List of Great Floridians

Great Floridian panel for James Cash Penney

Great Floridian is a title bestowed upon notable citizens in the state of Florida by the Florida Department of State. There were two formal programs.

## Great Floridians 2000

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The Florida Department of State and the Florida League of Cities created the program in 1998 to help celebrate the approaching end of the millennium. The process dedicated a special series of commemorative panels in cities throughout the state recognizing deceased individuals who made significant contributions to the history and culture of Florida. A total of 385 persons were honored.

## Great Floridians Program

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In 2007, the legislature resurrected, revised and formalized Great Floridians in Florida law as Florida Statute 267.0731. A defined committee consisting of the top members of the Executive and Legislative branches of government meets each year to nominate citizens for designation. The Florida Secretary of State then selects at least two nominees for the honor. As of 2011, 58 people had been included.[1][2][3]

Governor Rick Scott added 22 names in 2013, including former Miami Dolphins Coach Don Shula, former University of Florida Gators football player and coach Steve Spurrier, 2012 Masters golf champion Bubba Watson Jr., former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Ervin, and Dr. Pedro Jose Greer Jr., an advocate for homeless and the disadvantaged in Miami, as well as Betty Sembler of St. Petersburg, who championed drug treatment efforts, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy, General Norman Schwarzkopf, who led U.S. forces in Iraq, former state agriculture commissioner Charles H. Bronson, former state treasurer Bill Gunter, Walt Disney, Patrick D. Smith, agricultural leader Ruth Springer Wedgworth, former Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks, Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alto L. Adams, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, retired General Craig McKinley, clothing designer Lilly Pulitzer, entrepreneur H. Wayne Huizenga, and James Robert Cade, an American physician, university professor, research scientist, and inventor who led research efforts that developed Gatorade.[4]

### Great Floridians Program

[edit]

[5] (on-going)

Full Name  | Attribute  | Year

|
|

Bob Graham[6] | Florida Governor and U.S. Senator  | 2016
Alto Lee Adams, Sr.[7] | Florida Supreme Court Justice  | 2013
Derrick Brooks[7] | Outstanding Linebacker for the Florida State University Seminoles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2013
Charles H. Bronson[7] | Florida Agriculture Commissioner (2001-2010)  | 2013
Robert Cade[7] | Inventor of Gatorade | 2013
Walt Disney[7] | Co-founder of Disneyworld, which changed Florida forever  | 2013
Tony Dungy[7] | former NFL Player and Coach  | 2013
Richard W. Ervin Jr.[7] | Florida Attorney General from 1948–64; Florida Supreme Court Justice 1964-75  | 2013
Pedro José Greer, Jr.[7] | Florida International University School of Medicine chairman; founder, Camillus Health Concern & St. John Bosco Clinic  | 2013
Bill Gunter[7] | Florida State Senator 1966-72; United States House of Representatives from 1973–75; Florida insurance commissioner, treasurer and fire marshal 1976-88.  | 2013
Wayne Huizenga[7] | Founder of Waste Management, Blockbuster Video and AutoNation; owner of Florida Marlins and Florida Panthers | 2013
Juan Ponce de León[7] | Spanish founder of Florida  | 1508
Charlotte Maguire | Mother of the FSU Medical School  | 2013
Craig McKinley | Four-star general  | 2013
Lilly Pulitzer | Clothing designer  | 2013
Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. | Four-star general  | 2013
Betty Schlesinger Sembler | Drug treatment advocate  | 2013
Don Shula | Miami Dolphins head coach  | 2013
Emmitt Smith | University of Florida Gators running back; NFL Hall of Famer  | 2013
Patrick D. Smith | Novelist  | 2013
Steve Spurrier | 1966 Heisman Trophy winner and former head football coach of the University of Florida Gators | 2013
Tim Tebow[8] | Heisman Trophy winner (2007), College & Professional Football player, Motivational speaker, Role model  | 2013
Gerry Lester "Bubba" Watson, Jr.[8] | PGA golfer  | 2013
Ruth Springer Wedgworth[8] | Distinguished figure in Florida agriculture  | 2013
Albert H. Blanding | Business & Civic leader, Army officer awarded the Distinguished Service Medal | 2012
Bobby Bowden | Florida State University Seminoles football head coach (1976–2009)  | 2012
Caroline Mays Brevard | Educator, Historian and Author  | 2012
Jeb Bush | Florida's 43rd Governor 1999-2007  | 2012
Bernardo de Gálvez | Spanish military leader who helped drive the British from the Gulf Coast following the American Revolution | 2012
James M. Gavin | US Army Lieutenant general during World War II | 2012
Frederick B. Karl | Lawyer, State Representative, State Senator, Florida Supreme Court Justice  | 2012
Thomas Alva Edison | Inventor, Scientist & Businessman  | 2011
Bob Graham | Florida's 38th Governor 1979-1987 and United States Senator 1987-2005  | 2011
George W. Jenkins | Founder of Publix Supermarkets | 2011
Toni Jennings | Teacher, Florida State Representative, Florida State Senator, Senate President and Lieutenant Governor  | 2011
Harrison Reed | Florida's 9th Governor 1868-1873  | 2011
Nathaniel Pryor Reed  | Assistant to Governor Kirk 1967-1971, Assistant United States Secretary of the Interior 1971-1977  | 2011
Marshall E. "Doc" Rinker, Sr. | Founder, Rinker Group | 2011
Jim Smith | Lawyer, Florida Attorney General, Florida Secretary of State, Chairman of the Florida State University Trustees  | 2011
Park Trammell | Florida's 21st Governor 1913-1917 and United States Senator 1917-1936  | 2011
Sandy D'Alemberte | American Bar Association president & Florida State University president (1994–2003)  | 2010
Paula Hawkins | Consumer Advocate and US Senator from Florida 1981-1987  | 2010
Joseph Patrick Hurley | Roman Catholic Archbishop  | 2010
Tony Jannus | First commercial airline pilot & parachutist  | 2010
David McCampbell | World War II Ace Navy Pilot  | 2010
Sarah D. McKay  | Lakeland Philanthropist  | 2010
Eddie Rickenbacker | World War I Ace Pilot & Medal of Honor recipient  | 2010
Pedro Menendez de Aviles | Spanish Admiral and explorer  | 2009
Bob Martinez | Florida's 40th Governor 1987-1991  | 2009
Mae McMillan | Educator and founder of Pine Crest School | 2009
Eugene Patterson | Newspaperman & Civil Rights Advocate  | 2009
Charles W. Pierce  | Early Florida Settler  | 2009
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | Author of The Yearling | 2009
E. Clay Shaw, Jr. | US Representative 1981-2007  | 2008
May Mann Jennings | Women's Rights activist, Environmentalist & children's welfare advocate  | 2008
Harry T. Moore | Civil rights activist  | 2007
Connie Mack III | US Senator 1989-2001 & US Representative 1983–1989  | 2007
Richard Keith Call | Florida's 3rd & 5th Territorial Governor  | 2006
Julia DeForest Sturtevant Tuttle | "Mother of Miami"  | 2006
William Pope Duval | Florida's 1st Territorial Governor 1822-1834  | 2005
Al Hoffman | Philanthropist & Civic Leader  | 2005
Spessard Holland | Florida's 28th Governor 1941-1945  | 2004
Fuller Warren | Florida's 30th Governor 1949-1953  | 2004
Mary Call Darby Collins | Lifelong Preservationist  | 2003
Henry Morrison Flagler | Industrialist and Developer  | 2003
Zora Neale Hurston | Writer and Folklorist  | 2003
Henry Plant | Industrialist and Developer  | 2003
James Alward Van Fleet | Combat Commander & Four-Star General  | 2002
Mary McLeod Bethune | Educator and Activist  | 2002
John Gorrie | Physician, Scientist and Inventor  | 2002
William Henry Getty (Bill) France | NASCAR Founder and Motor Sports Promoter  | 2002
Richard (Dick) Pope | Cypress Gardens Founder & Tourism Promoter  | 2002
Mallory E. Horne | Florida House Speaker and Senate President  | 2002
Horacio Aguirre  | Publisher, Journalist & Editor of Diario Las Americas  | 2001
Lawton M. Chiles | Florida's 41st Governor 1991-1998 & US Senator 1971-1989  | 2001
Reubin O'D. Askew | Florida's 37th Governor 1971-1979  | 1998
William Patrick Foster | Bandleader, Florida A&M "Marching 100"  | 1998
Chesterfield Smith | Justice Advocate & Florida's First American Bar Association President  | 1997
E. T. York | Florida University System Chancellor & IFAS Founder  | 1997
Cecil Farris Bryant | Florida's 34th Governor 1961-1965  | 1994
George A. Smathers | US Senator 1951-1969  | 1994
Stephen C. O'Connell | Florida Supreme Court Justice 1966-1967 & UF President 1967-1973  | 1993
B. K. Roberts | Three-Time Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court  | 1990
Chester Howell Ferguson  | Attorney, Business & Civic Leader  | 1988
Claude Denson Pepper | US Senator 1936-1951 & US Representative 1963-1989  | 1988
Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. | Citrus Baron, Civic Leader & Benefactor  | 1987
Marjory Stoneman Douglas | Writer and Environmental Activist  | 1987
Alonzo "Jake" Gaither | Head Football Coach, Florida A&M University  | 1984
Thomas LeRoy Collins | Florida's 33rd Governor 1955-1961  | 1981

