Page 276 - a-history-of-columbia-county-florida-(1996)-edward-f-keuchel

A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 265/340

Since the Second World War

and some pulpwood companies using raw materials from Colum­
bia and adjacent counties. Many of the areas which were cutover
prior to the 1930’s had regenerated, and over 16,000 acres were
replanted in pines under the Conservation Reserve Program.5
One of the most notable changes in the county since the Second
World War was the development of Lake City as a governmental
center. By 1960 state agencies in Lake City included the State
Road Department Division, the Florida Forest Service, Troop B
Headquarters of the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Regional
Headquarters of the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.
Federal facilities included Veterans Administration Hospital, the
Agricultural Services and Naval Stores Station, now closed, the
Forest Service Conservation Services, and the U. S. Department of
Agriculture. By 1961 thirty-two percent of the personal income of
the county came from employment in governmental agencies while
only eleven percent came from agriculture.6
Industry showed a significant increase in the period after the
war, accounting for some thirteen percent of the personal income
of the county by 1961. There were approximately twenty-five
manufacturing and processing industries in Columbia County by
the mid 1960’s ranging in size from the large Aero Corporation’s
1,400 employees to those such as Borchett’s Kitchen Works which
employed less than five. The Aero Corporation was located on the
old Naval Air Station adjacenttothe community college and special­
ized in aircraft modifications and overhauls. Other larger manu­
facturers included Guerdon Industries and Piedmont Mobile
Homes, Metal Products Division (auto trim), and various lumber
companies such as Granger, C and O Daniels, Bullard, and the
Southern Wood Preserving Company. One large area employer not
in the county but important to its economy was Occidental Petro­

6Zdid., pp. 76-78.
6 Ibid., p. 34; Board of Public Instruction, Brief of the Boards of Public Instruction
of Baker, Columbia, Gilchrist, and Union Counties (Lake City, 1960), p. 14.
201

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