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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 263/340

Chapter X

SINCE THE SECOND WORLD WAR

After the Second World War Columbia County shared in the
growth which Florida was undergoing, but not to the same extent.
Columbia County’s growth was of a more steady variety, not the
boom aspect one associates with South Florida. During the decade
of the 1950’s the population of the county increased from 18,261 to
20,077 for a gain of 10.2 percent, but this only translated to an
increase of 23.2 to 25.5 population per square mile, while the state
as a whole was increasing from 51.1 to 91.3 population per square
mile. Columbia County was growing, but it was not a part of the
rapid urbanization of South Florida.1
During the period after the Second World War, agriculture
had continued to be the largest industry in the county, although
significant changes were underway. Since the 1930’s the number
of farms had declined, although the number of large farms had
increased. In 1940 there were only 127 farms larger than 260
acres, and only 7 with more than 1,000 acres. By 1964 the county
had 185 farms larger than 260 acres, and 21 with more than 1,000
acres. The total number of farms in the county decreased from
1,383 in 1940 to 691 by 1964.2
Tobacco emerged as the number one cash crop in the county in
the period after the war. By 1964 the 650 tobacco growers in the
county were grossing $1,500,000 on the approximately 1,400 acres
allotted to the crop by the United States Department of Agri­
culture. Three tobacco warehouses were located in Lake City.
Another allotted crop which had become important was peanuts,
grown both as a cash crop and as swine food. Approximately 73

’Columbia County Resources Development Authority, Columbia County,
Florida (St. Petersburg, 1968), p. 27.
2lbid., p. 50.

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