Union Cypress Sawmill 1912-1932
Posted by: 
Markerman62
N 28° 03.998 W 080° 36.234
17R E 538921 N 3104646
Location of an early industry in Melbourne.
Waymark Code: WMN9VZ
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 01/27/2015
Views: 11
The Union Cypress Co. was Melbourne’s first big industry, bringing employment, growth and development to the region. Their big cypress/pine sawmill was a three-story, all-steel structure about 50 by 150 feet. Five, 150-horsepower boilers provided power. Its power plant supplied Melbourne’s first electricity. The company’s railway to Deer Park provided the first direct route across the St. Johns River for 80 miles south of Enterprise. Some 40,000 feet of lumber and 45,000 shingles could be produced daily from the cypress/pine holdings of George W. Hopkins, which had a market value over $2 million in 1911. Lumber not used locally was shipped out via the Florida East Coast Railway. The company-owned town of Hopkins had some 69 buildings within its industrial, residential and commercial areas. The big mill burned in August, 1919, and was replaced by a smaller pine mill. Construction of a new cypress mill began in late 1924, but halted after Hopkins died in January, 1925. Foshee Manufacturing Co. leased the now-idle mill and railway in March, 1928, but even with plenty of timber left, had to close in late 1932 due to a declining lumber market in the Great Depression. Less than a handful of original buildings exist today.
Marker Number: F-618
Date: 2008
County: Brevard
Marker Type: Roadside
Sponsored or placed by: The Brevard County Historical Commission The Brevard County Tourist Development Council and the Florida Department of State
Website: Not listed
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