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| Jupiter Lighthouse 1890. Florida State Archives |
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| Jupiter |
By Jane Feehan
Street names often seem an inadequate acknowledgement of a family’s contributions to its history. The Pennocks, and the Pennock Plantation played a significant role in Jupiter’s past.
The Pennock family, who were florists, moved to Jupiter from Pennsylvania about 1901 or 1902. The name appears in notes from a Dade County commission meeting in 1904. Henry Sellers Pennock (1877-1930) served as a county commissioner. Dade County in those days extended to Jupiter from the Florida Keys. Brother Herbert Aldrich Pennock (1855-1945), not to be confused with baseball player Herbert Jefferis Pennock, began serving on the school board in 1905. The Quaker family, headed by Abraham and Elizabeth Pennock, promoted the building of roads in the county and also donated property for a permanent school building.
It was the Pennock Plantation, however, that shaped the
family’s legacy. Some news accounts indicate the farm, sitting near the
Loxahatchee River and the Jupiter Lighthouse, was one of the first businesses in Jupiter. Operations,
which included a dairy and cultivation of ferns, was launched under the direction of
Henry Pennock in 1907 or 1909.
The business was successful. In 1918 it was reported that Henry Pennock signed off on the purchase of land in the Everglades near the Hillsboro Canal, 30 miles west of Jupiter. Pennock wanted to use it as a cow pasture; the Everglades at that time was thought to be good farming land, possibly a worthwhile pasture. The seller of the property was the Southern States Land & Timber Company. I couldn’t find any follow up to that story but doubt it was used as pasture or for very long; the Everglades frequently flooded.
The Pennock Plantation’s reputation for operating a modern, high-quality dairy was well established by 1918. A visit by a group of businessmen to the farm in 1921 was reported in a long article in The Palm Beach Post; it underscored that success.
As the visitors entered the farm's front property, they came upon the remains of ramparts from the Seminole Wars of the 1830s. It was a salute, of sorts, to Jupiter history. The men were impressed.
They were also impressed with Henry S. Pennock. He was described as “a genial, industrious individual of more than average reserve and technical knowledge.” He was said to be the “guiding genius on Pennock Plantation.”
The visitors were surprised by 18 windmills that facilitated irrigation of fields of ferns. Pennock Plantation owned 100 prize-winning
Jersey cows and grew a variety of grasses on the 200-plus-acres farm. The busnessmen were also wowed by Pennock’s two modern Sharpler milking machines. The plantation was profitable then, Henry told them, generating about $50,000 a year after
12 years of operation. The visit and ensuing article served as solid public
relations for the plantation.
Pennock encouraged Florida dairymen to advertise; it built company reputation. His ads in The Palm Beach Post spoke to that with his claim that certified Jersey milk is “the richest of all. His was the “greatest health asset in Palm Beach Territory.” Pennock Plantation milk was tested to show it had the highest butterfat content. Advertising, he claimed, paid off.
Pennock Plantation continued to be followed by the business
press; it garnered attention for quality and modernity—and controlling flies.
In 1923, Pennock was asked about his success in keeping
flies away. The concrete barns didn’t have screens. The dairyman explained they
removed manure daily and placed it far away from the barn and pasture. His staff
routinely checked for and removed potential breeding spots in the barn. They
also checked and sprayed cows for ticks. The plantation housed 113 cows that
year producing 500 pints of milk daily; his dairy at that time was the oldest
in the county.
Pennock Plantation was a success in another way: it was Jupiter’s largest employer for about 50 years. Officers in the company were listed in 1927 as: Lloyd S. Minear, vice president; Amos E. Bassett, vice president; Harry P Jackson, secretary-treasurer. Minear was to serve a critical role as operations manager for the next three decades. Henry Pennock died at age 52 in 1930. His wife since 1905, Alice Boner Pennock, was named president upon his death. She passed away in 1940.
The early Jupiter enterprise continued operating until February of 1954 when Manager Lloyd Minear announced that after 39 years, Pennock Plantation was closing its dairy. The herd was sold to Boutwell Dairy (est. 1927) in Lake Worth. Staff transferred to their new employer.
Pennock Plantation buildings remained for less than a decade. A fire on March 31, 1961, destroyed an office and packing barn; three buildings remained, They continued to grow ferns. The farm was sold off in pieces to Jupiter developers in the 1970s and beyond.
Homage to the Pennock family comes with a few street names, Pennock
Point Road, Pennock Lane and Pennock Trail. What’s not in those names: scope of
the Pennock family successes in and contributions to Jupiter history.
Tags: Henry S. Pennock, Herbert A Pennock, Abraham Pennock, Elizabeth Pennock, Pennock Plantation
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