Strong start for Florida pineapples but high hurdles end the industry

 

Florida products: pineapples and bananas 1906
State of Florida Archives, postcard collection

By Jane Feehan

Most associate Florida with citrus but the state had a brief affair with pineapples. 

A smattering of towns along its east coast remind us about its pineapple past with mention of today's Pineapple Grove in Delray Beach, the Jensen Beach Pineapple festival and other such references by Stuart and towns as far south as Key West.

Pineapples were first grown in the state in Key West, on Plantation Key and at Merritt Island during the 1860s. The expansion of the Florida East Coast Railway during the 1890s contributed to the growth of the pineapple industry northward to St. Lucie County and beyond. 

The Miami Metropolis claimed (Sept. 29, 1916) that “60 percent of all pineapples grown in the U.S. were raised here [Florida].” Before 1915, “more pineapples were grown around Fort Pierce than citrus.” (Miami Herald, Oct. 20, 1957)

By 1916, however, pineapple growing had been on the wane; it was nearly over. In 1908-1909, the Florida industry faced stiff competition from Cuba. There was no tariff protection nor significant organizing of pineapple growers’ associations to fight for protection and to lower shipping costs that favored Cuba’s pineapple growers. 

In 1909-1910 Florida growers also dealt with “red wilt,” a disease that rotted plant roots. The final blow came with World War I, an event that diminished the availability of appropriate pineapple fertilizers. Some tried to revive the Florida pineapple industry during the 1930s, but failed. By that time, Hawaii claimed predominance in pineapple crops. 

It’s interesting to note (or remember for cocktail conversation trivia) that Florida grew pineapples commercially before Hawaii was designated a U.S. Territory in 1898. 

Discussion of  commercial pineapple possibilities in Hawaii appeared in newspapers before that year. The Hawaiian Gazette (May 26, 1880) suggested pineapples would be a good crop for the hillside land near Hilo on the Island of Hawai’i (“Big Island”). “They could be grown as easily as potatoes,” reported the Pacific Commercial Advertiser (June 27, 1874). 

According to the Hawaii Ocean Project, pineapples were not grown commercially until James D. Dole arrived in 1899. By the 1930s, the island became the “top pineapple producer in the world.” (Is their volcanic soil better?).

Before Florida closed this chapter in its agriculture history, local newspapers were peppered with pineapple recipes and ideas for: pineapple syrup, pie, preserves, marmalade, jelly and cheese. Today, the list grows. Pina Colada or pineapple pizza anyone?

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 27, 1874

The Hawaiian Gazette, May 26, 1880

Evening Bulletin (Honolulu), Nov. 17, 1892

Miami Metropolis, May 27, 1909

Miami News, June 4, 1909

Miami Metropolis, Sept. 29, 1916

Miami Herald, Oct. 20, 1957

Florida Memory. "A Prickly Tale: The History of Pineapples in Florida." Floridiana, 2014. https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/295199.

https://hawaiioceanproject.com/a-brief-history-of-pineapple-in-hawaii/

 

Tags: Florida pineapples, Florida crops, South Florida agriculture, pineapples, St. Lucie County, Jensen Beach, Stuart,  Jane Feehan

Genesis of Delray Beach: low-priced land and farming opportunities in "God's footstool"

 

Delray Beach - looking west on Atlantic Avenue (1930s)
Florida State Archives/Florida Memory - postcard

By Jane Feehan

As with many Florida settlements of the late 1800s, Delray Beach’s provenance was rooted in farming. Hopeful entrepreneurs led the way.

William S. Linton (1856-1927), a member of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan 1893-1897, came to Florida in 1894 or 1895 (accounts and timelines vary) to seek business opportunities. An account from 1894 indicates Linton bought 160 acres for $25 an acre and then placed a deposit on an additional 640 acres. He returned to Florida with David Swinton, Nathan S. Boynton and others to assess possibilities. 

The Port Huron Daily Times (May 23, 1895) reported the group who visited in 1895 formed a corporation that year to purchase 300,000 acres from “Fort Pierce to the Biscayne Bay …” for $5 million. They intended to sell the land in lots at “exceedingly low” prices. Their purpose: “to get colonists from the Dakotas, Nebraska and other parts where failure of crops has placed farmers in hard straits and to give them an opportunity for a fresh start in one of the most fertile spots on God’s footstool." (This is probably a reference to the resemblance of the Florida peninsula to a footstool to the rest of the nation). 

The Town of Linton, as then named, was platted in 1895 and sat in today's Delray area. By 1896, Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway laid its tracks through and built a train depot in the frontier community. Many of the early streets were named after Linton’s settler friends (today’s Fifth Avenue was once named Blackmer Avenue).  

By 1897, Linton faced financial woes. Boynton stepped in and bought Linton’s shares of the land company. The troubles affected settlers who bought lots after Linton's creditors went after them; land titles were clouded.  Some settlers left but others remained and decided to restart by shedding the town’s name. Pioneer W.W. Blackmer, also from Michigan, suggested the town be renamed Delray, the same as a community that sits in today’s southwest Detroit (known also for a time as Delray Junction). The town name was formally changed in 1901.  

Delray Beach’s African American residents have played an important and singular role in the city’s history. Many of their farmers remained in the area (and remain yet) when others left after the 1896 freeze or when Linton’s financial problems surfaced. Their West Settlers community was established in 1894 as the town’s first African American community. An historical marker at NW Fifth Avenue, west of Atlantic Avenue, serves as a tribute to their role in Delray Beach. For more about the marker, erected in 2009, and the people and place it recognizes, see  https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=96808 – Historical Marker Database.

About the name Delray Beach: after several failed referendums (objections mainly from Delray Beach), the town of Delray and Delray Beach voted to merge in July 1927. Today, Delray Beach counts more than 70,000 residents. Its population, as well as its trendy reputation, is quickly growing. 

Some farms remain; today, South Floridians often visit these popular "pick your own farms" to buy fruits and vegetables.

Also remaining: the names Linton, Swinton, Blackmer and Boynton that mark streets, neighborhoods and, of course, the city of Boynton Beach.

 Copyright © 2022. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Swinton, third from left in Saginaw 1908
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15189525

Sources:

 Port Huron Daily Times, May 23, 1895

The Daily News (Pensacola, Dec. 17, 1901

The Palm Beach Post, July 13, 1927

Boca Raton News May 21, 1995

The Palm Beach Post, Oct. 7, 1995

Tags: Delray Beach, Delray, Delray Beach, W.S. Linton, Nathan Boynton, David Swinton, Palm Beach County cities