Hailey Heseltine
reporter3.riverbendnews@gmail.com
Henry B. Plant was dubbed “The King of Florida” by a magazine called Success in 1898 for his tremendous impact on the development of Florida's transportation and tourism industries and advancement as a whole. Without Plant and all the ways his ventures shaped the state's history, Florida may have not become the place it is today.
Henry Bradley Plant was born in Branford, Conn., on Oct. 27, 1819, to a family of farmers, where he was raised by his mother, step-father and grandmother. His first job was for New Haven Steamboat Company, working on a ferry which ran between New Haven and New York at the age of 18. He later discovered an affinity for the express shipping business, and he began working with Adams Express Company, a shipping company that utilized railroads, where he moved up the ranks until he had his own office in New York.
Plant married his wife, Ellen Elizabeth Blackstone, in 1842. In 1853, when Ellen fell ill and her doctor suggested the family move to a warmer climate in the South, the Plants decided to spend a few months in Jacksonville, Fla. The following year, they moved to Augusta, Ga., where Plant continued working for the Adams Express Company's southern division as superintendent. In 1861, with the complications of war settling over the country, the Adams Express Company agreed to sell its southern holdings to Plant, including many railway lines. Now with his first company purchased, and him in the position of its president, he reorganized and renamed it the Southern Express Company.
After the Civil War, Plant returned to New York and married Margaret Josephine Loughman in 1873. He never left behind, however, the prospects railroads in the south carried. Many of the post-war southern railroads were in shambles, literally and financially, which made it easy for Plant to purchase them and rebuild them. The first of these was the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad in Savannah, Ga., reorganized as the Savannah, Florida & Western Railway. In 1880, he purchased the Savannah & Charleston Railway. In 1881, he linked Waycross, Ga., to Jacksonville with the Waycross Short Line.
Plant began to see the vast economic potential that Florida held, particularly in the tourism and freight industries. Best of all, he knew exactly how to unlock that potential: with railways, something, he just so happened to have quite a bit of experience in.
In 1882, the Plant Investment Company (PICO) was founded in Sanford, Fla. Among its investors were important figures such as Henry Flagler, another businessman who influenced Florida's development through transportation. PICO expanded Florida's railways tremendously, particularly on the west side of the state. In 1884, Plant completed 70 miles of track that connected Tampa, then just a small port town, to the rest of the state. He would later build tracks extending even further down the Gulf coast to Sarasota. By thousands of miles of track later, including refining existing railways, Henry B. Plant had built quite the empire. Just three years after he connected it with his railways, Tampa was incorporated as a town. In 1889, Port Tampa, which Plant built to accommodate steamships, became a major site for transportation and trade.
Plant's steamboat line, which he began developing in the 1890s, provided a way for passengers and freight to reach Cuba, Havana, Mobile and even the Caribbean. Thanks to his lines, goods could be shipped faster and more efficiently than ever. It wasn't just for trade, either. Tourists flocked to Florida, thanks in no small part to Plant's transit lines, and he embraced it. He established eight hotels on the coast, the grandest being the Tampa Bay Hotel, which still stands today.
Plant became a passionate advocate for Florida's potential, showcasing it nationwide and internationally. He published materials advertising the state's tourism potential, promoted its resources at expositions, and most importantly, he made it more accessible. Without his work to improve existing railways and extend to where there had never been ones built before, and the work of others in similar ventures, such his friendly rival Henry Flagler, Florida may never have reached captured international attention. At least, it would have taken much longer to do so. The influence of “The King of Florida,” Henry B. Plant, across the history of the entire state is not to be forgotten.