(The intent of this article is to "remember" McIntosh as it was in the 40's and 50's.)
The town of McIntosh, Florida, sits on highway US 441 a bit north of the midway point
between Gainesville and Ocala, the closest "major" cities.
It's specific location is 29°26'58 N 82°13'14 W.
Situated with Orange Lake to the east and rich farm/ranch lands to the north and west and
citrus grove land to the south along the lake, it was a prime location for supporting folks
in the area.
In its "day" it was a bustling community providing daily support for the surrounding farm
and citrus growing lands. This support including packing houses, railroad access, an ice house,
small grocery, drugstore, doctor's office, etc.
Note: Historically, orange groves extended several miles further north, but, the "Big Freeze"
of the winter of 1894-1895 wiped out citrus growing from Micanopy down to McIntosh. My guess
is that Orange Lake provided sufficient warmth to save the McIntosh area. That didn't last.
As of now (2012) there is no real citrus production until much much further south. Repeated
freezing cold has destroyed the citrus industry in the area.
Today McIntosh is a quiet mostly residential area with several stores focused on the antique
trade. Driving through it, one will be in awe of the huge majestic oak trees throughout the
town. They've clearly been there hundreds of years.
Following are memories of specific things remembered from "McIntosh of Yore".
Ice House
The Ice House is covered in a separate story, "Memories of the McIntosh Ice House"
Citrus packing
As you read through these memories, you'll realize that "Buddy" Huff, Jr., was a key player
in life in and around McIntosh for many years. Very true. The citrus packing house located
on highway US 441 was his amongst all the other stuff. The citrus packing house was located
on the west side of the highway, just north of the First Baptist Church.
As with the vegetable packing shed down by the railroad tracks, the citrus packing provided
significant seasonal income to lots of folks, notably females of the community and
surrounds. As with the vegetable packing, the operation ran 'til very late at night.
My mother spent many many working hours there as well as at the vegetble packings shed.
Huff's groves
If there was anyone other than O. D. "Buddy" Huff, Jr., who had any citrus groves in the
area, I have no knowledge of it. His groves were massive. If memory serves, Dick Whittington
managed the groves for him. Mr. Whittington also felt it was his responsibility to chase out the
teenagers who used the groves "to park".
During winter cold snaps, McIntosh and surrounds became a black smokey area as the
smudge pots' were lighted to try to save the citrus trees.
This work provided extra income for many many of the young folks in the area.
(Perhaps they had a secondary motive? Save the trees for later parking activities? !!!!!!)
Brother Wayne remembers doing this work. Ten dollars pay for standing by; fifteen dollars if
you did firing.
Vegetable packing
Down next to the railroad tracks, diagonally across the street from the depot building, stood
the vegetable packing house owned by "Buddy" Huff. This provided significant seasonal income
to many people, notably to the female members of the community. Basically the various vegtable
crops were graded, wrapped in a tissue like paper for protection and packed in crates for shipment.
A convenient railroad siding close by made transfer to the train cars easy.
As the vegetables had to be harvested during the daylight hours, the packing house ran to all
hours of the night so the crates could be loaded on the train cars for quick shipment.
I know my mother spent many many late hours there as income at our house was slim otherwise.
Railroad access
Given the agricultural nature of the community, good rail access was extremely important as
all the products needed quick shipment and delivery to avoid spoilage. There was a significant
amount of freight shipped into the depot and a rail siding was in place adjacent to the
vegetable packing shed. I spent many an hour there watching the engines detatching empty cars
for loading and attaching and moving out packed ones. I believe the engines were steam engines
at the time. Likely they were the R-1 locomotives operated by the Atlantic Coast Line railroad.
I know R-1's were operated well into the late 1950's. Those used by ACL were built in 1938 by
Baldwin Locomotive Works. I was always entranced watching them
spin those huge metal wheels as they struggled to get their load moving.
As an aside, the McIntosh property of my Uncle Max and Aunt Daisy Boulware extended from within
McIntosh across the railroad track and on down to the shore of Orange Lake. This was no more than
a quarter to a half mile north of the packing house siding. As kids we liked to go down to the
track and watch the trains. Another pastime was placing a coin on the track and picking up the
mashed flat remains after the train went by. Once a coin placed such actually got pressed down
into the rail. To this day, darned if I know how. Must have been a (very) soft spot in the rail
steel.
Businesses/services
Cook's Rexall Drugs
At the intersection of highway US 441 and highway 320 on what is now "Avenue G" stood
Cook's Rexall Drugs. This was a big two story building (which still stands). It was
operated by Dr. Cook and was the only pharmacy in the area. But it was more than that.
There were all kinds of goods sold there.
It was also an "official" stop for Greyhound buses. Many folks would board the bus there
and travel to Ocala or Gainesville for "major" shopping.
In the book "A Small Lump of Coal, the Larry Goodman Story" by Frank Pickle, Larry via
Frank relates catching the Greyhound bus for sojourns to visit family in Lakeland.
