By Jeff Blakley Anyone who grew up in the Homestead area earlier than 1970 knew Henry Brooker, Jr. and the Brooker Lumber Company. In those days, Brooker’s was the only game in town when it came to building supplies and … Continue reading →
by Jeff Blakley I subscribed to Genealogy Bank the other day, at the suggestion of Larry Wiggins, and I’ve found it to be an invaluable source of information about the early days of this area. As I was reading newspaper … Continue reading →
By Jeff Blakley When I was a boy, my mother used to take my brother and I to the Bryan H. Edwards park in Florida City, where we would play on the jungle gym and see how high we could … Continue reading →
By Jeff Blakley William C. Norwood, a merchant, came to Florida City from West Palm Beach in 1910 and homesteaded in sections 25 and 26. Searching the Bureau of Land Management records yielded the information that he was granted patent … Continue reading →
By Jeff Blakley William Alfred King was the first section foreman in this area for the Florida East Coast railway. He was born on 29 December 1860 in Troy, Pike County, Alabama. On February 28, 1882, he married Frances Elzada … Continue reading →
by Jeff Blakley About a year ago, I went to a meeting of the Historic Preservation Board of the City of Homestead and learned that one of their items of interest was to designate the former Southern Bell central office, … Continue reading →
By Jeff Blakley In my post on James Daniel Redd, Jean Taylor was the source of my statement that Redd was appointed to succeed Walter Tweedell, who resigned due to his failing health. In my post on the Women’s Industrial … Continue reading →
by Jeff Blakley When I first started writing articles for this website, I decided that I would explore the lives of people mentioned in early newspaper articles about Detroit, now known as Florida City. I subsequently posted essays on James … Continue reading →
by Jeff Blakley In my post on Walter Arthur Frazeur, I mentioned John U. Free in connection with telephony in early Homestead. In this post, I want to present a brief biography of him. I am aware that there is … Continue reading →
by Jeff Blakley How often have you driven south on U.S. 1 and seen the sign designating J. D. Redd Park on the right, just after passing Capital Bank? Did you ever wonder who he was? I had an idea … Continue reading →