### Great Floridians 2000 (program ended in 2000)

[edit]

Full Name  | Attribute  | Sponsoring City  | Plaque Location

|
|
|

Alvan Wentworth Chapman | Physician and Botanist; author of Flora of the Southern United States | Apalachicola  |
John Gorrie | Physician, Scientist and Inventor  | Apalachicola  |
Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier  | Teacher, first black Principal in Florida, Rosewood massacre survivor  | Archer  |
William Emory Maddox  | founder of Maddox Foundry & Machine Works and photographer/historian  | Archer  |
Ephriam Mikell Baynard | Landowner, Cattle Rancher, Farmer, Financier, Real Estate Developer  | Auburndale  |
Albert H. Blanding | Distinguished Soldier, National Guardsman & Civic leader  | Bartow  |
Lawrence Bernard (L.B.) Brown | Former Slave, Bible Salesman, Furniture maker, Church founder  | Bartow  |
Lillian Carpenter  | Polk County Historical and Genealogical Library founder, Researcher & Civic leader, Historian & Librarian  | Bartow  |
E.W. Codington  | Banker, Landowner, Mayor, Ice Plant builder, Home Building & Loan Association founder, Board of Trade organizer  | Bartow  |
Bruce Barkley Downs, Sr  | Florida Department of Transportation Director & Hillsborough director of Public Works  | Bartow  |
Louise Kelley Frisbie | Newspaper Columnist, Author and local Historian  | Bartow  |
Roy Trent Gallemore  | 40-year Navy man, 10 years U.S. Department of Interior in Micronesia, owner of Benjamin Franklin Holland House | Bartow  |
George Gause | Mortician, First black City Commissioner, Mayor, School Board member  | Bartow  |
Samuel Sharpless Green  | Public library volunteer & supporter  | Bartow  |
Jeremiah M. Hayman  | Baptist Minister & Missionary; Polk County Clerk of Court  | Bartow  |
Spessard Holland | Florida's 28th Governor 1941-1945  | Bartow  |
Evander McIvor Law | Author, Teacher, and Confederate general in the Civil War | Bartow  |
E. Louise Marquis  | Assistant to five city managers of over more than 40 years while earning Bachelors, Masters and Juris Doctor degrees  | Bartow  |
Mary Stewart McLeod | established & funded bible study program in Bartow schools for almost 50 years  | Bartow  |
William Franklin Peacock  | physician & surgeon, hospital chief of staff and civic leader  | Bartow  |
George E. Pittas  | restaurateur for 40 years, youth baseball president & national director and civic leader  | Bartow  |
Edward Crosland Stuart  | phosphate land owner, bank director and church founder  | Bartow
Jacob Summerlin | King of the Crackers, Cattle Baron; wealthiest man in Florida prior to Civil War  | Bartow  |
James Alward Van Fleet | Combat Commander & Four-Star General  | Bartow  |
Charles Cooper Wilson | lawyer, Florida Constitution framer, prosecuting attorney and state senator  | Bartow  |
Thomas Farrar Fleming, Jr. | bank founder, campaigned for bond issue for higher education and establishment of Florida Atlantic University | Boca Raton  |
Charles W. Pierce | Barefoot Mailman, hunting/fishing guide & explorer of SE FL interior; postmaster  | Boynton Beach  |
Bernard Preston Thomas | Artist and painter of Western scenes  | Boynton Beach  |
Beulah Rebecca Hooks Hannah Tingley | Democratic National Committee member, Florida Democratic Party chairperson, Bradenton Beach Library benefactor  | Boynton Beach  |
Eldridge F. McLane  | Educator, Administrator and Teaching advocate  | Brandon  |
John Law Ayers | Rancher, Citrus & Timber grower; county commission chairman, state representative, chairman of Livestock Commission & Citrus Commission; district supervisor for Soil Conservation District; bank director  | Brooksville  |
James E. "Nick" Connor  | City & County Clerk, State Senator, County Judge; obtained land & funding for local government, health & education  | Brooksville  |
Lena Culver Hawkins  | first woman mayor and woman's club president  | Brooksville  |
May Mann Jennings | Women's Rights activist, Environmentalist & advocate for the welfare of children  | Brooksville  |
William Sherman Jennings | Florida's 18th Governor 1901-1905  | Brooksville  |
Frank Elmore Saxon | Civil war veteran, tax assessor, postmaster, police chief, clerk of the court and state representative  | Brooksville  |
St. Clair Whitman | musician, inventor, artifact collector and historian  | Cedar Key  |
Solomon Smith (S.S.) Coachman | Citrus grower & sawmill operator, mercantile business & packing house, first county commission chairman, helped Pinellas County form from Hillsborough county  | Clearwater  |
Marie Ringo Holderman | Cocoa Tribune founder and publisher for 50 years  | Cocoa  | Catherine Schweinsberg Rood Central Library, Cocoa[9]
Gus Callaway Edwards  | lawyer, city attorney, mayor and founder of first community church  | Cocoa Beach  |
A. Philip Randolph | organized and was first President of the International Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, organized 2 marches on Washington, first black International Vice President of the AFL-CIO  | Crescent City  |
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | Pulitzer Prize winning Author for fiction in 1939, The Yearling | Cross Creek  |
Ripley Bullen | Archaeologist  | Crystal River  |
Francis L. Dade | Military Major in Florida Territory  | Dade City  |
William M. Larkin  | Lawyer, prosecutor, cattleman  | Dade City  |
Frank "Tootie" Adler  | city commissioner, mayor, county commissioner and city attorney  | Dania Beach  |
Mary McLeod Bethune | co-founder of Bethune-Cookman College, director of federal Office of Minority Affairs, VP of NAACP | Daytona Beach  |
Charles Grover Burgoyne | wealthy NY printer, philanthropist  | Daytona Beach  |
Matthias Day, Jr.  | founder of Daytona Beach  | Daytona Beach
George W. Engram, Sr. | electrical engineer, founder of electric company, general manager of African-American Bethune Beach  | Daytona Beach  |
William (H.G.) France & Annie B. France | NASCAR founders  | Daytona Beach  |
Jeanne M. Goddard  | co-founder & trustee of Daytona Beach Community College, school board chairman and volunteer extraordinaire  | Daytona Beach  |
J. Griffen Greene  | president of African-American Volusia County Community College, dean of Daytona Beach Junior College  | Daytona Beach  |
Lorenzo Dow Huston  | first mayor of Daytona, justice of the peace, school superintendent & county commissioner  | Daytona Beach  |
Dr. Richard Vernon Moore Sr. | Civic leader  | Daytona Beach  |
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson | first African-American to integrate modern organized baseball, MVP  | Daytona Beach  |
David Dunham Rogers  | co-founder and first surveyor of Daytona, built the first ice plant and first bridge across the Halifax River  | Daytona Beach  |
Dr. Josie Rogers | first female doctor[citation needed], chairman of Florida State Health Department, commissioner & only female mayor  | Daytona Beach  |
Chapman Shaw Root | largest independent Coca-Cola bottler, artifact collector and philanthropist  | Daytona Beach  |
Dr. Joseph Taylor  | Professor of History, chairman of the Daytona Beach Historic Preservation Board  | Daytona Beach  |
Dr. Howard W. Thurman | author and college dean at Morehouse College, Howard University & Boston University | Daytona Beach  |
