The town of Interlachen was first settled by Native Americans. Artifacts found in the Interlachen area suggests there was a long succession of different tribes inhabiting the area.

When the Spanish explorers “discovered” the area in 1513, they called the native people Timucua. Timucua Chief Utina, inhabited a village on what is now George’s Lake, about ten miles north of Interlachen.

By the early 19th century, nearby Palatka was a busy city on the St. John’s River. In the 1850s, people started moving out of Palatka to the surrounding areas. The traditional founding date of Interlachen is 1880 and its founder is said to be Dr. O.S. Whipp. Dr. Whipp, originally from Pennsylvania, built a log cabin on Lake Chipco. The area was then called Blue Pond.

The name Interlachen was adopted in 1882 and the town was incorporated in 1888. In its early days, Interlachen was a tourist town, offering streetcar and boat tours as well as lodging in the Interlachen and LaGonda Hotels. For many years, the area’s main agricultural industry was citrus. Several freezes killed many of the area’s groves in the early 1900s.

Situated on Interlachen High School’s campus, at the intersection of State Road 20 and County Road 315, stands the Sid Martin Building, which was the original Interlachen Academy built in 1895.