Greg Tish- A Stroll Down the Streets of Tallahassee

By Greg Tish, Contributing Writer, Tallahassee Reports

We drive down the streets of Tallahassee daily but many of us have no idea how the streets got their names.

Let’s take a look at two streets in our area that are wrapped around the same family – Fleischmann Road and Welaunee Boulevard.

If you have ever baked or bought a loaf of bread then we have two men to thank for that, Charles Louis Fleischmann and his brother Maximilian.

In the late 1800’s the brothers invented a commercially produced yeast product that revolutionized bread baking in America. And they made a fortune.

Max had five children and two of them, Udo and Louise made impacts in Tallahassee. In the early 20th century Udo started a quail hunting plantation in Leon County and named it Welaunee, which means “Yellow Water”. The plantation was pretty extensive on the eastern part of Leon county.

When Udo passed away in 1952 he left the plantation to his wife where she raised Hereford cattle. When Mrs. Fleischmann passed away in 1962 her nephew, John W. Mettler, Jr, took over Welaunee and upwards of 500 head of cattle were raised on the property.

When more property was needed for more cattle, he purchased more property from his Aunt….Miss Alfred B. Maclay. Miss Maclay, who was born as Louise Fleischmann, was instrumental in creating Killearn Gardens on the NE side of town. The gardens are now known as Maclay Gardens.

We have three street names in play here. Fleischmann Road, named for Udo Fleischmann and it was the original road to the entrance of Welaunee Plantation.

Welaunee Boulevard, which intersects with Fleischmann Road and cuts through the old plantation grounds and Maclay Road which was named after Alfred B Maclay and his wife Louise Fleischmann- Maclay.

  Greg Tish, Street Names