Frederick deBary | Wine merchant who built DeBary Hall, hunting & fishing estate on the St. Johns River; planted 10,000 citrus trees on 4,000 acres (16 km2); his steamships transported fruit and travellers north to Jacksonville  | DeBary  |
George Emory Butler | Mayor, Judge, helped establish "Deerfield Locks" for transport via Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic; helped found Irrigation Association co-op and owned Butler Packing House  | Deerfield Beach  |
James Dallas Butler  | Mercantile store owner, then Butler Brothers Farms owner; children's program supporter  | Deerfield Beach  |
Emily Mildred Olson Dietrich  | Teacher, library supporter and historic preservationist  | Deerfield Beach  |
Branhilda Knowles  | Midwife and advocate for Migrant workers  | Deerfield Beach  |
Odas Lee Tanner  | Construction company owner, city commissioner, vice mayor, expanded parks and implemented beach renourishment  | Deerfield Beach  |
John Bartow Wiles, Jr.  | city commissioner who promoted irrigation control, road building & improvement, medical services, historical society founding member  | Deerfield Beach  |
Earl W. Brown  | Hotel operator, citrus producer & cattle rancher; city manager & mayor; Stephen Foster Memorial Commission chairman & Florida State Chamber of Commerce president  | DeLand  |
Charles H. Campbell, Jr.  | Mayor, fire chief, Rotary Club and auto racing supporter  | DeLand  |
Hawtense Conrad  | Philanthropist and museum founder  | DeLand  |
Robert Conrad  | Philanthropist  | DeLand  |
Dr. George Augustus Davis  | City and county health officer, physician for the Florida East Coast and Atlantic Coast Line Railways, chamber of commerce president  | DeLand  |
Henry Addison DeLand | founded DeLand, Florida; established DeLand Academy which became Stetson University, founded Lake Helen  | DeLand  |
Bert Fish | lawyer, school superintendent, county solicitor, judge; US diplomat to Egypt, Saudi Arabia & Portugal  | DeLand  |
Arthur George Hamlin  | Prominent attorney, represented Henry Flagler, citrus grower who developed the Hamlin Orange  | DeLand  |
Lue Gim Gong | AKA "The Citrus Wizard", created sweet & frost resistant variety of Valencia orange | DeLand  |
John B. Stetson | Hatmaker, created practical, durable hats for Western settlers & cowboys  | DeLand  |
William Amory Underhill | Lawyer, public servant, lobbyist and philanthropist  | DeLand  |
Calhoun Yancey "C.Y." Byrd  | Lawyer, City Councilman, City Attorney, County Commissioner and Bar Association President  | Delray Beach  |
Dr. John Robert Cason, Jr.  | Minister who founded the Methodist Children's Home, School Board member and Municipal Judge  | Delray Beach  |
Marshall DeWitt  | farmer, agricultural leader, City Councilman, mayor, member, then Board Chairman of the First National Bank, Delray Beach Historical Society founder  | Delray Beach  |
Barbara Dodge Smith  | Chamber of Commerce president, City Commissioner, supported city's After School Program and Sandoway Nature Center, was president of the Delray Beach Community Child Care Center  | Delray Beach  |
Solomon David Spady | School teacher and principal for 34 years who inspired children to learn and go to college  | Delray Beach  |
Myrtle Scharrer Betz | Fisherwoman for 40 years, conservationist, and writer.  | Dunedin  |
Bronson Cushing Skinner | Developed the first acceptable process to make concentrated Orange Juice  | Dunedin  |
Martin A. "Marty" Kellner  | Councilman, Mayor & Civic leader  | Eagle Lake  |
Ora Belle Starling  | Volunteer & Civic leader  | Eagle Lake  |
Zora Neale Hurston | Writer and Folklorist  | Eatonville  |
Dr. John Milton Hawks | Physician, Author, Historian, Teacher, Newspaper Publisher, Army Officer, Orange Grower, first superintendent of Volusia County Schools and founder of Hawks Park—renamed Edgewater  | Edgewater  |
Cyrus Teed | Originated Hollow Earth theory and founded Koreshan Unity | Estero  |
S.T.E. Pinkney  | School Administrator & City Commissioner/Mayor  | Eustis  |
Deaconess Harriet Bedell  | Episcopalian missionary to Everglades Indians  | Everglades City  |
David Graham Copeland  | Manager of 40 Barron Collier businesses & County Commissioner  | Everglades City  |
Gilbert Edward Barkoski  | Rancher, imported English cattle to crossbreed Spanish cows; school board member, county commissioner, World War II Ration Board and Drainage Board member; cattlemen's association president  | Fellsmere  |
Liberty Billings | Civil war veteran, conducted the U.S. Census in Nassau County, president pro-tempore of the state senate  | Fernandina Beach  |
Emma B. Delaney | first African-American female missionary sent to Africa  | Fernandina Beach  |
George Rainsford Fairbanks | lawyer, Clerk of the Circuit Court, state Senator, president of Florida Fruit Growers Association and the Florida Fruit Exchange; editor of the Florida Mirror, authored book on Florida history used in schools, founder and president of Florida Historical Society  | Fernandina Beach  |
Louis G. Hirth  | founder and proprietor of Palace Saloon, open since 1901  | Fernandina Beach  |
Amos Latham  | lighthouse keeper at Amelia Island  | Fernandina Beach  |
Chloe Merrick | opened a Freedmen's School on Amelia Island; married governor Harrison M. Reed  | Fernandina Beach  |
William Henderson Peck  | Principal of Nassau Colored School Number 1 for 50 years; expanded curriculum to a full high school  | Fernandina Beach  |
Solicito "Mike" Salvador | leader and innovator in the Florida shrimping industry  | Fernandina Beach  |
Sisters of St. Joseph | Humanitarians who assisted all people through yellow fever epidemics; founded St. Joseph Academy | Fernandina Beach  |
Samuel A. Swann  | Accountant and assistant secretary and treasurer of the Florida Railroad Company; land agent  | Fernandina Beach  |
Marcellus Alphonso Williams  | Surveyor and land agent  | Fernandina Beach  |
David Levy Yulee | Lawyer, Florida Statehood leader, US Senator, Plantation owner, Railroad builder  | Fernandina Beach  |
Evelyn Fortune Bartlett  | renovated the Bonnet House and 35-acre (140,000 m2) estate on Fort Lauderdale beach, preserving one of the last mangrove swamps and coastal hammocks on the South Florida coast  | Ft. Lauderdale  |
Frederic Clay Bartlett | Noted artist and art collector; designed and built the Bonnet House  | Ft. Lauderdale  |
George W. English, Jr.  | after 1926 hurricane, worked with the city to exchange delinquent taxes for land, established a Savings and Loan Association to fund real estate development, established First National Bank, city attorney, drafted the city's first comprehensive plan and helped establish Broward General Hospital  | Ft. Lauderdale  |
Dr. Von Delany Mizell | second black physician who helped establish Provident Hospital; staged sit-ins, protests and started the first NAACP chapter in South Florida, boycotted Fort Lauderdale's "Colored School", sued Medical Association for admittance  | Ft. Lauderdale  |
Estelle Rouse Pinkett  | teacher who motivated her students to attend college, founded first "colored" USO, founded an initiative to train teachers  | Ft. Lauderdale  |
Margaret Blake Roach  | Broward County School administrator, Women in Distress Shelter and United Way supporter, president of the Broward Urban League, Broward Community College Trustee and civic leader  | Ft. Lauderdale  |
