TheSheep
Beach Fanatic
Without an understanding of the temperament of the late Alfred dupont de Nemours, one cannot obtain a clear understanding of JOE. From dupont to Ball to Rummell, there is a consistent history of profit taking and social reimbursement. Few companies have combined the concerns for the populous and stakeholders as well as JOE.
It was 1925, and Alfred Irenee DuPont and wife Jessica navigated to Florida for purposes of disengaging from the Nemours clan, to offer and take advantages in Northwest Florida. Alfred was historically associated with great charity and censure of class. Jessica, a divorcee was a former worker at the DuPont mills, the Nemours having castigated Alfred for his commonly choice.
Alfred began looking around for new business opportunities. Alfred hired Jessie's brother, Edward Ball, to assist him in any new ventures. At the time, Florida was in the midst of a real estate boom, as properties changed hands at higher and higher prices. Alfred and Jessie invested in South Florida real estate, making a profit buying and selling a few properties. But sensing the boom was sure to bust, Alfred stayed clear of making any major investments.
Sure enough, by 1926 the Florida real estate market crashed. Property values plunged. Thousands of families lost everything as millions in paper wealth vanished. Florida banks began failing. With real estate and bank prices depressed, Alfred began looking for possible acquisitions of banks and large tracts of land.
Alfred and Ed Ball began buying shares of several Florida banks before setting their sights on Florida National Bank of Jacksonville. They gained control of the bank in 1929 and subsequently opened six other Florida National Banks throughout Florida.
Panhandle Possibilities ??
Acquiring assets for the sake of acquiring assets wasn't Alfred's primary motivation. He was also keenly interested in helping Florida and its residents. The state's economy was in a shambles, especially the impoverished Panhandle. At one time the northwest part of the state had been the most populous and prosperous. Its economy had been buoyed by cotton plantations, timber and sawmills and deepwater ports. In the 1830s Port St. Joe had been a boomtown; the state's first constitutional convention was held there in 1838. But an outbreak of yellow fever decimated the population in the 1840s, and the Civil War and Northern blockade led to the final economic collapse of the area in the 1860s.
Alfred had a vision for this neglected part Florida. While most Floridians didn't see any potential in Northwest Florida, Alfred saw opportunity in its great pine forests, its natural harbors in close proximity to major shipping lanes serving trade between Latin America, Mobile and New Orleans, and its pristine beaches.
He summarized his intentions in 1927 when he wrote: "We are now in Florida to live and work. We expect to spend the balance of our days here. We have all the money necessary for any reasonable effort to help Florida grow and prosper. Our business undertakings should be sound, but our primary object should not be the making of money. Through helpful works, let us build up good in this state and make it a better place in which to live. In my last years, I would much rather have the people of Florida say that I helped them and their state than to double the money I now have."
Unfinished Work
His grand vision for Northwest Florida included transforming Port St. Joe into a well-planned, modern city. As a large regional employment center, he envisioned a paper mill on the banks of St. Joseph Bay. Alfred, with Ed Ball acting as his agent, bought tens of thousands of acres in the Panhandle, including most of the city of Port St. Joe, the Apalachicola Northern Railroad and the St. Joseph Telephone & Telegraph Company.
During Alfred's last years, he was intensely focused on the reconstruction of the dilapidated Port St. Joe. His dream was to turn the town into a workers' utopia, where a large paper mill provided employment and a deep harbor provided access to oceangoing ships. Alfred had hired renowned city planner Earle S. Draper to draw plans for the rejuvenated Port St. Joe.
But he never realized that dream. Alfred I. duPont died in Jacksonville in 1935 at the age of 71. His last words: "Thank you doctors. Thank you nurses. I'll be all right in a few days." It would be up to his beloved wife Jessie, pugnacious brother-in-law Ed Ball whom he handed the proverbial ?ball? to, St. Joe in the making.
It was 1925, and Alfred Irenee DuPont and wife Jessica navigated to Florida for purposes of disengaging from the Nemours clan, to offer and take advantages in Northwest Florida. Alfred was historically associated with great charity and censure of class. Jessica, a divorcee was a former worker at the DuPont mills, the Nemours having castigated Alfred for his commonly choice.
Alfred began looking around for new business opportunities. Alfred hired Jessie's brother, Edward Ball, to assist him in any new ventures. At the time, Florida was in the midst of a real estate boom, as properties changed hands at higher and higher prices. Alfred and Jessie invested in South Florida real estate, making a profit buying and selling a few properties. But sensing the boom was sure to bust, Alfred stayed clear of making any major investments.
Sure enough, by 1926 the Florida real estate market crashed. Property values plunged. Thousands of families lost everything as millions in paper wealth vanished. Florida banks began failing. With real estate and bank prices depressed, Alfred began looking for possible acquisitions of banks and large tracts of land.
Alfred and Ed Ball began buying shares of several Florida banks before setting their sights on Florida National Bank of Jacksonville. They gained control of the bank in 1929 and subsequently opened six other Florida National Banks throughout Florida.
Panhandle Possibilities ??
Acquiring assets for the sake of acquiring assets wasn't Alfred's primary motivation. He was also keenly interested in helping Florida and its residents. The state's economy was in a shambles, especially the impoverished Panhandle. At one time the northwest part of the state had been the most populous and prosperous. Its economy had been buoyed by cotton plantations, timber and sawmills and deepwater ports. In the 1830s Port St. Joe had been a boomtown; the state's first constitutional convention was held there in 1838. But an outbreak of yellow fever decimated the population in the 1840s, and the Civil War and Northern blockade led to the final economic collapse of the area in the 1860s.
Alfred had a vision for this neglected part Florida. While most Floridians didn't see any potential in Northwest Florida, Alfred saw opportunity in its great pine forests, its natural harbors in close proximity to major shipping lanes serving trade between Latin America, Mobile and New Orleans, and its pristine beaches.
He summarized his intentions in 1927 when he wrote: "We are now in Florida to live and work. We expect to spend the balance of our days here. We have all the money necessary for any reasonable effort to help Florida grow and prosper. Our business undertakings should be sound, but our primary object should not be the making of money. Through helpful works, let us build up good in this state and make it a better place in which to live. In my last years, I would much rather have the people of Florida say that I helped them and their state than to double the money I now have."
Unfinished Work
His grand vision for Northwest Florida included transforming Port St. Joe into a well-planned, modern city. As a large regional employment center, he envisioned a paper mill on the banks of St. Joseph Bay. Alfred, with Ed Ball acting as his agent, bought tens of thousands of acres in the Panhandle, including most of the city of Port St. Joe, the Apalachicola Northern Railroad and the St. Joseph Telephone & Telegraph Company.
During Alfred's last years, he was intensely focused on the reconstruction of the dilapidated Port St. Joe. His dream was to turn the town into a workers' utopia, where a large paper mill provided employment and a deep harbor provided access to oceangoing ships. Alfred had hired renowned city planner Earle S. Draper to draw plans for the rejuvenated Port St. Joe.
But he never realized that dream. Alfred I. duPont died in Jacksonville in 1935 at the age of 71. His last words: "Thank you doctors. Thank you nurses. I'll be all right in a few days." It would be up to his beloved wife Jessie, pugnacious brother-in-law Ed Ball whom he handed the proverbial ?ball? to, St. Joe in the making.
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