Frank and Stella Heiser House - Florida Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Side 1
Frank William Heiser was born in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1892. He was orphaned at age 14 and later dropped out of school. In 1911, Heiser bought a 20-acre farm in Fellsmere and moved to the area in 1912. He married Fellsmere Sales Company secretary Stella Mounger in 1915. Local builders, Shupe and Shafer, constructed this single-story, 1,440 square foot, bungalow-style house that featured five rooms and five gables. In 1918, the Heisers had a daughter, Lois, their only child. Frank Heiser, a member of numerous Fellsmere business associations, saw opportunity in the nutrient-rich muck fields west of the town. In 1923, he organized the Standard Agricultural Chemical Company, later named the Ammoniated Products Company (APC) in 1924. To process the muck into fertilizer base, APC built the Broadmoor Muck Plant five miles west of town. In 1925, Heiser became General Manager of the Trans Florida Central Railroad and President of the Fellsmere Drainage District, a position he held until 1946. In 1926, Heiser became APC's General Manager and the company became the single largest landowner in Indian River County. High shipping costs forced the company out of business and the plant closed.
(Continued on other side)

Side 2
(Continued from other side)
In 1927, Heiser planted his first test crop of sugar cane in Fellsmere's muck land. After that crop's success, he plantd 100 acres in 1929. Heiser's next goal was to build a sugar mill. He traveled between Fellsmere and New York City by train during 1930 and 1931 to secure financing, raising $1 million. Heiser founded the Fellsmere Sugar Company in 1931. The mill was built west of Fellsmere in 1932 using materials from the muck plant and a Louisiana sugar mill. By 1933, the Fellsmere Sugar Mill produced 2 million pounds of raw sugar and employed 225 people. From 1935 to 1937, he converted the company into a cooperative, the Fellsmere Sugar Producer's Association, and added a sugar refinery. In 1936, the refinery, the first in Florida, could produce up to 150,000 pounds of refined sugar daily, labeled "Florida Crystals." Challenges plagued the cooperative, and in 1943, Heiser and the other members sold it to Puerto Rican sugar producers. The Heisers left Fellsmere and moved to Jacksonville, though Frank returned periodically. Frank died in Jacksonville in 1961, followed by Stella in 1976. An unsung hero of Fellsmere, Heiser and his company saved the town from total economic collapse during the Great Depression.

Marker Number: F-997 Date: 2018 County: Indian River Marker Type: Roadside Sponsored or placed by: Patricia and Cornelius Du Plessis, Owners and Restorers of the Frank and Stella Heiser House, Fellsmere Historican Richard B. Votapka and wife Linda and the Florida Department of State Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
In your log, please say if you learned something new, and if you took any extra time to explore the area once you stopped at the historic marker waymark.

Please post a photo at the marker location.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   09/09/2018 Markerman62 visited it