William John Howey facts for kids
William John Howey (born January 19, 1876 – died June 7, 1938) was an American real-estate developer and citrus farmer. He was also a Republican politician from Florida. He started the town of Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida and served as its first mayor.
Howey became famous for developing and selling citrus groves. He was one of Florida's biggest citrus developers. He also opened Florida's first plant to bottle citrus juice. He ran for governor of Florida twice. A former home he owned near Lake Wales, Florida later became the site of Florida's famous Bok Tower at the Bok Tower Gardens.
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Early Life and Career Beginnings
William John Howey was born in Odin, Illinois on January 19, 1876. His father, William Henry Howey, was a minister. William attended public schools. When he was 16, he started working as a life insurance salesman.
Around 1900, Howey began working in real estate in Oklahoma. He briefly tried making cars in Kansas City. But by 1905, he returned to real estate. He sold pineapple farms near Perez, Mexico. He stopped this work in 1907 when the political situation there became difficult.
Becoming a Florida Citrus King
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Howey then moved to Florida. He started selling citrus groves near Winter Haven, and other towns like Dundee and Lake Hamilton. Later, he moved his business to Lake County, Florida.
By 1920, Howey owned a huge amount of land, about 60,000 acres (243 square kilometers). He would buy land for a low price, turn it into citrus groves, and then sell it for a much higher price. He even offered a special deal: if buyers also paid for a maintenance contract, he promised their investment would grow.
To help his business, Howey opened hotels for people interested in buying land. In 1917, he opened the Bougainvillea Hotel. In 1924, he replaced it with the larger Hotel Floridian.
Founding Howey-in-the-Hills
In 1925, the town of Howey-in-the-Hills was officially created. William Howey became its first mayor. That same year, he built his large and beautiful home, known as Howey House, in the town.
Howey's businesses continued to do very well. He sold citrus from his own farms and also sold groves to investors. In 1926, he opened Florida's first plant to bottle citrus juice. He was also one of the first people to use a process called pasteurization for fruit juice. He even experimented with storing fruit in large vacuum containers.
Challenges and Later Years
Later in 1926, the Florida land boom ended. This meant that land sales dropped sharply. Even though sales went down, Howey's companies still managed to make some money for a while.
However, the stock market crash in 1929, the discovery of the Mediterranean fruit fly, and several hurricanes in the late 1920s caused his businesses to decline. During the Great Depression, his land sales and citrus farms eventually started losing money.
William John Howey passed away on June 7, 1938.
