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

George W. Bacon

George Washington Bacon (1830–1922) was an American-born London mapmaker, geographer, and publisher whose 1889 visit to Avon Park and financial sponsorship directly precipitated the incorporation of the Florida Development Company and the opening of its London promotional office.[maxwell-1976][savannah-1891-11-02]

London Map Publishing

Born in the United States in 1830, Bacon moved to England in the 1860s and established himself in the British publishing world. In 1870, he founded G. W. Bacon & Co. at 127 Strand, London, which grew into one of Great Britain’s foremost cartographic printing houses, widely celebrated for Bacon’s Large-Scale Ordnance Atlas of London and Suburbs, popular cycling and tourist pocket maps, and educational wall atlases.[dnb-bacon] In 1893, his firm expanded further by acquiring the historic map business of James Wyld.

The Avon Park Enterprise (1889–1891)

While visiting the United States in 1889, Bacon traveled into interior South Florida and became interested in Oliver Marvin Crosby’s nascent settlement at Avon Park in northern DeSoto County.[maxwell-1976] At the time, Crosby was operating the town as an unincorporated, highly leveraged proprietary venture, facing heavy construction obligations—including a $17,000 debt owed to contractors Beckerle, Shuldice & Fay for building the Hotel Verona on Lake Verona.

Bacon persuaded Crosby to reorganize the entire enterprise into a formal stock company capitalized at $150,000.[maxwell-1976] Under their agreement:

  • Crosby would retain $75,000 in company stock.
  • The remaining stock would be sold to pay off existing construction debts.
  • Bacon agreed to return to England to market $75,000 in shares among British investors.

Recognizing that settlement growth was severely bottlenecked by a shortage of building materials—the small local sawmill was constantly breaking down—Bacon urged Crosby to immediately buy a commercial steam sawmill on credit in Jacksonville, adding another $10,000 in debt.[maxwell-1976]

London Capital and the Barings Panic

In 1891, Bacon returned to London to float the company’s shares. In May 1891, Crosby sailed for England on his second European voyage to assist Bacon in marketing the stock and recruiting English colonists.[maxwell-1976]

When Crosby returned to the United States in October 1891, he remained confident that the English funds would materialize. He immediately engaged Jacksonville Board of Trade secretary Charles H. Smith to draft the corporate charter for the Florida Development Company, Limited, listing formal offices in London, New York, Jacksonville, and Avon Park, alongside incorporators Crosby, Frank E. Sperring, Charles H. Smith, and former Circuit Judge Robert B. Archibald.[maxwell-1976][savannah-1891-11-02]

However, the promised British capital failed to arrive. British investment markets had been severely destabilized by the Barings Bank crisis of late 1890 and subsequent London banking failures.[findagrave-crosby] The $75,000 in anticipated capital evaporated, leaving Crosby and the Florida Development Company saddled with heavy unpaid obligations for the sawmill and townsite improvements. These unliquidated debts, compounded by the disastrous Great Freezes of December 1894 and February 1895, led to foreclosure judgments and the 1897 sheriff’s auction of the entire townsite to judgment creditor Abbie R. Dodge.

Bacon continued operating his London cartographic firm until circa 1900, when it was purchased by the Scottish publishing house W. & A. K. Johnston. He died in London in 1922 at the age of ninety-two.[dnb-bacon]

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. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida (references/the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md) (1976) · book
  2. Find a Grave, Oliver Marvin Crosby memorial, with transcribed Tampa Tribune interview, March 1923 (2026) · secondary
  3. The Morning News (Savannah, Ga.), The Morning News (Savannah, Ga.), 2 November 1891, page 1: Articles of incorporation of the Florida Development Company, Limited (1891) · newspaper
  4. Dictionary of National Biography / Wikipedia contributors, George Washington Bacon biographical entry (2026) · secondary

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.