Avon Park Citrus Growers Association

The Avon Park Citrus Growers Association (APCGA) was a pioneer agricultural cooperative organized at Avon Park in October 1909 to pack, grade, and market citrus fruit under the auspices of the newly established statewide Florida Citrus Exchange.[fa-1909-10-01][maxwell-1976] For forty-six years, between 1909 and its closure in 1955, the association served as a cornerstone of the Ridge citrus economy, bridging the era of wagon hauls to the modern railroad packing house era.[maxwell-1976][nrhp-avon-park-district]

Origins and the 1909 Organization

Before organized cooperative marketing, early Avon Park citrus growers handled packing independently or through private packing facilities. In 1893, town pioneer William A. King built the first packing house in Avon Park on the south side of Main Street (near the later Jahna concrete plant site) and organized a local shipping pool known as the Avon Park Exchange.[maxwell-1976] Settler S. E. (Steve) Roberts also operated an independent packing facility during the 1890s and early 1900s.[maxwell-1976]

In October 1909, following the statewide creation of the Florida Citrus Exchange (modeled after the California Fruit Growers Exchange), local growers formally organized an Avon Park branch of the Florida Citrus Exchange.[fa-1909-10-01] This body succeeded King’s earlier local exchange and became the Avon Park Citrus Growers Association.[maxwell-1976]

At the time of organization in 1909, Avon Park had no railroad connection. Fruit was packed locally and hauled twenty-two miles across sandy ridge roads by mule team and wagon to the Atlantic Coast Line depot at Wauchula or Bowling Green for rail shipment north.[fa-1909-10-01][maxwell-1976]

Railroad Arrival and Industrial Packing House (1912–1955)

The completion of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad’s Haines City branch into Avon Park in 1912 transformed the association’s operations. The Avon Park Citrus Growers Association constructed a large modern industrial packing house on the north side of Main Street, situated directly adjacent to the new railroad tracks and sidings.[maxwell-1976][nrhp-avon-park-district]

The Avon Park Citrus Growers Association packing house, built north of Main Street along the railroad tracks after 1912. The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida (1976), page 145. Avon Park Historical Society.[maxwell-1976]

Through the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, the association marketed premium oranges and grapefruit under exchange labels, notably the trademarked “Golden Bud” brand and the statewide “Sealdsweet” label.[fm-golden-bud] The packing house operated alongside other major local shipping concerns along the industrial track corridor, including the Pittsburgh-Florida Citrus Growers Association (Lake Byrd Packing Company) and the Maxcy Packing House.[nrhp-avon-park-district]

The Avon Park Citrus Growers Association ceased operations and closed its Main Street packing plant in 1955, concluding nearly half a century of cooperative packing and marketing on the Ridge.[maxwell-1976]

References

• maxwell-1976 — Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell. The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida: 1870-1970. 1976. the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md
• nrhp-avon-park-district — United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form - Avon Park Historic District. 22 March 1990. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/90000486
• fa-1909-10-01 — The Florida Agriculturist (Jacksonville, Fla.). The Florida Agriculturist, 1 October 1909, page 29: a branch of the Florida Citrus Exchange organized at Avon Park. 1 October 1909. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn96027724/1909-10-01/ed-1/?sp=29
• fm-golden-bud — Avon Park Citrus Growers Association / Florida Citrus Exchange. Golden Bud Brand Citrus Crate Label. 1930. avon-park-citrus-growers-golden-bud-label.md

Related

• Entity: Pittsburgh-Florida Fruit Growers Association
• Entity: Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, Haines City Branch
• Finding: The Florida Citrus Exchange organized at Avon Park in 1909
• Finding: Avon Park citrus packing houses and truck farming, 1930–1940
• Report: Citrus, Crates, and Cattle

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. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida: 1870-1970 (references/the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md) (1976)
2. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form - Avon Park Historic District (1990)
3. The Florida Agriculturist (Jacksonville, Fla.), The Florida Agriculturist, 1 October 1909, page 29: a branch of the Florida Citrus Exchange organized at Avon Park (1909)
4. Avon Park Citrus Growers Association / Florida Citrus Exchange, Golden Bud Brand Citrus Crate Label (1930)

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