The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1905-11-25

uaton of nearly one thousand year. This phenoni.
email increase also the continued progress in bust
ness developments and the establishment of new en-
v terprises all point to a "GREATER" LIVE OAK.
sway down upon the S'wannee river" will ever
live in song and story Some has said that song
and sentiment the highest wealth of any sec
tiOn. Poetry and romance have woven some beautiful
and half historic tales of this Suwannee river cour
try yet such possessions, however, are not generally
counted when we sum up the material wealth
OF progressive county and its live, up-todate cit
zenry, and tell the story of city which is max
ing great strides to wealth, fame and greatness.
Suwannee county, with population of 10000, con-
tans acres The greater part of the county is
either under cultivation rich in tracts of valuable
timber land The population of the country districts
is made up largely of very thrifty class Of farmers
who raise cotton corn cane potatoes cattle and hogs
Cotton is the money crop Enough of the staples are
raised, however, to make the farmer independent.
He is thus able to hold the cotton for the higher
market prices The farming lands fertile and
good harvests are reaped every season. Situated in
such II section, city in its midst has fortunate
. setting.
Live Oak the county seat of Suwannee county,
is an industrial city, its most distinguishing feature
being its manufacturing plants. The stranger within
her gates is greeted by the busy hum of machinery
the never-endng buzz of saws and the heavy traffic
noticeable everywhere.
The county court house is the source of very
pardonable pride to not only the people of Live
Oak, but the entire county It is situated about the
stands contributes to its excellent appearance It is
built of gray pressed brick and finished on the out.
side with beautiful designs in stucco The interior
has marble wainscoting and floors. The different
nished. The second story has large and handsome
court room, the main auditorium and galleries hav.
ing seating capacity of about six hundred Complete
with the furnishings the building cost $42,5OO
The county officials form very able body of
men, and their hearty support of all measures for
the development of the county's reflect
the progressive spirit of the population at large.
The personnel is as follows: j. N. Conner, county
Judge; W. W. Bryson, clerk of circuit courts j. II.
Rckerson, sheriff; A. ID. Hemmng, tax assessor; j.
.Meeks tax collector; Prof. j. E. Wood, superin.
tendent public instruction. COL A. Lee Humphreys,
prominent lawyer, is chairman of the Board Of Com
missoners.
The question of hard roads has been taken up by
the Commissioners, and a bodybuilding machine is
at work on the hard road which is to connect
Live Oak and Suwannee Springs, distance of seven
miles AS soon as this is completed roads in other
directions will be built until an entire system of hard
surface roads will cover the county
Probably the greatest factor in the wonderful
progress and business activity of the city is it's
featuring industries, which have caused many to set.
tie here. The census of 1890 gave Live Oak q popu.
lation of only 1900 The city now enthusiastically
claims six thousand; growth of almost thousand
year
Chief of these industries is the manufacture of
lumber Two large sawmills, turning out rough lum-
dreds of thousands of feet of lumber to the Northern
markets The largest of these mills is owned and op.
Grated by the Bowling Lumber and Naval Stores
Company, twomilliOn-dOlar stock company. The
stockholders citizens of Live Oak and have
considerable interest in the growth of the city.
Thomas Bowling is the president of this corporation
r. L. Bowling vice-president, and o. d. Mcfarland
secretary r. w. Bennett is the head of the Office
force of this extensive business
Another large plant The Live Oak Manufactur-
ing Company with Col. Geo. T.. Porter as president
manufactures dressed lumber operates the electric
light plant and ice manufacturing plant. This mill
has large capacity and is busy all the time. Elec
trio power is used for all the machinery The electric
light plant is equipped with machinery suited to the
present and future needs of Live Oak in this respect
The city is well lighted, and large portion Of the
manufacturing plants use electric power altogether
Geo. E. Porter, Jr is secretary and treasurer Of this
company and looks after the business of the plant.
while Edward Porter is thoroughly conversant with
all the machinery and electrical appliances and has
this part of the plant under his supervision The ice
nlant has recently been increased and now has q