31 minute read
Florida Rock Industries, Inc. Business Information, Profile, and History
155 East 21st Street
Jacksonville, Florida 32206
U.S.A.
Company Perspectives:
The company's mission is to be an excellent construction materials company providing long-term growth and a superior return on investment. Through employees committed to continuous improvement, we will provide quality materials and superb service for our customers; operate safe, environmentally responsible facilities that are well maintained and cost effective; and develop mutually beneficial relationships with our suppliers and the communities within which we operate.
History of Florida Rock Industries, Inc.
Florida Rock Industries, Inc. and its subsidiaries make and market ready-mixed concrete; mine, process, and sell sand, crushed-stone, gravel, and other construction aggregates; and produce and sell concrete block, pre-cast and pre-stressed concrete, Portland and masonry cement, calcium products and other building materials. Although the company owns a 50 percent share in a sand and gravel plant in New Brunswick, Canada, it chiefly operates in the southeastern and mideastern United States, primarily in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. In Florida, where it is headquartered, Florida Rock has seven crushed-stone plants, nine sand pits, and one industrial sand plant. The company also maintains a plant in Kissimmee, where it manufactures pre-cast lintels and other construction products, and a Brooksville plant that produces calcium products for the animal feed industry. Outside Florida, the company owns and operates six crushed-stone plants in Georgia as well as two sand and gravel pits and two crushed-stone plants in both Virginia and Maryland. At a plant in Wilmington, North Carolina, the company also manufactures pre-stressed concrete components for highway and bridge construction. In addition, the company's marine division barges materials throughout the Chesapeake Bay and its principal estuaries. Florida Rock's chief markets include all of Florida (with the exception of the panhandle region) and areas in and around Atlanta, Richmond, Norfolk, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Through its joint venture in Canada, the company also markets products in the Caribbean and Argentina. Although it is a public company, about 29 percent of Florida Rock is owned by the Baker family, descendants of Thompson Baker, one of the company's two founders. It is also a company that enjoys a solid reputation for good management, fiscal conservatism, and stability.
The Lineage of Florida Rock Industries
Although its operations were temporarily suspended during World War II, Florida Rock Industries, Inc. descended from a business started by Thompson Baker in 1929. Baker bought a sandpit formerly owned by his father, who had defaulted on a bank loan and lost the property through repossession. Three years later, in 1932, Thompson and his partner Jim Shands formed Shands & Baker and began producing ready-mixed concrete. While the company survived the depression, it closed down during the war years, when Baker joined the Army and fought in Europe. He returned in 1945, a decorated veteran, and reopened the business. In the postwar boom, he led Shands & Baker into the crushed-stone business and oversaw the company's rapid growth throughout the 1950s and 1960s, when, almost annually, the business opened a new mine or quarry. What helped Florida Rock grow was the general population explosion in the company's market areas, especially Florida, which in the postwar years rapidly became a Mecca for both vacationers and retirees. In 1972, the company went public as Florida Rock Industries.
Throughout much of the history of the company, the Baker family remained the chief owners and managers of the business. Thompson Baker's son Edward joined the business in the 1960s, becoming president in 1969 and CEO Edward L. Baker, the son of Thompson S. Baker and grandson of founder Thompson Baker, became chairman and CEO in 1989, at which time his younger brother, John D. Baker II, was named president. In 1991, Edward Baker's son Thompson S. Baker II became vice-president. Thompson S. Baker still remained on the board of directors but retired from active management of the company in 1989. In addition to Florida Rock, the Baker family owned a large share in FRP Properties Inc., a Jacksonville, Florida transportation and real estate company. Originally part of Florida Rock Industries, it was spun off in 1986. Ten years later, the family still owned about 36 percent of FRP.
Florida Rock During the Late 1980s and Early 1990s
An ever-expanding business since it was founded in 1929, Florida Rock continued its growth into the early and middle 1980s. Between 1978 and 1986, the Bakers put $210 million of the company's earnings back into the business, purchasing property, plants, and equipment, providing it with ever-increasing productivity and flexibility. By 1986, its sales had reached $259 million, and it had begun tapping into new markets by buying out competitors. Among other significant acquisitions, in 1987 it purchased Cement Products, a Florida-based company, and in the next year bought Arundel Corp., a manufacturer of construction materials operating in Maryland. Nevertheless, the company suffered from an industry slowdown that accompanied the nation's recessive economy in the late 80s and early 90s. Between 1990 and 1992, its sales dropped from $390.5 million to $271.8 million, with its net income falling off from $17.1 million to $3.9 million. Importantly, however, the company stayed profitable, even in its nadir year, 1991, when its net income fell to $2.0 million. Albeit slowly, by 1993 it had begun making what would become a steady recovery.
