Dr. Thomas T. Seeyle House

This house was constructed about 1885 by Leonard Eaton, Crescent City's most prominent architect and
builder during the historic period, for Dr. Thomas T. and Finette S. Seelye. The Seelyes came to Crescent City from Cleveland, Ohio in the early 1880s and decided to construct a winter residence. They purchased the property from William Bettsworth in March 1885 and hired Eaton to design and construct the house. After Thomas Seelye's death, Finette sold the property to T.S. Deveau in 1894. In 1911 Thomas A. Stryker acquired the house. After Thomas died in the late 1910s, his cousin, Melancthon W. Stryker inherited the property and sold it to R.C. Middleton in 1922. Middleton managed the local groves of the Gentile Brothers citrus firm for twenty years. He was also active in civic affairs, serving as a Crescent City alderman (1915-17, 1925-27, 1929-33) and mayor (1923-1925) and as Putnam County representative to the Florida Legislature in 1933. The Middleton family lived at the house until 1945 when Mr. and Mrs. Philip Sargent acquired the property. The Sargent family owned the house until 2017. When the current owners acquired it. The two and one-half story house is significant for its Victorian era architecture and association with the residential development of Crescent City during the late nineteenth century. It is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as an individual property.