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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 Pennock family, and the Pennock
Plantation played a significant role in Jupiter’s past.
The Pennock family, florists, moved to Jupiter from Pennsylvania
about 1901 or 1902. The name appears in notes from a Dade County commission meeting in
1904. Dade County in those days extended to Jupiter from the Florida Keys. Son
Herbert Aldrich Pennock (1855-1945), not to be confused with baseball player Herbert
Jefferis Pennock, began serving on the school board in 1905. Henry Sellers
Pennock (1877-1930) served as a county commissioner. The family, headed by Abraham and Elizabeth Pennock, actively
endorsed the building of roads in the county and 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, commenced under the direction of
Henry Pennock in 1907 or 1909.
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. The seller 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 grew.
A group of businessmen visited the plantation in 1921. They first viewed the ramparts from the Seminole Wars of the 1830s marking the front of the property along the Loxahatchee River.
Henry S. Pennock, a Quaker, 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 impressed with
18 windmills that facilitated irrigation of six acres of ferns, its 100 prize-winning
Jersey cows and a variety of grasses grown on the 200-plus-acres farm. They
were also wowed by Pennock’s two modern Sharpler milking machines. He told his visitors
that the plantation was profitable then, generating about $50,000 a year after
12 years of operation. The visit and ensuing article served as solid public
relations for the growing company.
To build reputation, Pennock encouraged Florida dairymen to advertise. His ads in The Palm Beach Post claimed certified Jersey milk is “the richest of all. His was the “greatest health asset in Palm Beach Territory.” Pennock Plantation milk was ascertained to have the highest butterfat content. Advertising built the Pennock brand.
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.
The early Jupiter enterprise continued on for two more decades. In February of 1954, Pennock Plantation, through Lloyd Minear, announced that “after 39 years, the Pennock Plantation is retiring from their dairy operations.” The herd was sold to Boutwell Dairy 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 and they continued to grow ferns. Not for long, however, 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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