After the recession in the early 1990s, Florida Rock began to regain lost financial ground. 1994 was a particularly good year for the company. Its revenues rose 14.3 percent to $336.5 million, up from $294.4 million the previous year, and its net income increased to $17.2 million, up from $7.8 million. The improved financial picture resulted from the upward spiral in the company's Florida and Georgia markets, its increased cost efficiency, and its capital investment programs of the previous five years. The climb back to the 1990 sales level continued in 1995, when the company's revenues rose to $369.0 million and produced a net income of $17.2 million, which virtually matched the net income figure for 1990.
By the mid 1990s, Florida Rock had well-established operations in four eastern seaboard states--Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and, north of the Mason-Dixon Line, Maryland. Altogether, at the end fiscal 1994, it had 79 ready-mixed concrete and 11 concrete block plants in operation, a fleet of 854 ready-mixed concrete and concrete block delivery trucks, and construction aggregate operations spread across the Southeast. In Florida, it was operating seven crushed- stone plants, eight sand plants, and one industrial sand plant. In addition, it was operating five crushed-stone plants in Georgia, one sand and gravel plant and three crushed-stone plants in Maryland, and one sand and gravel plant and two crushed-stone plants in Virginia. It was also operating aggregate distribution terminals in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, which are located in the northern part of Virginia, and in the Baltimore and Eastern Shore areas of Maryland.
The Fortunes of Florida Rock, 1996 and Beyond
Although the company had garnered many industry awards for its environmental stewardship--including four Gold Environmental Eagle Awards given by the National Stone Association--at various times specific groups targeted the company for operating its construction plants and continuing its quarrying and mining activities on land where developers were building new homes. Historically, part of Florida Rock's problem arose from the fact that Florida's explosive post-World War II population growth placed settlements closer and closer to quarries and other operational sites that had once been remote. In Dade County, for example, where Florida Rock had quarried limestone since the mid 1950s, developers moved much closer, and new homeowners, with houses built in fairly close proximity to the company's quarries, eventually began to complain about the blasting done by Florida Rock. There were also other kinds of complaints. For example, in 1997, the Haile Community Association, a neighborhood group, fought the company over the construction of its $80 million cement plant in Newberry, Florida, west of Gainesville. The group challenged the air pollution permits that the state had issued to Florida Rock, and it tried to enlist the support of the company's competitors.
Other than providing some negative publicity, such challenges did little to impede the expansion of Florida Rock, which continued to grow through both new construction and acquisitions. A particular boon for Florida Rock was the increased construction activity resulting from the preparation for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. (It was also in 1996 that John Baker took the reins as Florida Rock's CEO. The following year, his grandfather, the company's founder, died at age 91.) In 1998 the company opened a new calcium products facility, which made calcium-based chemicals for use in animal feeds. Florida Rock also opened a crushed-stone plant in Georgia, and it added a sand and gravel plant to its operations in Maryland.
In June 1999, the year in which Florida Rock completed construction of a $100 million Portland cement plant near Brooksville, Florida, the company again expanded through two additional acquisitions. First, at a cost of $87 million, it purchased all the outstanding common stock of Harper Bros., Inc., a leading supplier of aggregates in and around its Ft. Myers home base in southwest Florida. At the time of the purchase, Harper Bros. had just doubled the size of its aggregates finishing plant. It was also engaged in aggregate mining and highway and heavy construction. Under the terms of a consent agreement with the Department of Justice permitting the sale, Florida Rock was required to divest its existing Ft. Myers Alico Road quarry lease and plant operation along with Harper Bros.'s Palmdale sand mine lease and plant operation in Glades County, Florida. Following their deal with Harper Bros.'s, Florida Rock's next purchase was the outstanding common stock of
In August of 1999, Florida Rock sold the highway and heavy construction assets and operations of Harper Bros., Inc. to Harper Bros. Construction Inc., a subsidiary of Superfos Construction Inc., a Denmark-based company that, in 1999, was itself acquired by Ashland Inc., the petroleum and chemical conglomerate. Then, in December 1999, Florida Rock complied with its consent arrangement with the Department of Justice by selling off its Ft. Myers Alico Road quarry lease and plant operation as well as the Palmdale Sand Mine and plant operation of its Harper Bros., Inc. subsidiary to CSR Rinker Materials Corp., itself a subsidiary of CSR America Inc. (a holding company for CSR Limited, a global construction and building materials company based in Sydney, Australia). Rinker, in business since 1926, touted itself as "Florida's Number One Building Supplier." Statewide, the company had operations at over 100 locations and had been one of Florida Rock's competitors in Florida's aggregate and ready-mixed cement and concrete trade.
