Early
Hands In
The
Man with the Land
Dana Fuquay, a native
of Hastings, Florida, once owned one foot of every five feet of intercoastal
land in Flagler and Volusia counties. Besides acquiring beachfront and other
real property, he worked as an architect throughout the state on federal, state
and private projects. In Daytona, where his main office was located, Mr. Fuquay
participated in community affairs, including serving on the Board of Trustees at
Bethune-Cookman College.
Fuquay, along
with another entrepreneur, George Moody, invested in the Flagler Hotel in
Flagler Beach in 1924, but Moody sold his interest the following year. Fuquay
completed the three-story structure which had forty-four guestrooms, each with
running water and a bathroom, either connecting or adjoining. In the middle of
the hotel was a fourth floor ballroom. It is reported that during winter
season, guests dressed in fine attire, mounted stairs and spent an evening dancing.
The Flagler also had a full basement with offices, a barbershop, and an arcade.
The hotel had
some down days, but from the late 40s until the early 70s, it was fully
operational, but did eventually succumb to the wrecking ball.
The site on
which Flagler Hotel was located is one block west of A1A. Fuquay donated the
block facing the ocean and stipulated nothing could be built on it to obstruct
the ocean view. It had a shuffle board court on it, and sidewalks surrounding
it, all in compliance with his wishes. The grand Flagler Hotel, with its
imposing coquina columns that stood to each side of its entrance, is gone. Its
site is now the venue for a weekly Farmer’s Market.
This
biographical sketch of Dana Fuquay shows he was a man with ideas and he who
went forward to make them a reality. Without documentation, but based on his
actions, it can be assumed he had an open-mind toward African Americans, or at
least toward Mrs. Bethune. Otherwise, he would not have accepted the invitation
to sit on the Board at her school. Some credit must be given to her power of
persuasion, however. Her ability to draw people of substance into her circle is
legendary. Once they stepped in, she helped them to see her vision. So, a
visionary, such as Dana Fuquay, perhaps was not a hard-sell when she disclosed
her plans for a black-owned beach town. Besides, it was a money-making
opportunity. According to George Engram: “…If Fuquay harbored any prejudice
toward blacks, he wasn’t going to let it get in the way of a business deal. He
sold quite a bit of property to whites and blacks. It didn’t matter to him.”
Dana Fuqua
showed Mrs. Bethune and the core group of investors beach property up and down
Volusia County. They agreed upon the location on the south end of the New
Smyrna Beach peninsula. The 189 acres of undeveloped land cost $132,000.00.
This was a miniscule amount for some during that era, but not so for others. With
the realization funds would very unlikely be acquired from standard banking
institutions by a group of Negroes, Dana Fuqua permitted the core of investors
to pay a modest down payment. Standing on faith, Mrs. Bethune believed there
was a way to generate the balance owed.
~*~
Garfield
Devoe Rogers
A
Plan to Pay
G. D. Rogers
suggested to Mrs. Bethune and other primary investors they form a corporation
and go through steps to legitimize it with the state of Florida. By doing that,
the corporation could sell shares and with the proceeds, the mortgage with Dana
Fuquay could be paid off. A brilliant idea for a man with nothing more than a
rural high school education.
Garfield Devoe
Rogers, a Georgia native, is said to have walked along railways from his home
in Thomaston to Bradenton, Florida. His daughter said G. D., as he was commonly
known, came to Florida in 1905, at 19 years old when a friend convinced him
better opportunities existed there. He, as perhaps most of his 15 siblings, had
no college education. But in spite of that, he became a perceptive businessman
and prominent figure in Central Florida. One of his earliest enterprises in
Bradenton, FL was a dry cleaning and tailoring business. He made custom-fitted
suits for $13.50, and when the same customers needed their expensive apparel
cleaned and pressed, they returned to G. D.’s place to have that done.
Less than twenty
years after arriving in Florida (1922), G.D., Mary McLeod Bethune and C. Blythe
Andrews of Florida Sentinel Bulletin, a black newspaper, started the Central
Life Insurance Company and by 1935, the company was conducting business in
almost every city in Florida. The first offices of the Central Life Insurance Company
were on Harrison Street in Tampa, with a staff of six employees. After eleven
years, G. D. took the helm of the company, which had assets of $75,000. Under his
leadership, company assets quickly grew to almost one million dollars and
employed over 300 men and women.
Eleanor Gittens, one of G.D.’s daughters, said
her parents and Mrs. Bethune were close friends, and they dedicated themselves
to the success of her college. G. D. drove truckloads of cabbage and fish to
the school to feed students and supported Mrs. Bethune in many ways at the
college. So when the beach town proposal came to mind, G.D. signed on without
any prodding.
In 1943, Zora
Neale Hurston, famous African American writer and reporter for the American
Mercury magazine, attended a statewide meeting of the Negro Defense Committee
where G. D. spoke. She quoted him as saying: “The only citizens who count are
those who give time, effort, and money to the support and growth of the
community. Share the burden where you live.” From the many services he provided
and businesses he started to meet the needs of blacks, it is evident he lived
out the true meaning of his words.
G. D. Rogers,
astute businessman and trusted friend of Mary Bethune, knew the route to take
to advance the beach project. So under his guidance, they agreed to form a
corporation.
~*~
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