The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
Menu
Admin Sign-In

The 1930 Citrus Industrial Expansion and Packing House Contracts

During the summer and autumn of 1930, at the onset of the Great Depression and following the collapse of the Florida real estate boom, Avon Park became the center of an intensive industrial construction campaign designed to expand regional citrus handling capacity along the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL).[brooksville-1930-06-19][gadsden-1930-09-11]

Packing House Construction and Major Contracts

Between June and September 1930, three major industrial projects were contracted and constructed in Avon Park:

  • American Fruit Growers, Inc. Packing House (June 1930): On 19 June 1930, construction commenced on a modern, mechanized 300,000-box capacity citrus packing plant erected by American Fruit Growers, Inc. at a capital cost of $50,000.[brooksville-1930-06-19] The facility was sited on ACL industrial trackage to pack Blue Goose and proprietary brand citrus from northern Highlands and southern Polk groves.
  • Lat Maxcy Packing House (July 1930): On 31 July 1930, the general contracting firm of Simmons and Gifford was awarded the construction contract to build an extensive commercial packing house for citrus financier Latimer “Latt” Maxcy (Lat Maxcy).[brooksville-1930-07-31] The Maxcy plant provided bulk packing services for independent growers and was later integrated into regional packing operations leased by Ben Hill Griffin, Jr.[maxwell-1976]
  • New Crate Mill and Sawmill Complex (September 1930): To supply wooden shipping containers for the expanding packing operations, a newly equipped crate manufacturing plant and sawmill commenced capacity operations on 12 September 1930.[gadsden-1930-09-11] The sawmill department was activated during the first week of September 1930 to saw local pine lumber for crate veneer and box slats, supplying packing houses across the Lake Wales Ridge.[gadsden-1930-09-11]

Regional Agricultural Economic Context

The Avon Park industrial expansion formed part of a broader regional mobilization. Across Polk and Highlands counties, commercial citrus growers and exchange associations let contracts totaling $1,500,500 during 1930 for new packing houses, cold storage facilities, and crate mills to process an anticipated statewide crop of sixty million boxes.[gadsden-1930-09-11]

While municipal bond obligations and real estate subdivisions foundered after 1926, private capital investment in packing technology and wooden container manufacture established Avon Park as a primary shipping point for central Florida citrus throughout the Depression decade.

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. The Brooksville Journal (Brooksville, Fla.), Florida Weekly Industrial Review, The Brooksville Journal, 19 June 1930, page 7 (1930)
  2. The Brooksville Journal (Brooksville, Fla.), Florida Weekly Industrial Review, The Brooksville Journal, 31 July 1930, page 7 (1930)
  3. The Gadsden County Times (Quincy, Fla.), Contracts Totaling $1,500,500 Let For Citrus Packing Houses, The Gadsden County Times, 11 September 1930, page 2 (1930)
  4. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida (Held at the Avon Park Historical Society Depot Museum, Avon Park, Florida) (1976) · book

Something here wrong, or incomplete? The Society would rather know. Tell a volunteer.

Have a question about this record?

← Back to collection

Ask A.P.

Ask the archive

    Try asking:

    0 / 500

    A.P. answers only from the Society's own archive and cites what it used. Questions are not linked to you; search history is stored on your device only (how it works).Ask a volunteer for anything it cannot answer.