An orginal pioneer of Florida remembers the Everglades -
Over the past 80 years, an original pioneer has come face-to-face with a panther, traversed the Ochopee swamps searching for oil and seen the rise of the tomato industry. Smith has also watched the tomato and the lumber industries come and go, and he has seen the Tamiami Trail rise out of a sea of sawgrass.
Smith's Beginning
Smith was born in Tampa in 1910 and started his career in the donut business, but his passion was building and selling radios. He constructed early prototypes in empty oatmeal boxes, but by the mid-20's, he moved on to more complicated "tube-sets," the first of which was given to his grandfather.
The Move to Southwest Florida
In October 1928, Smith's uncle, J.B. Janes, moved to Ochopee with his partner E.C. Gaunt, and planted the first tomato field. Smith drove his aunt, Eulalie Janes, down from Tampa to manage the Gaunt-Janes boarding house that same year.
In 1931, Janes befriended county founder, Barron G. Collier and bought ten acres from Collier on the east side of State Road 29 in Copeland. Janes moved there with a new partner, Alfred B. Webb.
"Barron Collier owned 90 percent of the county back then," Smith recalls.
The Land of Tomatoes
The 10-acre parcel was located next to Highway 29 and included a boardinghouse, bunkhouse (which Eulalie took over) and a store, along with two small houses on the south side. Across the highway lay the railroad tracks.
Janes and Webb planted the first tomato field in Copeland in 1931.
"Unfortunately, the rains came early and flooded the fields," Smith said. "They had to float small boats between the plowed rows to pick tomatoes. The crop was ultimately a failure."
In 1932, a new tomato crop allowed the Janes-Webb partnership to pay off all their debt from the previous year and still clear $40,000.00.
"That was good money back then," stated Smith.
In 1932, Smith permanently moved to sparsely populated Copeland, working as the electrician for Janes Packing House and operating his first radio shop out of the pine-framed bunkhouse.
In May 1932, Smith and Louis Brocksmith built two bridges to cross the canal in front of the Janes' properties. The bridges and facility remained in use until the National Park Service purchased the property in the late 1990's. Two other uncles, Wayne and Winford Janes, moved to the area in 1933, and the company of J.B. Janes was incorporated. (Janes Scenic Drive is named for Winford Janes who would later serve as county commissioner).
Growth Begins
The Janes Restaurant opened New Years Eve 1933 with jukebox music, dancing and 3.2 beer.
"Jukeboxes were a rarity," Smith recalled. "I drove to Tampa with J.B. and Winford, and we bought a 'non-selecting' Seeburg Jukebox from a 'house of ill-repute'. At that time, there were no selection buttons on jukeboxes. Customers would feed the machine nickels till it played their favorite songs."
Smith met his wife, Bobbie Paul, in Copeland when she came down with her sister and brother-in-law who worked in the packing house. Smith knew there was no heat in the little house Bobbie's family was staying in, and he wooed her with a portable space heater. The couple married in Everglades City in 1937, and later had two children, Virginia and Marvin Smith.
Searching for Oil
When Gulf Oil Corporation began exploration in Copeland, Smith joined the company's research division in 1937.
"Gulf Oil had the first four-wheel drive trucks in the state of Florida. They were custom-made in Detroit by Marmon-Herrington," he related. "They had over-sized Goodyear tires - the precursor to the famed swamp buggy."
In 1939, the Smiths and their newborn baby girl moved into one of the small, pine-framed houses south of Janes Store. All of the houses in the area were built above the ground with boardwalks running to the outhouses.
Living with Panthers
"One night I had walked 50 feet along the boardwalk, when I heard the hissing and snarling of a panther who was stalking the chicken coop," said Smith. "We stared at each other. Neither one of us wanted to jump from the boardwalk into the water, so I turned and ran back to the house. It only took me five steps to run back 50 feet. The next time I went out after dark, I made sure I brought a flashlight and a 30-30."
During World War II
In the early 1940's, Smith was the only electrician in Eastern Collier County. There were two sawmills and six tomato packing houses. During World War II, they were all rated "priority number one," which meant the lumber and the tomatoes went to the army.
Smith remembers D. Graham Copeland, who played a vital role procuring the Atlantic Coast Line Railway to Southwest Florida and was instrumental in the creation of Collier County. Smith said, Graham managed the development of Everglades (now Everglades City), which was the county seat until 1962, and oversaw the completion of the Tamiami Trail, which opened April 1928.
Tamiami Trail - Tampa to Miami
"Tamiami Trail was the worse road in the county," Smith said. "It was all sharp, graveled stone. General Tire Company tested their tires by running trucks on it between Naples and Miami. And there was so little traffic, you could lie down and take a nap in the middle of it.
Smith will be celebrating his 99th birthday in September 2009.
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