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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 147/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida
Lake City’s first bank, the Bank of Lake City, better known as
the Collins Bank, was established in 1884. In 1891 the Lake City
Water and Light Company was established at a cost of $20,000. It
was privately owned by William R. Bush, a local attorney and real
estate broker. A black man called “Major Marsh” was the engineer
and maintenance man of the operation. Lake City was one of the
first cities in Florida to have electricity. The company was pur­
chased by Florida Power and Light in 1926. The Lake City Fire
Department was organized in 1883 by George 0. Adicks. The city’s
first brick store, known as the Bigelow Building, was constructed
in 1876. Some of Lake City’s better-known civic leaders and
businessmen in this period included Joseph Baya, A. J. Henry,
Washington M. Ives, S. P. Buie, L. W. Rivers, James W. Payne,
Frederick P. Cone, W. M. Hancock, and A. B. Brown. Several of
the leading black businessmen in the city operated restaurants;
among these were Napoleon Cason, Alfred Caesar, Henry Gur-
ganus, and Daniel Kirby.17
Lake City boasted of its fine schools and cultural attractions.
The city was the site of the Florida Agricultural College. State
support for higher education dates to 1851 when provisions were
made to establish seminaries in East and West Florida. The East
Florida school opened in Gainesville in 1852 while the West Florida
school opened in Tallahassee in 1856. The Florida Agricul-
cultural College was chartered by the state in 1870. It was to be
funded in part by a 90,000 acre grant of federal land. A site for the
school was not initially announced and various communities of­
fered incentives to encourage the board of directors to favor them.
Alachua County offered $50,000 and the Florida Railroad offered
10,000 acres if Gainesville was selected. Instead the board decided

11 Century in the Sun, p. 51; John R. Richards, Florida State Gazeteer 1886-1887
(New York, 1886), pp. 252-264; Lake City Reporter, January 4,1901, December 26,
1947; “Lake City One of the First Towns to Get Electricity,” Sunshine Service News
(November-December, 1970), copy in Selected Articles on Columbia County,
Columbia County Historical Society; Charter to William R. Bush and Associates, in
the possession of Miss Jessie Gleason, Lake City.
144

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