In April 2000, with its investment in a Canadian granite quarry and aggregate distribution operation located on the St. Croix River in Bayside, New Brunswick, Florida Rock ventured beyond the U.S. border for the first time in its history. The closest Canadian Atlantic port to the United States, Port Bayside is ice-free and open to navigation year round. The operation, in which Florida Rock bought a 50 percent share, started up in 1998. It quarries granite on a site leased from the Province of New Brunswick, with estimated reserves in excess of 100 million short tons, and sells its aggregates on the East Coast and in the Caribbean. In August of the same year, for $30 million in cash, the company also acquired 12 ready-mixed concrete plants, two concrete block plants, and two sand mines from Southern Construction Company, a private firm located in Albany, Georgia. Eleven of the ready-mix plants were located in southwest Georgia and the other in Tallahassee, Florida. The other operations were also located in southwest Georgia. Subsequently, Florida Rock sold off two of the acquired ready-mix plants to third parties and traded one plant in Georgia for a plant in Florida.
Florida Rock has historically maintained a reputation for being a stable, well-managed enterprise that has never lost its forward momentum, despite the fact that it engages in a weather-dependent, cyclical business sensitive to the state of the nation's economy. No steps it took in the 1990s seemed destined to change that assessment. It remained well positioned to respond to its industry challenges in the first decade of the new century.
Principal Subsidiaries: Arundel Corp.; Cardinal Concrete Co.; Maryland Rock Industries Inc.; Northern Concrete Group; Sadler Materials Corp.; Southern Concrete Construction; S&G Concrete Co.; S&G Prestress Co.; Tidewater Materials Corp.; Virginia Concrete Co.
Principal Competitors: Ashland Inc.; Hanson PLC; "Holderbank" Financiere Glaris Ltd.; Lafarge Corporation; Lehigh Portland Cement Co.; Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.; Southdown, Inc.; Vulcan Materials Company.
Related information about Florida
pop (2000e) 15 982 400; area
151 934 km²/58 664 sq mi. State in SE USA,
divided into 67 counties; the ‘Sunshine State’ or ‘Peninsular
State’; discovered and settled by the Spanish in the 16th-c; ceded
to Britain in 1763, and divided into East and West Florida; given
back to Spain after the War of Independence, 1783; West Florida
gained by the US in the Louisiana Purchase, 1803; East Florida
purchased by the US, 1819; admitted as the 27th state of the Union,
1845; seceded, 1861; slavery abolished, 1865; re-admitted to the
Union, 1868; capital, Tallahassee; other chief cities,
Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, St Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale; a long
peninsula bounded W by the Gulf of Mexico and E by the Atlantic
Ocean; rivers include the St Johns, Caloosahatchee, Apalachicola,
Perdido, St Marys; C state has many lakes, notably L Okeechobee
(fourth largest lake wholly within the USA); highest point in
Walton County (105 m/345 ft); the Florida Keys Islands
stretch in a line SW from the S tip of the state, all linked by a
series of causeways; the NW is a gently rolling panhandle area, cut
by deep swamps along the coast; the S is almost entirely covered by
the Everglades; the SE coast is protected from the Atlantic by
sandbars and islands, creating shallow lagoons and sandy beaches; a
warm sunny climate, but occasional danger of hurricanes (eg
widespread damage caused by Hurricane Andrew in 1992); many famous
resorts (Palm Beach, Miami Beach); the Everglades National Park,
Walt Disney World entertainment park, John F Kennedy Space Center
at Cape Canaveral; the nation's greatest producer of citrus fruits;
second largest producer of vegetables; sugar cane, tobacco, cattle
and dairy products; processed foods, chemicals, electrical
equipment, transportation equipment, wood products; phosphate and
other minerals; one of the fastest-growing parts of the country; an
important area for retirement homes; large Hispanic population
(especially from Cuba).
references
Florida is a U.S.
state located in the southeastern
United States. It
was named by Juan Ponce de León, who landed on the coast on April 2, 1513, during Pascua Florida (Spanish for "Flowery Easter," referring to the
Easter
season).