Dr. James F. Sistrunk  | first black physician who helped establish Provident Hospital and was chief of staff, delivering 5,000 babies  | Ft. Lauderdale  |
Frank Stranahan and Ivy Stranahan  | trading post operator, postmaster, ferryboat owner, real estate developer who donated land for hospital, school, park and woman's club; schoolteacher who convinced Seminoles to move to a reservation, hospital supporter  | Ft. Lauderdale  |
Leon Watts  | Teacher, counselor, civil rights activist, community advocate and Broward Community College Trustee  | Ft. Lauderdale  |
Nathaniel "Nat" J. Patterson  | Lawyer, City Attorney, Mayor, State Representative and civic leader  | Fort Meade  |
Thomas Alva & Mina Miller Edison | prolific Inventor  | Fort Myers  |
Henry Ford | Founder of Ford Motor Company & Assembly Lines  | Fort Myers  |
William Thomas Howard  | Instrumental in establishing Florida Gulf Coast University | Fort Myers  |
Albert E. "Bean" Backus | Self-taught Painter, Charitable Benefactor  | Fort Pierce  |
Dr. Clem C. Benton  | Physician, Founder of Fort Pierce Memorial Hospital, College Trustee and Civic Leader  | Fort Pierce  |
Zora Neale Hurston | Writer and Folklorist  | Fort Pierce  |
Daniel T. McCarty | Florida's 31st Governor 1952-1953  | Fort Pierce  |
Willie H. Blankston  | Civil Rights Advocate  | Fort Walton Beach  |
John Thomas Brooks  | Founder of Fort Walton Beach, Civil War veteran, area "Doctor" & Hotel owner  | Fort Walton Beach  |
Adam J. Gerlach  | Owner of Gulfview Hotel and Catholic Church supporter  | Fort Walton Beach  |
Liza Jackson  | Hotel Proprietor, Women's & Garden Club founder, Donated Land for numerous Civic Projects  | Fort Walton Beach  |
William C. Lazarus  | Pilot, Aeronautics Instructor & Research Engineer, Project Manager of Indian Temple Mound Museum  | Fort Walton Beach  |
Chester Pruitt  | First Black FWB Police Officer, Youth Mediator  | Fort Walton Beach  |
Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. | Citrus Baron, Civic Leader & Benefactor  | Frostproof  |
Latimer Maxcy  | Citrus Grower & Processor, Cattle Rancher and Civic Leader  | Frostproof  |
Albert H. Blanding | Distinguished Soldier, National Guardsman & Civic leader  | Gainesville  |
Sarah Matheson  | Missionary and Presbyterian Religious leader at Local, State & National levels  | Gainesville  |
Sarah Lucretia Robb | Alachua County's first female physician in the 1880s, making housecalls and authored book on "common sense" medicine for public use  | Gainesville  |
Jesse Earl Franklin  | Postmaster, Church leader and Historic Preservationist  | Glen St. Mary  |
Alverdo Adair Geitgey | Baker County landowner & developer, Glen St. Mary founder, citrus & pecan grower  | Glen St. Mary  |
Isaiah Sherman Mikell  | Railroad depot agent, farmer and community supporter during the depression  | Glen St. Mary  |
George Lindley Taber, Sr.  | founded Glen Saint Mary Nursery, Florida State Horticulture Society president, developed cold-tolerant plants  | Glen St. Mary  |
Karlie Tyler  | teacher, traveling librarian and volunteer librarian  | Glen St. Mary  |
John Preston Hall, Sr.  | bank president & chairman of the board; sheriff for 36 years; director, treasurer & president of Florida Sheriffs Association; founder and treasurer of the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch  | Green Cove Springs  |
John Preston Hall, Jr.  | deputy sheriff & bank president; ran family-owned land & timber company and children's charity, major donor to Florida Sheriffs' Youth Ranches  | Green Cove Springs  |
Ed Stansel  | health department administrator; expanded services, built clinics, implemented first Health Department computer system, recruited doctors to donate time  | Green Cove Springs  |
Richard Reid Wagner  | organized the fire department in 1930 and served as the unpaid fire chief for 62 years; often gave personal funds to fire victims  | Green Cove Springs  |
Catherine Powell Hickman  | founded Gulfport Historical Society and museum; published Gulfport history; founded Gulfport Community Players & Girls Softball League and other youth activities  | Gulfport  |
Arnold S. White, Sr.  | deputy director at veterans medical center, volunteer & employee of Little League Baseball for more than 40 years  | Gulfport  |
Donald Ray "Billy" Matthews | US Representative 1953–1967 & Teacher  | Hawthorne  |
Chester Shell  | Hunting & fishing guide, Raised funds for 1st Black school in Alachua County  | Hawthorne  |
William Flemming  | Founder of Holly Hill  | Holly Hill  |
Robert Anderson | Bank founder, president & director and City Commissioner  | Hollywood  |
Dorothy Walker Bush | Civic leader & wife of a US Senator, mother of a POTUS and grandmother of 2 governors & a POTUS  | Hollywood  |
Clarence P. Hammerstein  | Citrus authority, tourism promoter, Broward Kiwanis founder  | Hollywood  |
Joseph Wesley Young | Founder & Developer of Hollywood, Florida  | Hollywood  |
Anne Kolb  | Environmental preservationist and 1st female Broward County Commissioner  | Hollywood  |
Preston B. Bird  | City Politician and Civic leader  | Homestead  |
Lily Lawrence Bow  | Homestead Library Supporter and Book provider  | Homestead  |
May Mann Jennings | Women's Rights activist, Environmentalist & advocate for the welfare of children  | Homestead  |
William J. Krome  | Railroad Surveyor & Engineer, Agriculture and Horticulture enthusiast  | Homestead  |
Max Losner  | Bank President, Federal Reserve Board member, City Councilman and Civic leader  | Homestead  |
James Daniel Redd  | Homestead founder and developer, City Councilman 1913-24, Dade County Commissioner 1921-41  | Homestead  |
James Archer Smith  | World War I Army Doctor, Physician and Chief Surgeon of Dade County Hospital  | Homestead  |
David Levy Yulee | Lawyer, Florida Statehood leader, US Senator, Plantation owner, Railroad builder  | Homosassa  |
Napoleon Bonaparte Broward | Florida's 19th Governor 1905-1909, Duval Co. Sheriff & State Representative  | Jacksonville  |
J.J. Daniel | Businessman and Civic leader  | Jacksonville  |
Alfred I. du Pont | Philanthropist  | Jacksonville  |
David H. Dwight  | Racial activist  | Jacksonville  |
Lex Hester | Government administrator  | Jacksonville  |
James Weldon Johnson | Educator, lawyer, diplomat & racial activist  | Jacksonville  |
Henry John Klutho | Architect  | Jacksonville  |
Abraham Lincoln Lewis | Insurance executive, Philanthropist & founder of American Beach  | Jacksonville  |
Eartha M. M. White | Clara White Mission founder, teacher, Nursing Home founder  | Jacksonville  |
Doris Whitmore  | Jacksonville Museum of Science & History supporter/promoter  | Jacksonville  |
R.R. Ricou  | Fishing business owner & Civic leader  | Jensen Beach  |
Bessie Wilson DuBois | Historian  | Jupiter  |
Joseph Verner Reed | Wildlife & Nature Conservationist and charitable benefactor  | Jupiter Island  |
Permelia Pryor Reed | Wildlife & Nature Conservationist and charitable benefactor  | Jupiter Island  |
William M. Beam  | City Politician & man of action  | Keystone Heights  |
John Edward Larson  | Local & State Politician, IRS Head for Florida  | Keystone Heights  |