(At the time, he was "Larry Atchley" and was in foster care of the Reid family whose
home was just to the east of the railroad tracks.)
A further comment on Greyhound...although Cook's was an official station and next one
south was Bartell's Store (later North Marion Market) in the town of Orange Lake, you
could actually flag down and board a bus anywhere along the route. Can you imagine that
today? !!!
Digressing a bit more, I worked at Bartell's from about 1958 through about 1966. I sold
many many tickets to folks going to Ocala, Gainesville and beyond. We also shipped a LOT
of "freight". I put that in quotes 'cause said "freight" was box after box after box of
packed fishing worms sold by the Williams family out highway 318.
Dandridge Market
The Dandrige market was a small grocery store that stood just across highway 441 from
Huff's citrus packing house. It and Bartell's Store (later North Marion Market) at the
town of Orange Lake supplied the daily and often weekly grocery needs of the people
of the area. When it came time for "bigger stuff" people went to Ocala or Gainesville.
Mrs. Webb(?) (Colin Lindsey's sister? (Lindsey of Belk-Lindsey store fame)) ran an outlet
store across from the Huff citrus packing shed, next to the Dandrige Market. I think she
had some deal with Belk Lindsey to take their excess merchandise.
McIntosh Fish Camp
Back "in the day", Orange Lake had water in it and was a super prime fishing lake.
It connects to Lochloosa Lake via Cross Creek and is (or was) fed from Paynes Prairie
via River Styx from the north. McIntosh Fish Camp was a prime location from which to
get out on the lake for some fabulous bass fishing. Those days are long gone as this
huge lake is now mostly a mass of vegetation. The huge sink hole just south at the
town of Orange Lake had a lot to do with the decline as does the drying up of Paynes
Prairie, also a sink hole victim.
W.E. Christian & Company
W.E. Christian & Company was a huge hardware and building supply store just to the east
across the railroad tracks from the depot station house. Anything you wanted, hardware wise,
they probably had...and could actually find it. There were several warehouses in addition
to the store proper. Anything needed to build a house could be obtained through them.
The store proper and the warehouses still stand.
Churches
It's my observation that McIntosh still has the same churches located in the same spots
and looking the same as they did 60-70 years ago. I won't comment on them specifically,
but here are pictures and locations of each of the major ones.
First Baptist Church of McIntosh
McIntosh Presbyterian Church
McIntosh United Methodist Church
I would like to add the date of their founding if someone can please provide this info.
Other memories
Water tank & cleaning, lighting
About a half mile to the west of US 441, along highway 320, stands McIntosh's water
tower. It looks the same to me today as it did 50 years ago. I remember it because
my father had a job cleaning it several times. (He was a jack of all trades always
looking for a way to bring in some money.) Of course my Uncle Max Boulware who lived
in McIntosh always made jokes about how the water tasted after Daddy had floated
around in the tank on an inner tube scrubbing down the interior walls.
Daddy also would climb to the very top to replace the aviation light there. Definitely
not "like father like son"...you wouldn't get me that far off the ground for any
amount of money.
The Gist's birds, particularly the pea fowls
I think the Gist's bird place was across the railroad tracks to the east. Jim Smith believes
it was called "Black Swan Bird Sanctuary".
They owned a bevy of pea fowls along with a collection of other birds. What a G** awful
sound those pea fowls make. North, south, east and west they could be heard all over
McIntosh and beyond.
I'm told their residence was the house on the SW corner of the intersection of highway
320 and US 441, directly across from Cook's drug store to the east and Miss Lois Dickson's
home to the north.
Jack/Ginny W. report: "...About the GIST'S, his name was (spelling phonically) Mor-ti-kee,
and her first name was Ester; she was a Boulware sister, Snake's aunt, and yes they lived
in the big house diagonally from the drugstore on the souhwest corner of 441 and 320.
Jack (and I, after we started dating) used to "truck" his birds to the state fair, and
down to the Lake County Fair in Umatilla EVERY year.
Jack used to get so aggravated trying to catch all his birds to crate them up for those fairs,
but the old man paid him well, so he figured he could tolerate the bad part to get the
GOOD $. ..."
Miss Dickson's (sp?) piano "school"
Miss Lois Dickson, to my knowledge, was the only person in the area who taught piano
lessons. Anyone who was anyone who learned piano learned from Miss Dickson.
Mosquito fogging
Mosquitoes were a real problem in and around McIntosh. I suspect the lake and its
marshy surrounds had a lot to do with it. The town had a jet engine powered fogger
that traversed the town in the evenings, pulled by a truck (or tractor). Although the
jet engine was very small, it was terribly loud; one definitely knew it was coming
and with its coming billowing out huge clouds of insecticide. Probably DDT at the time.
If anyone has further contributions to this article, I'll be very glad to receive and post them.
|