Celery Train at Sanford

Celery Train at Sanford

Sanford Celery Train

Sanford (Fla.)

Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)

Celery industry

Celery

Trains, Freight

Railroads--Florida

A twelve-car train transporting Chase & Company celery in Sanford, Florida, in 1936. The origins of Sanford's connection to celery farming began on December 26, 1894, when a freeze damaged the area's citrus groves. They began to recover during a warm and wet January which promoted new shoots, but a second freeze hit on February 7, 1895, practically wiping them out. The 24 degree temperature was the coldest known in Florida to that point. The freeze was so intense that the sap froze inside the trunks, many of which split open, sounding like gunshots, and crashed to the ground. The population quickly dropped from five thousand to two thousand, as the groves were abandoned. I. H. Terwilliger stayed after the freezes and is believed to have planted the first celery grown in Sanford in 1896. J. N. Whitner and B. F. Whitner, Sr. planted 3/4 acre in 1897 with celery imported from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Chase & Company also converted to celery cultivation and by 1898, celery became the crop synonymous to Sanford. Chase & Company was established in 1884 by brothers Sydney Octavius Chase and Joshua Coffin Chase. The company sold insurance and later invested in storage facilities and fertilizer sales. Chase & Company was known mainly for its agricultural interests and maintained a series of citrus groves throughout Central Florida. The company was based out of Sanford and became one of the city's largest employers into the early twentieth century.

Original 8 x 10 inch black and white photograph, 1936: Chase Collection (MS 14), box 213, folder 15.100, item CC79, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

1936

Digital reproduction of original 8 x 10 inch black and white photograph, 1936.

Chase Collection (MS 14), box 214, folder 15.100, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Celery Collection, Chase Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.

Folder referenced in Chase Collection finding guide, http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/chase.htm.

image/jpg

168 KB

8 x 10 inch black and white photograph

eng

Still Image

Sanford, Florida

Donation

History Teacher

Economics Teacher

Geography Teacher

Entire Chase Collection is comprised of four separate accessions from various donors, including Cecilia Johnson, the granddaughter of Joshua Coffin Chase and the children of Randall Chase.

The displayed collection item is housed at Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Rights to this item belong to the said institution, and therefore inquiries about the item should be directed there. RICHES of Central Florida has obtained permission from Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida to display this item for educational purposes only.

Special and Area Studies Collections, University of Florida

Digital Collections (UFDC), University of Florida

Cepero, Laura

University of Florida, Special and Area Studies Collections

Mills, Jerry W., and F. Blair Reeves. A Chronology of the Development of the City of Sanford, Florida: With Major Emphasis on Early Growth, 1975.

"Sydney Chase Sr. (1860-1941)." Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. Copyright 2012. http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?ref_cID=89&bID=0&dd_asId=600. Mills, Jerry W

SANFORD FLA. APR 18th 1936
CELERY TRAIN 12 CARS

Westbrook Armour Ag.
Cap man H.O. McArthur train master
Hill car inspector

1 black and white photograph

8 x 10 inch