Howard S. England | Benefactor of Fort Zachary Taylor  | Key West  |
Mel Fisher | Scuba Diver & Treasure Hunter  | Key West  |
Ernest Hemingway | Writer & Adventurer  | Key West  |
Walter Sayers Lightbourn | Tobacco grower and Cigar maker  | Key West  |
Harry S. Truman | POTUS | Key West  |
Captain Melville Emory Forrey | farmer, dredge boat captain, general store owner & fur trader, city councilman, mayor and county commission chairman  | LaBelle  |
Francis A. Hendry | cattle rancher, Civil War Captain; helped establish Polk & Lee counties and Fort Myers; served as county commissioner & state representative; founder, mayor, town clerk, marshal, alderman and minister of LaBelle  | LaBelle  |
Rosabelle Blake  | School teacher and administrator  | Lakeland  |
Thomas W. Bryant  | lawyer, state representative, Board of Control member, University of Florida advocate  | Lakeland  |
Lawton Mainor Chiles | Florida's 41st Governor 1991-1998 & US Senator 1971-1989  | Lakeland  |
John Franklin Cox  | mercantile owner, state representative, mayor, city treasurer and real estate developer  | Lakeland  |
Herbert J. Drane | real estate, insurance, railroad and citrus businessman; co-founder of Lakeland, clerk, treasurer and mayor, newspaper editor, state representative & senator, US representative and Federal Power Commission member  | Lakeland  |
Clare Henley  | pharmacist, helped establish spring major league baseball training in Lakeland, Florida State League team owner and league manager  | Lakeland  |
Dr. John Sidney Jackson  | Surgeon, City Commissioner & Mayor  | Lakeland  |
Paul Scott Linder  | founded heavy construction machinery company, leader of several Florida business organizations  | Lakeland  |
J. Hardin Peterson | Congressman  | Lakeland  |
Park Trammell | Florida's 21st Governor 1913-1917  | Lakeland  |
Lassie Goodbread-Black | Teacher & Civic Leader  | Lake City  |
Fred P. Cone | Florida's 27th Governor 1937-1941  | Lake City  |
McKinley Jeffers  | Educator & Civic Leader  | Lake City  |
May Vinzant Perkins | Writer, Historian  | Lake City  |
Betsy Hopkins  | Philanthropist  | Lake Helen  |
John P. Mace  | Architect/builder  | Lake Helen  |
Edward W. Bok | Editor, Philanthropist & founder of Bok Tower Gardens | Lake Wales  |
Bertha Louise Hinshaw  | Innkeeper  | Lake Wales  |
Delbert Lorenzo Layton  | City Benefactor  | Layton  |
Hubert O. Dabney | Athlete & educator  | Leesburg  |
Joseph M. Tardugno, Jr.  | Utility innovator  | Leesburg  |
Pat Thomas  | city manager & Benefactor  | Leesburg  |
Porter Claude Crapps, Jr.  | bank owner, large timberland owner, promoted advanced forestry practices, helped build vo-tech school, supported 4-H and FFA | Live Oak  |
Thomas Dowling | established several lumber companies, built railroad to transport wood, funded Live Oak waterworks, helped build & rebuild Advent Christian Church, founded Advent Christian Village in Dowling Park  | Live Oak  |
Cary A. Hardee | Florida's 23rd Governor 1921-1925  | Live Oak  |
Brantly Walker Helvenston  | Insurance agent, teacher, banker  | Live Oak  |
John Parshley  | Civic leader  | Live Oak  |
Josiah B. Clouser  | Hotelier and civic leader  | Longwood  |
Edwin B. Browning, Sr.  | Teacher & Superintendent, Historical Society founder, newspaper columnist & radio show host  | Madison  |
Tommie Camilla Stephens Barfield | Confectionery operator, lobbied for infrastructure, worked to create Collier County; first superintendent of schools and board member  | Marco Island  |
William David Collier | mercantile store operator, discovered & donated fantastic trove of Indian artifacts, assisted clam farmers  | Marco Island  |
Theophilus West | Civil war surgeon, local physician & druggist, school superintendent, mayor and state senator  | Marianna  |
James Hartley Beal  | scientist & pharmacist who collected plants & shells, donated them to museums; donated land & artesian well for first public water and sewer system  | Mary Esther  |
Thomas Jefferson Pryor, Jr.  | general store manager, city councilman & mayor  | Mary Esther  |
Joe Wickham | surveyor with U.S. National Geodetic Survey, construction company owner, city councilman & county commissioner  | Melbourne  |
Dana A. Dorsey | first black millionaire, established Mount Zion Baptist Church, bank, hotel & rental property owner, donated land for school & library  | Miami  |
David Grandison Fairchild | horticulturist with United States Department of Agriculture, 75,000 new plants to the US for cultivation  | Miami  |
Catherine Hauberg Sweeney | botanist, philanthropist & preservationist, especially the Coconut Grove estate, The Kampong, which contained rare and exotic tropical plants  | Miami  |
Barbara Baer Capitman | Art Deco design preservationist and author  | Miami Beach  |
John Stiles Collins | Horticulturist & avocado grower, dredged Collins Canal and started Collins Bridge, built Hotel, Casino & began residential development  | Miami Beach  |
Stephen J. Cranman  | Director of the Perrine-Cutler Ridge Council: redevelop area following Hurricane Andrew by attracting business with 3,000 jobs, US 1 Beautification, Community & Cultural Centers  | Miami Beach  |
L. Murray Dixon | architect who developed Miami Beach's Tropical Art Deco style of architecture  | Miami Beach  |
John J. Farrey  | Chief Building, Plumbing and Electrical Inspector who initiated & enforced first Building Code, copied by 5,000+ communities  | Miami Beach  |
Carl Graham Fisher | Miami promoter & real estate developer, completed Collins Bridge, dredged Biscayne Bay, built Lincoln & Dixie Highways | Miami Beach  |
Henry Hohauser[10] | Prolific architect who promulgated modernism in Miami Beach architecture  | Miami Beach  |
Anna Brenner Meyers | Integration leader for Miami schools, helped found Miami Dade College, started first educational TV station in Florida, WPBT | Miami Beach  |
Glenn Hammond Curtiss | Aircraft Motor builder, aviator and developer of Hialeah, Miami Springs & Opa-locka  | Miami Springs  |
Chief Micanopy | Leader of the Seminole Nation at Cuscowilla during the Second Seminole War | Micanopy  |
Archie Carr | International biologist & environmentalist, honored nature author  | Micanopy  |
Marjorie Carr | First female wildlife specialist at US Fish & Wildlife Service, founder of Florida Defenders of the Environment | Micanopy  |
Bennett C. Russell  | Teacher, Administrator & Superintendent, using technology as educational tool  | Milton  |
Reuben Wyatt Harper | Citrus grower, broker & industry leader, City Councilman  | Montverde  |
Henry B. Watkins, Sr.  | real estate developer for most of Naples, donated 10 acres (40,000 m2) for downtown park  | Naples  |
Henry B. Watkins, Jr.  | built first low-income housing in Naples, Edison Community College trustee, founded youth shelter, aa facility for mentally ill and local YMCA | Naples  |
Henry Nehrling | ornithologist and horticulturist; introduced caladiums, palms, bamboo, and amaryllis to the US  | Naples  |
Elroy M. Avery | Mayor, Author, Businessman, Bank Chairman & Civic leader  | New Port Richey  |
Gene Sarazen | first golf professional to win all four Grand Slam events; invented sand wedge, founded charitable foundation  | New Port Richey  |
