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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 194/340

A History of Cohimbia County, Florida

Hotels—Central Hotel, Gainey House, Lake City Hotel, Ed­
wards House
Jewelers—R. T. Radford, J. H. Lanier, J. J. Parnell
Livery and Stables—C. H. Rollinson, W. V. Casey
Lumber—Seminole Lumber Co.
Manufactures—Lake City Ice Co., Lake City Bottling Works,
Montgomery Cooperage Co., Barefoot and Spinks (shing­
les), Seminole Lumber Co. (planing mill)
Meat Market—W. H. Colson
Millinery—Mrs. K. V. Crowley, Mrs. T. A. Perry, Miss M. A.
Perry, Mrs. L. T. Funk
Newspapers—Citizen-Reporter, Florida Index
Photographer—L. B. Blackman
Physicians—A. J. P. Julian, W. R. Chalker, J. F. Hedgecock,
W. A. Townsend, J. F. Appell, D. A. Watts, S. D. Berry
Saloons—R. W. Cox, J. D. Crabtree, W. M. Pennington
Undertakers—H. A. Wilson, J. A. Fisher19
The business directory of the Georgia Southern was by no
means complete for Lake City, and moreover, it did not list
businesses throughout the county. The three merchandise stores of
J. W., J. T., and J. M. Cobia were established after the directory
was prepared, yet they became some of the largest stores in Lake
City in the period before World War I. In addition, black-owned
businesses were not listed, yet they served a large segment of the
county’s population. Such operations primarily served the black
community, although black workers were involved in almost every
aspect of the county’s economy. Ed Wilson, for example, was a
skilled bricklayer who did much of the work on the courthouse
building when it was erected in 1901.20
Among black-owned businesses in the county during the early
decades of the twentieth century were grocery and general mer-

l9Georgia Southern and Florida Railway, Business Directory (Macon, Georgia,
1901), pp. 28-31, xerox copy, Columbia County Historical Society Collection.
20Alyce Jones Caesar Interview, November 15, 1976.
168

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