which carries Eastern Seaboard travelers and their vehicles to Lorton, Virginia, about 25 miles south of Washington, D.C. SunRail serves a station off SR 46, 2 miles from the downtown, and a trolleybus links the two. The downtown has a marina. Orlando Sanford International Airport, in the heart of the town, is the secondary commercial airport for the Orlando metro.

County seat

Sanford is the county seat of Seminole County, and the county government sits in the city. The city lies on the south shore of Lake Monroe, at the head of navigation on the St. Johns River.

Rail

Sanford became a rail hub in the nineteenth century. The South Florida Railroad opened a narrow-gauge route from Sanford to Orlando in 1880 and had a connection to the Port of Tampa by the end of 1883.

Which road to take

I-4

Runs through the city.

US 17 and US 92

The old road through town, French Avenue.

SR 46

Runs along 25th Street.

CR 46A

H.E. Thomas Jr. Parkway.

SR 417 and SR 429

The Seminole Expressway begins in Sanford at I-4 and forms the Eastern Beltway around Orlando. Its interchange with SR 429 lies west of Sanford, in Seminole County.

What the docks handle

Light manufacturing, warehouse distribution and wholesale, plus the airport. A manufacturer ships finished goods on one size of pallet and receives components on another, which is why a Sanford dock tends to hold two or three piles rather than one. Sort them separately.

Lake, land and weather

The Census Bureau gives Sanford 26.5 square miles, of which 3.54 are water, and Lake Mary borders it on the southwest. The sources record a dry season from October to May and a wet season from June to September, so the stacks that pile up behind a Sanford warehouse face the same summer as those in Orlando.

A rail hub and a river port

Sanford was historically a hub for Central Florida transportation as a port on the St. Johns River. The South Florida Railroad opened a narrow-gauge route from Sanford to Orlando in 1880 and reached the Port of Tampa by the end of 1883, and the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railroad opened a route from Sanford to Jacksonville in 1886, completing a rail link across the peninsula. Easy access to transportation soon made the area the largest shipper of oranges in the world. The community itself was laid out after Henry Shelton Sanford bought 12,548 acres west of Mellonville in 1870; it was incorporated in 1877 and absorbed Mellonville in 1883.