The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1905-03-24
0caLA's RECOVERY
FROM THE FREEZE.
SARA ELIZABETH HARRIS,
In Daily Florida Sun.

tirely destroyed by devastating fire
a local paper predicted that it would
not be built in ten years, but while
the embers were yet smoking her cit
liens, with the push and enterprise
displayed by Jacksonville on a later
occasion, began the work of rebuild
ing and the little city, PhoeniN-like,
arose from her ashes better and more
substantial than ever.
A few years later phosphate was
discovered in the county by one of
her citizens and Ocala rapidly became
the center of busy, bustling, hust-
ling activity.
She continued to enjoy marked
prosperity until she was again pros
trated by the disastrous freeze of
1Ss4-95.
This calamity hit Ocaia with great
err severity than any other city in
Florida being as she was the very
center of this great industry. In one
section of the county there was
almost five miles of continuous bear
ing groves and at one time the
statistics showed that nearly four
fifths of the entire orange crop of
Florida was shipped from this coun-
ty-
Following quickly upon the heels
of the freeze one bank after another
collapsed and men who were pros
porous found themselves almost PEN
niless. Several of the state and
county officials mad large sums of
money deposited in these -defuncu
banks and number of Ocala's prom
inenr business men were on their
bonds and this added to the already
crushing financial blow 1t is almost
impossible to realize the dismay and
the distress of our citizens They
were stunned and the city was para
lyzed-
Marti City, a prosperous and beau
tiful tobacco factory town one mile
west of Ocala, was deserted almost in
a night. The suburb had grown SO
rapidly that it mad become an organ
lied municipality. 1t had paved
| streets, its own fire department, a
street railway, large tobacco factor
les, hotels and all the ct ceteras that
belong to modern city in less
than a fortnight after the night of
the great freeze almost every house
at Marti City was unoccupied and it
presented the sad realization of Oliver
Goldsmith's Deserted Village" The
residents of Marti City did their
marketing and trading mostly in
Ocala and the removal of her pOpula-
ton, numbering over two thousand,
added to Ocala's downfall.
But her gritty citizens faced these
terrible disasters bravely and began
Immediately to pull themselves to-
gether and to shape affairs in such a
manner that would again give to
Ocala the commercial advantages
nature had meant her to have and
soon Ocala began gradually to again
occupy the place in the business
world that she had lost, and Ocala is
! in every respect larger and more
substantial city than ever before. No
city in Florida today shows more ac-
tivity or business enterprise. She is
the center of the great phosphate in
dustry of the state and many of the
largest turpentine operators and lum-
| Der men reside in Ocala. She has
three strong banks, two daily and
! three weekly newspapers and has the
| largest and greatest number of mer-
| camille establishments of any interior
city in Florida. Ocala has two ice
plants, two packing establishments, a
spoke and rim factory, crate and
basket mill, three planning mills. a
| barrel factory, canning factory,
| three cigar factories, two moss fac
| tones, two cotton gins, velvet
bean huller, lime works, electric light
| plant, gas works, one steam laundry