1837- Fort Mellon established
1875- City of Mellonville incorporated
1877- City of Sanford is incorporated on September 29.
1880- Former President U.S. Grant attends the groundbreaking ceremony for the South Florida Railroad in Sanford.
1883- The city of Mellonville is annexed into Sanford.
1887- The east side of Sanford burns to the ground during "The Big Fire."
1891- The African American city of Goldsboro is incorporated.
1894-95- "The Great Freeze" wipes out the citrus industry in Sanford and farmers begin to grow celery.
1908- The Sanford Herald newspaper is established.
1911- Goldsboro is annexed into Sanford.
1913- Seminole County is created on April 25th with Sanford as the county seat.
1928- Mayor Forrest Lake arrested for embezzlement. City faces financial ruin.
1932- Zora Neale Hurston writes her first novel Jonah's Gourd Vine in Georgetown.
1935- Seminole Boulevard is completed.
1947- The New York Giants move baseball farm team operations to Sanford.
1960- Hurricane Donna hits Sanford.
1968- Sanford Naval Air Station closes.
1969- I-4 opens at Sanford.
1970- Sanford becomes southern terminus of the Auto Train.
1976- Sanford's downtown commerical district is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1989- Sanford's downtown residential district is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1995- Sanford's airport (former Naval Air Station) becomes Orlando-Sanford International Airport. Seminole Towne Center shopping mall opens.
1998- Tornado hits Sanford, kills 12.
2002- Sanford celebrates 125 years.
2004- $3.5 Million RiverWalk opens.
2005- Downtown Streetscape Completion