The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1921-12-24

were brief spaces of hardened clay.
worse than the sand after a rain.
A gentleman whose business takes
him al over the state says ocala has
the best looking courthouse square IN
Florida. ! viii 60 further and say l
cant remember one 50 pretty IN any
town where ] have been, all over the
south and part Of the west Thirty
years ago It was composed Of four
wide sandy streets on as many sides
Of an enclosure made by a rusty iron
fence. a squatty redbrick building in
side that. The grass was ragged;
there were no walks except the paths
worn to the doors of the courthouse
and around it; the Confederate monu-
ment had not been built, and the sole
redeeming feature Of the square
we're the trees, which gave less than
half the shade Of those Of today.
On the south and east sides of the
square the building, the Ocala House
md the stores from Main to Magno-
la, are practically the same, tho all
The stores have been remodeled and
are vastly better in convenience and
good looks On the west side, from
the little candy store north of Mas
ters, every building has been built, re-
built or almost made over. On the
north side, there is only one building
on the entire block that was there ,in
1892. That is the Banners business
office, then DR.. Marean's Office. Then
the club house and the building occu-
pied by the Vatoldi restaurant faced
the square. The Oeala National Bank,
the Robertson building, 1.-THE Marion
Hardware, the Banner Office, and the
building which contains Sam Pyles'
undertaking parlors have all been
erected.
1t is not possible in less than a
book to give complete story of the
building that has gone on in thirty
years, but the mildest estimate is that
Ocala has doubled both in business
houses and residences. 0cala in 1892
had not more than three thousand
people. Today it has at least six thou
sand. North Ocala in 1892 did not
exist. The two Squares between
South Sixth and South Eighth, east,
was pretty piece of woodland, with
one house on it. Now it is crowded
with residences. DR.. Moody's house
/ r--v the orT,, L-,;lJ;,c. -, ----,,.,-~. :. !
The territory where Howard Aead-
sEiy now stands with scores Of cet-
tages occupied by colored people
around it was old field and blackjack
SC. ub, with a house here and there.
More than that-if you walk along
any of our streets and can eliminate
in your minds eye the houses that did
not stand there thirty years ago, you
viii be surprised at the gaps.
Ocala then, as now, was the dis
tributing point of wide expanse of
stock and farming country; it was
also headquarters for the trade of the
principal phosphate field However,
there was not near so much business
IL proportion, because the farmers of
today are on the average two and
three times as well off as they were
then. 1t would have taken all that
rany farmer then possessed to pay
for.the auto his son is driving now.
Except garages. Oeala is not near
the front in mechanical industries to-
day. But some of the garages now
have as much money invested in them
Jas all Ocala's Industrial plants in
1892 The biggest industry in town
WAS the old ice factosy, which made
about one-fourth as much ice as Tay-
lor Bros. make now. Taylor's mill
was modest little industry, about
one-tenth of the big plant of now
The Ocala foundry, small iron SIZED
on the east side of the Florida South
ern track, was nothing but a good
sized blacksmith shop compared with
the Ocala Iron Works of today.
cannot remember any other notable
industries.
i / could make. this article a mile
longer, but it is already too long;
however, if you will take the trouble
to read it, 1 think you will conclude
! that so far from being unprogressive
your little, old town has kept abreast
of the rest of the world 1t has come
on up the long stairway of the years
sometimes having to stop for little
while, but never going back.
4 Merry Christmas. jhb