Lykes Brothers

Last updated

Lykes Brothers Inc, is a corporation founded by the Lykes Family of Tampa, Florida, in 1910. This family would become the largest landowners in Florida, the ninth largest landowners in the United States and the wealthiest in Tampa Bay. [1]

Contents

In the 1870s Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes abandoned a medical career in Columbia, South Carolina and took over a 500-acre (2.0 km2) family cattle ranch in rural Hernando County north of Tampa. The Lykes Family started the first school in this county in Spring Hill, Florida and the library at the county seat, Brooksville, Florida also bears the Lykes name. Spring Hill refers to the community that grew up around the Lykes Family home called Spring Hill, which is distinct and separate from the later development by the Deltona Corporation by the same name. [2] The family cemetery is located outside of Brooksville.

In 1895, Dr. Lykes moved to Ballast Point in Tampa, Florida where he began shipping cattle to Cuba. Gradually, his seven sons joined the family operations which incorporated in 1910 as Lykes Brothers. This corporation would come to comprise interests in land, citrus, phosphate mining, timber (eucalyptus, pine), sugarcane, a major shipping line (Lykes Brothers Steamship Company), cattle and meat processing, banking (First Florida Bank) and Lykes Insurance Company.

In the 1930s, Lykes Bros. purchased the 265,000-acre (1,070 km2) Lykes Ranch in West Texas, south of Alpine. By the 1950s, Lykes Bros. Steamships was the largest U.S. shipping line, with 54 cargo ships operating out of Gulf ports. [3] A Lykes Bros. ship would be the first to sail into Shanghai harbor after the U.S. established relations with mainland China. A leader in citrus concentrate, the $15 million Lykes Pasco citrus-processing plant was the biggest in Florida. The corporation took a blow when La Candelaria, the 15,000-acre (61 km2) Lykes estate 250 miles (400 km) east of Havana, was nationalized during the Cuban Revolution. It is now a cooperative farm.

See also

Related Research Articles

Citrus County, Florida County in Florida, United States

Citrus County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 141,236. Its county seat is Inverness, and its largest community is Homosassa Springs.

Hernando County, Florida County in Florida, United States

Hernando County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 172,778. Its county seat is Brooksville, and its largest community is Spring Hill.

Pasco County, Florida County in Florida, United States

Pasco County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. According to the 2010 census, the population was 464,697. Its county seat is Dade City, and its largest city is New Port Richey. The county is named after Samuel Pasco.

South Brooksville, Florida Census-designated place in Florida, United States

South Brooksville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hernando County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,007 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Spring Hill, Florida Census-designated place in Florida, United States

Spring Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hernando County, Florida, United States. The population was 98,621 at the 2010 census, up from 69,078 at the 2000 census. The American Community Survey estimated the population in 2017 to be 113,508. Spring Hill belongs to Florida's Nature Coast region and is in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area. It is east of Hernando Beach, southwest of Brooksville, and north of Tampa.

Wesley Chapel, Florida CDP in Florida, United States

Wesley Chapel is an unincorporated census-designated place in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Tampa Bay Area metro. The population was 44,092 at the 2010 census. In 2003, some residents of Wesley Chapel started a movement to incorporate the community. This "city," which would have been the largest and most populous in Pasco County, never materialized.

Largo, Florida City in Florida, United States

Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States as well as the fourth largest in the Tampa Bay area. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 77,648, up from 69,371 in 2000.

Brooksville, Florida City in Florida, United States

Brooksville is a city in and the county seat of Hernando County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 7,719, up from 7,264 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Pasco–Hernando State College (PHSC) is a public college in Florida with campuses in Pasco and Hernando counties. It is the newest four year state college and it has additional campuses in Brooksville, Dade City, New Port Richey, Spring Hill, and Wesley Chapel. The name of the school changed from Pasco-Hernando Community College (PHCC) to Pasco–Hernando State College (PHSC) on January 21, 2014.

Chinsegut Hill Manor House United States historic place

The Chinsegut Hill Manor House is a United States historic site approximately five miles northeast of the city of Brooksville, Florida on Chinsegut Hill. It is located at 22495 Chinsegut Hill Road. Begun in the early 1850s, the structure has remained relatively unchanged since.

Stella F. Thayer is president of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Hernando High School is a public high school located in Brooksville, Florida. It is part of the Hernando County School District. It has been in operation since 1889, which makes it one of the oldest, continuously operating public high schools in the United States.

Brooksville–Tampa Bay Regional Airport

Brooksville–Tampa Bay Regional Airport, formerly known as Hernando County Airport, is a joint civil-military public airport located 6 nautical miles (11 km) southwest of the central business district of Brooksville, a city in Hernando County, Florida, United States. It is owned by Hernando County and is 45 miles (72 km) north of Tampa. While having consistent growth in its traffic rate, it does not yet serve the public through commercial airlines, but it does have charter and executive service.

Alfred A. McKethan

Alfred Augustus McKethan was a prominent American banker, citrus grower, businessman and political appointee who was a native and resident of Florida.

Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida

The Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) in Florida which extends from Marco Island on the south, to Brooksville on the north, and inland to Plant City, Arcadia and LaBelle on the east. As part of the ECUSA, the diocese is a constituent member of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., also called Lykes Lines, was a cargo shipping company acting from the beginning of the 20th century to 2005 having its main business in the trade to and from the United States.

Two Rivers Ranch is a privately held cow/calf ranch business on 14,000 acres in Florida. The property crosses into Hillsborough County, Pasco County and Hernando County and is named for the two rivers converging on the property, the Hillsborough River and Blackwater Creek. The land includes pasture, planted pines and wetland habitats.

Hernando County Public Library is located in Hernando County, Florida, which is about an hour north of Tampa. This is a public library system with one central library located in Brooksville and four other branches in Brooksville and Spring Hill. There are no bookmobiles associated with this library system. As of 2013, the staff totaled 42 people, including 11 librarians and 31 other staff members, only ten of which were full-time employees. The Florida Library Association chose the Hernando system as its 2013 Library of the Year. This library system serves a legal population of 136,484 people. The annual number of library visits is 480,706. There are 49 Internet terminals for use by the general public. The annual service hours for all service outlets is 12,215.

The Tampa Northern Railroad was a historic railroad line running from just east of downtown Tampa north to the city of Brooksville in Hernando County. The line continues to operate today and is under the ownership of the CSX Corporation, who operates it as their Brooksville Subdivision north of Sulphur Springs and part of their Clearwater Subdivision south of there.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ St. Petersburg Times, January 25, 2002
  2. ↑ Rocco Maglio, "Spring Hill was almost named Spring Lake", 'The Hernando Sun', 2017-03-03
  3. ↑ Time, March 8, 1954

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.