George E. Musson  | civic leader and mayor who promoted road & bridge projects and revitalized downtown area  | New Smyrna Beach  |
Al E. Fellner  | Mayor, Civic leader, Businessman  | North Redington Beach  |
Peter Raulerson  | postmaster, mayor, county commissioner and school trustee  | Okeechobee  |
Ransom Eli Olds | Oldsmobile inventor; purchased land, platted & founded Oldsmar; built a sawmill & foundry  | Oldsmar  |
Dr. Francis Dickinson  | Surgeon, Benefactor, Philanthropist & champion of Women's Suffrage  | Orange City  |
Dr. Seth French | Physician, Florida: Promoter, Senator & Commissioner of Immigration  | Orange City  |
Alfred Benjamin "A. B." Michael | ship captain, successful citrus grower known as "Dean of the Florida Citrus Industry"  | Orchid  |
Martin Andersen  | newspaper owner & editor, used paper to influence politicians & public to build roads, an airport and develop nearby Port Canaveral  | Orlando  |
William A. (Bill) McCree, Jr.  | civil engineer & general contractor; chairman of planning board that developed the first comprehensive development plan & capital improvements program  | Orlando  |
Walter C. Meloon | founded the Florida Variety Boat Company which became Correct Craft; built Army boats in World War II, Ski Nautique in 1951  | Orlando  |
Oakes Ames | founding director of the American Orchid Society, prolific author, museum curator & director  | Ormond Beach  |
John Anderson  | county tax assessor, built a plantation, Ormond Hotel & area's first golf course; organized first auto race on the beach & professional baseball team  | Ormond Beach  |
Eileen Butts  | botanical specimens collector; helped create state parks & an art gallery; raised money to restore The Casements; civic leader  | Ormond Beach  |
James Carnell  | citrus grower, jelly factory owner, real estate agent, city councilman, postmaster & yachtsman  | Ormond Beach  |
Charles McNary | alderman, councilman, mayor and justice of the peace  | Ormond Beach  |
Joseph Price  | county commissioner & mayor; built & managed Ormond Hotel; organized first auto race on the beach  | Ormond Beach  |
John D. Rockefeller | Industrialist & Philanthropist  | Ormond Beach  |
Edith Stanton | teacher, newspaper & magazine writer; book author  | Ormond Beach  |
Elsa Scherer Burrows  | created & preserved Oscar Scherer Park and donated it to the state  | Osprey  |
Francis Stephen Huggins  | World War II Navy Veteran, retired government employee, tireless civic leader  | Palm Bay  |
Henry Morrison Flagler | Industrialist and Developer  | Palm Beach  |
Francis MacKay Howze  | teacher, "the Mother of Education in Manatee County", coach, financial sponsor, civic leader  | Palmetto  |
Francis F. Taylor  | realtor, land developer & city promoter; benefactor of youth programs & young adults; donated land for parks  | Palmetto  |
George Mortimer West  | land developer, newspaper founder, author, town councilman and public library founder  | Panama City  |
Delbert Davis  | Schoolteacher, Scoutmaster, surveyor, musician and photographer  | Parker  |
Captain Ed Parker | Boat captain, environmentalist and seafood industry founder  | Parker  |
Charles W. Flanagan  | City commissioner, mayor and civic leader  | Pembroke Pines  |
James Cash Penney | Businessman and philanthropist, created Penney Farms Retirement Community in Clay County  | Penney Farms
H. Clay Armstrong  | Founder of the Pensacola Classical School, mayor and author  | Pensacola  |
William Dudley Chipley | County commissioner, City councilman and mayor, state senator; financed Pensacola & Atlantic Railroad  | Pensacola  |
Occie Clubbs  | teacher and principal; Pensacola Historical Society and Florida Historical Society president  | Pensacola  |
Mayhew W. (Pat) Dodson III  | Florida Board of Regents member and promoter of University of West Florida; historic preservationist  | Pensacola  |
Daniel "Chappie" James | Four-star general in the U.S. Air Force from Eglin Air Force Base who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam  | Pensacola  |
Lillie Anna "Mother" James  | established private colored school whose graduates became Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers and Military officers  | Pensacola  |
Stephen Russell Mallory | Lawyer, State Representative & Senator, United States Congressman & Senator  | Pensacola  |
Edward A. Perry | Florida's 14th Governor 1885-1889; teacher, lawyer, Civil War Brigadier General  | Pensacola  |
Mary Turner Rule Reed  | Historic Restoration and Preservationist  | Pensacola  |
Oliver J. Semmes, Jr.  | City engineer and Manager noted for paving 150 miles (240 km) of streets, purchased the municipally-owned gas company and negotiated a favorable franchise agreement with the local power company  | Pensacola  |
Joyce Garrett Turner  | Teacher and Historic Preservationist  | Pensacola  |
T. T. Wentworth, Jr. | Founder of Pensacola Historical Society, Pensacola Historical Museum & Wentworth Museum in Ensley; helped establish Pensacola Public Library  | Pensacola  |
P.K. Yonge | Businessman & civic leader who served almost 30 years as a member and chairman of Florida Board of Control | Pensacola  |
William Thomas Cash | Educator, State Representative, author, campaign financial disclosed law sponsor and First State Librarian: 1927-51  | Perry  |
Edwin F. Deicke | Agricultural pioneer & author, Philanthropist  | Plantation  |
Lois Deicke  | Philanthropist and Civic leader  | Plantation  |
Helen B. Hoffman  | Original resident of Plantation. With husband, Dr. Abram Hoffman, started the Plantation Homeowners Association; PHA secretary for 40+ years. Founded the Plantation Library and local Agency on Aging.  | Plantation  |
Frederick C. Peters | Everglades Rancher & Farmer, Agricultural pioneer and donated land to church, city, county & state agencies  | Plantation  |
Jessie Ball du Pont | Spouse of Alfred I. du Pont, Benefactor & Philanthropist, brother of Edward Ball | Port St. Joe  |
David W. Jones  | Head Coach at Washington County High School who personally visited his students' homes and their churches, teaching them respect, responsibility, perseverance, initiative, kindness, fairness, honesty and cooperation.  | Port St. Joe  |
Witt A. Campbell  | Educator and Civil Rights worker  | Quincy  |
Dr. William Spencer Stevens | First Black Physician[citation needed], pharmacist, Built "Colored" Hospital & Supervisor of City Schools  | Quincy  |
Judge Hugh M. Taylor | Lawyer, State Representative, Judge & Florida Constitutional Revision Commission Chairman  | Quincy  |
Odet Philippe | Early citrus grower who introduced grapefruit to Florida; first cigar maker in Tampa  | Safety Harbor  |
Peter Demens | Russian immigrant citrus grower, constructed railroad stations and supplied crossties; took over bankrupt Orange Belt Railway and named St. Petersburg, Florida, for Saint Petersburg, Russia  | San Antonio  |
Judge Edmund F. Dunne | western judge forced to resign due to mixing church and state; founder of San Antonio | San Antonio  |
James J. Horgan | History professor at St. Leo College; historical society president, Florida Historical Society board member, prolific author and NAACP chapter founder  | San Antonio  |
Frank P. Bailey | Farmer, general store owner, started Sanibel Packing Company; founded the Sanibel Community Church, helped build Sanibel Community House, setup telephone system, served as justice of the peace  | Sanibel  |
Owen Burns | established the Burns Realty and Burns Dredging companies; Burns Construction built Ringling Causeways, laid out and paved streets, built seawalls, first co-op subdivision and El Vernona Hotel  | Sarasota  |
John L. Early  | Lawyer, school board attorney, school trustee, state representative and mayor  | Sarasota  |
Arthur Britton Edwards  | sold real estate & insurance; tax assessor, mayor, established county tax assessor and bank VP  | Sarasota  |
John Hamilton Gillespie | Scottish head of the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company, attorney & real estate agent, justice of the peace, built DeSoto Hotel, mayor and councilman; built one of the first golf courses in US, laid out courses in Jacksonville, Tampa, Kissimmee and Bellair  | Sarasota  |
Dr. Joseph Halton | Surgeon who did many free operations, town councilman and council president  | Sarasota  |
Harry Lee Higel | General store owner, boat owner, land developer, bank director, town councilman and mayor  | Sarasota  |
David and George Lindsay  | Father & Son editor and publisher of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune | Sarasota  |
Andrew McAnsh | Builder of the Mira Mar Hotel  | Sarasota  |
Thomas Reed Martin | prolific architect  | Sarasota  |
Charles Ringling | Circus founder, real estate investor who developed downtown; chamber of commerce president and bank founder  | Sarasota  |
John Ringling | Circus founder, real estate investor who developed beaches; art collector who willed his art, museum and home to the state of Florida  | Sarasota  |
Marie Selby | Created botanical garden at her residence; willed to the community; established a Foundation which gave 3,000 grants worth $50 million for education and scholarships  | Sarasota  |
Ernest Arthur Smith  | real estate investor and abstract company president; chamber of commerce organizer and mayor; improved water service and fire protection; acquired land for future civic projects  | Sarasota  |
Karl Wallenda | family patriarch of a circus high wire act for 50 years  | Sarasota  |
Percy L. Hedgecock | First mayor, school board member, helped build first local school and acquire only oceanfront park; helped found Brevard Engineering College and served as trustee  | Satellite Beach  |
Paul Kroegal | Ship Captain, first County commissioner and chairman; built the first paved road from Micco to Stuart and the first Sebastian River bridge; first National Wildlife Refuge warden in America  | Sebastian  |
Margaret Shippen Roebling | Donated money to acquire land for the 8,140-acre (32.9 km2) Highlands Hammock State Park when the National Park Service declined and the state had no money at height of depression  | Sebring  |
Dr. Andrew Anderson, Jr.  | Physician, Philanthropist & Benefactor  | St. Augustine  |
Frank B. Butler | Businessman, civic & political leader; founder of "colored" Butler Beach  | St. Augustine  |
Felix deCrano | Accomplished portrait, landscape, genre and still life painter in Henry Flagler's artist colony  | St. Augustine  |
Earl Cunningham | self-taught American folk artist who painted schooners and portrayals of Seminole Indian life that he infused with images of Viking ships  | St. Augustine  |
Anna Maria Dummett  | Boarding house owner, Civil War nurse, spy and caregiver; president & founder of Ladies Memorial Association, established a Confederate memorial  | St. Augustine  |
Louisa Fatio  | owner/operator of several boarding houses; Fatio House was among city's best  | St. Augustine  |
Henry Morrison Flagler | Industrialist and Developer  | St. Augustine  |
Walter B. Fraser  | City commissioner & mayor, state senator, organized city's first formal restoration movement, Colonial St. Augustine; donated the statues of Ponce de León & Pedro Menendez at the North City Gate  | St. Augustine  |
Nina Hawkins | Newspaper reporter & editor; founded the Florida Women's Press Club; founded the St. Augustine Art Association; included much local history in paper to encourage historic preservation movement  | St. Augustine  |
Martin Johnson Heade | portrait and genre painter early, then focused on landscapes, especially salt marshes; Henry Flagler was his wealthy patron  | St. Augustine  |
Lawerence Lewis, Jr.  | Chairman of the Flagler Systems, established Flagler College and provided scholarships, endowments and new buildings; president of the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board and the St. Augustine Foundation | St. Augustine  |
William Wing Loring | Florida militiaman, lawyer and governor of the Florida Territory; first US Congressman from Florida; U.S. Army officer; Confederate Brigadier General; led contingent of Union & Confederate officers in Egypt setting up that country's defense  | St. Augustine  |
Dr. Luella Day McConnell  | Physician, Yukon Gold Rush participant, created Fountain of Youth tourist attraction, eloquent story teller and local character known as Diamond Lil  | St. Augustine  |
Albert Manucy | Authority on St. Augustine history & architecture; worked for National Park Service, studied Spanish architecture on Fulbright Scholarship; authored two books on St. Augustine  | St. Augustine  |
Pedro Menendez de Aviles | Spanish Captain and Explorer  | St. Augustine  |
Prince Napoleon Achille Murat | Crown prince of Naples; authored several works, studied law and government  | St. Augustine  |
Francisco Pellicer | Successful early carpenter, moved south on Matanzaz River; Pellicer Creek is named after him  | St. Augustine  |
Xavier Lopez Pellicer  | Bank VP, Flagler Hospital trustee & president; historical society president & director; president of the Florida Bankers Association, president of Florida Forestry Association; Civic leader  | St. Augustine  |
Verle A. Pope | businessman and large landowner, elected to Florida House of Representatives, but went into Army in World War II; elected to Senate, served as president; approved the Florida Constitutional revision of 1968, established the community college system, created the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board and supported the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.  | St. Augustine  |
Robert Ripley | Cartoonist, Entrepreneur and amateur Anthropologist; creator of Ripley's Believe It or Not! | St. Augustine  |
Edmund Kirby Smith | Career US Army officer, educator, and a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War | St. Augustine  |
Frances Kirby Smith | most successful Confederate spy  | St. Augustine  |
Franklin W. Smith | Built Villa Zorayda using cement mixed with coquina; encouraged Flagler to use Spanish architecture for his hotels; built the Casa Monica Hotel; historic preservationist  | St. Augustine  |
Thomas Buckingham Smith | Lawyer, city councilman, territorial legislator, worked for US State Department in Mexico and Spain, researched Spanish settlement in Florida and translated documents from Spanish or Portuguese to English; authored several works; Florida Tax Commissioner  | St. Augustine  |
Elizabeth Morley Towers  | lifelong historic preservationist; served on the St. Augustine Preservation Board and the Florida State Park Board  | St. Augustine  |
Henry L. Twine  | NAACP chapter president, city commissioner and vice mayor; Democratic Party Executive Committee member  | St. Augustine  |
F. Charles Usina  | state representative who worked for a state mental health program and supported the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, serving on the school's Board of Trustees; member and leader of Kiwanis, Chamber of Commerce, Knights of Columbus, Elks, Moose, the St. Augustine Historical Society and the Committee of 100  | St. Augustine  |
Father Felix Varela  | priest and Professor of Philosophy; established church ministry in New York City where he founded schools for children, built churches and evangelized the poor; on the road to sainthood  | St. Augustine  |
Emily Lloyd Wilson | Artist who purchased a residence in Henry Flagler's artist colony; researched St. Augustine's history in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C.; her notes and copies of maps, documents and Spanish records became the St. Augustine Historical Society's library; she served as librarian and historian for the society  | St. Augustine  |
Frank T. Hurley  | World War I & World War II Army Staff Officer, Real Estate & Mortgage Executive, Civic leader  | St. Pete Beach  |
Thomas J. Rowe  | Beachfront Hotel owner  | St. Pete Beach  |
Earl Morrow Clark  | Teacher & Headmaster, School Accreditation Leader  | St. Petersburg  |
Dr. Paul R. Hortin | Methodist Minister, Hunter, Fisherman  | St. Petersburg  |
Morris Raiford Johns  | Pineapple grower, Businessman & Deputy Sheriff  | Stuart  |
Walter Kitching  | Businessman, Banker, Justice of the Peace & Philanthropist  | Stuart  |
George W. Parks  | Businessman, Bank founder, Councilman & Mayor  | Stuart  |
James R. Pomeroy  | Educator, County Politician, Postmaster & Businessman  | Stuart  |
Dan Pearl  | Politician & Civic leader  | Sunrise  |
J. Broward Culpepper | FSU Dean and Secretary/Director of the Florida Board of Control | Tallahassee  |
B. Calvin Jones | Archaeologist and Discoverer of multiple Historic sites  | Tallahassee  |
William Valentine Knott  | State Auditor, Treasurer, Comptroller  | Tallahassee  |
Catherine Murat | Historic Preservationist, Civil War supporter  | Tallahassee  |
James Page | Florida's first Black minister, church founder, County Commissioner, Senate Chaplain and Justice of the Peace  | Tallahassee  |
Romulus Hunter Thompson  | Band Director  | Tallahassee  |
Curtis L. Waller | Attorney, State Legislator, State Attorney, Circuit Judge and Federal Court of Appeals Judge  | Tallahassee  |
Cesar Gonzmart | Expanded Columbia Restaurant, Ybor City Historic District promoter, Civic leader  | Tampa  |
Celestino Vega | Cigar maker, President of Centro Español and promoter of Spanish arts & culture  | Tampa  |
Vicente Martinez Ybor | Founder & Developer of Ybor City, Cigar maker and Labor supporter  | Tampa  |
Peter Themis Assimack  | CPA, Chamber of Commerce President and Civic leader  | Tarpon Springs  |
John K. Cheyney | Sponge Company & Sponge Exchange founder, local politician and Sponge Industry promoter  | Tarpon Springs  |
Thomas Craig  | Businessman, City Commissioner & Mayor  | Tarpon Springs  |
George Frantzis | Greek Lawyer who helped liberate Dodecanese Islands from Italy & reunite with Greece;[dubious - discuss] School Principal & Sponge Industry saviour  | Tarpon Springs  |
George Inness, Jr. | Successful Landscape and Figure Artist; spouse Julia Inness founded the Tarpon Springs Library  | Tarpon Springs  |
Demos A. Megaloudis  | Business and Civic leader  | Tarpon Springs  |
Anson Peasely Killen Safford | Nevada Surveyor General, Governor of the Arizona Territory, Land Developer and Tarpon Springs Founder  | Tarpon Springs  |
Mary J. Stafford | Teacher at Boston University College of Medicine and first practicing woman physician in Florida  | Tarpon Springs  |
Colonel Henry McKie Salley  | Army Engineer, Airport & Bridge builder and city manager  | Tarpon Springs  |
Alexander St. Clair-Abrams | Lawyer and Founder/Developer of Tavares  | Tavares  |
James Hudson Baker  | Building contractor[11] | Vero Beach  |
Merrill P. Barber  | Politician & Banker[11] | Vero Beach  |
Alex MacWilliam, Sr.  | Politician & Builder[11] | Vero Beach  |
Garnett L. Radin  | Nurse & founder of Indian River Memorial Hospital[11] | Vero Beach  |
Waldo E. Sexton | Citrus Grower & Processor, Dairy farmer[11] | Vero Beach  |
Sherman N. Smith, Jr.  | Lawyer, Prosecutor, Politician & Judge  | Vero Beach  |
Herman Julius Zeuch  | Developer and Citrus farmer  | Vero Beach  |
Edward Ball | du Pont Trust Manager & Philanthropist  | Wakulla Springs  |
W. Curtis Ezelle  | Local politician & Civic leader  | Wauchula  |
Edward R. Bradley | Philanthropist  | West Palm Beach  |
Dr. Joseph Wiley Jenkins  | Pharmacist & Society Host  | West Palm Beach  |
Marvin U. Mounts  | Agricultural leader  | West Palm Beach  |
Dr. Thomas Rudolph Vickers  | African-American Healthcare provider  | West Palm Beach  |
Nellie A. Grice  | Businessperson & Civic leader  | Windermere  |
Dr. John Howard Johnson  | Philanthropist  | Windermere  |
John Calvin Palmer | Politician & Philanthropist  | Windermere  |
Dick Pope, Sr. | Cypress Gardens Founder & Tourism Promoter  | Windermere  |
Loring A. Chase | Winter Park Founder  | Winter Park  |
Jeannette Genius McKean | Painter and Rollins College benefactor  | Winter Park  |
Albin Polasek | Sculptor and Cultural Leader  | Winter Park  |
Alice Fryer Hall | Teacher, Journalist & Civic leader  | Zephyrhills  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Browning, Kurt S.: "2009 Great Floridians Designated During Florida Heritage Month" Archived 2010-12-13 at the Wayback Machine Florida Department of State Press Release, March 19, 2009
2. ^ Browning, Kurt S.: "Florida Heritage Award Honorees Announced" Archived 2012-03-01 at the Wayback Machine Florida Department of State Press Release, March 25, 2010
3. ^ "Great Floridian Program". Retrieved April 2, 2012.
4. ^ Bousquet, Steve (April 23, 2013). "Gov. Scott finding one 'Great Floridian' after another". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
5. ^ "Great Floridian Program". 2013. State of Florida. Archived from the original on April 18, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
6. ^ "Former Gov. Graham honored as 'Great Floridian'". Tallahassee Democrat. February 12, 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Gatorade Inventor Honored With Great Floridian Award". Florida Trend. September 30, 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
8. ^ a b c Governor designates Tim Tebow a Great Floridian, by Hays Carlyon, Florida Times-Union, April 12, 2013
9. ^ Sonnenberg, Maria. "Haywire House: Own a piece of history with this Cocoa home built in 1918". Florida today.com. Florida Today. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
10. ^ "Neron Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida". World Digital Library. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
11. ^ a b c d e Great Floridians of Vero Beach

## External links

[edit]

* Florida Division of Historical Resources: Great Floridians 2000 Program
* Great Floridian Program