Geography
Florida is situated mostly on a large peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the
Atlantic Ocean,
and the Straits
of Florida. It is near the countries of the Caribbean, particularly the
Bahamas and Cuba.
At 345 feet (105 m) above mean sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida and
the lowest highpoint of any U.S. state. Lake County holds the
highest point of peninsular Florida, Sugarloaf
Mountain, at 312 feet (95 m).
Areas under control by the National Park Service include:
- Big Cypress National Preserve, near Lake
Okeechobee
- Biscayne National Park, near Key Biscayne
- Canaveral National Seashore, near Titusville
- Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, in St.
Augustine
- De
Soto National Memorial, in Bradenton
- Dry
Tortugas National Park, at Key
West
- Everglades National Park
- Fort Caroline National Memorial, at Jacksonville
- Fort Matanzas National Monument, in St.
Augustine
- Gulf Islands National Seashore, near Gulf
Breeze
- Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, in
Jacksonville
See also List of Florida state parks
Boundaries
The state line begins in the Atlantic Ocean, traveling west, south, and north
up the thalweg of the
Saint Mary's River. At the origin of that river,
it then follows a straight line nearly due west and slightly north,
to the point where the confluence of the Flint River
(from Georgia) and the Chattahoochee River (down the Alabama/Georgia line) used
to form Florida's Apalachicola River. The seasons in Florida are actually
determined more by precipitation than by temperature with mild to cool,
relatively dry winters
and autumns (the dry
season) and hot, wet springs and summers (the wet season). The hottest temperature ever
recorded in the state was 109 °F (43 °C), set on June 29 1931 in Monticello. The coldest was ?2 °F (?19 °C), on
February 13 1899, just 25 miles (40 km) away,
in Tallahassee. These thunderstorms, caused by collisions
between airflow from the Gulf of Mexico and airflow from the Atlantic Ocean, pop up in
the early afternoon and can bring heavy downpours, high winds, and
sometimes tornadoes. The
storm is believed to have been similar in composition to a hurricane, and even brought
storm surges of six
feet or more to regions of the Gulf coast.
Although some storms have formed out of season, hurricanes pose a threat
during hurricane season, which lasts from June 1 to November 30. Hurricanes Charley (August 13), Frances (September 4?5), Ivan (September 16), and Jeanne (September 25?26) cumulatively cost the
state's economy US$42 billion. Later, Hurricane Katrina
(August 25) passed
through South
Florida and Hurricane Rita (September 20) swept through the Florida Keys. Hurricane Wilma made
landfall in Florida in the early morning of October 24 as a Category
3 hurricane, with the storm's eye hitting near Cape Romano, just south of
Marco
Island, according to National Hurricane
Center.
Florida was the site of the second costliest weather disaster in
U.S. history, Hurricane Andrew, which caused more than US$25 billion in
damage when it struck on August 24, 1992.
In a long list of other infamous hurricane strikes are the 1926
Great Miami
Hurricane, the Lake
Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928, the Labor Day
Hurricane of 1935, Hurricane Donna in 1960, and Hurricane Opal in
1995.
Environmental issues
Florida is the fifth-largest producer of greenhouse gases among
the 50 U.S. states. Much of Florida, being only a few feet above
sea level now, would be underwater if the sea level rose
dramatically due to the continued melting of glaciers, parts of the Antarctic ice shelf, or Greenland's cover of ice. Of
the many indigenous people, the largest known were the Ais, the Apalachee, the Calusa, the Timucua and the Tocobago tribes. Juan Ponce de
León, a Spanish conquistador, named Florida in honor of his "discovery"
of the land on April 2
1513, during Pascua Florida, a Spanish
term for the Easter
season. French Huguenots founded Fort Caroline in modern-day Jacksonville in
1564, but this fort was conquered by forces from the new Spanish
colony of St. Augustine the following year. The local leaders
(caciques) demonstrated
their loyalty to the Spanish by converting to Roman Catholicism and
welcoming the Franciscan priests into their villages.
The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of
English colonies to the
north and French colonies
to the west. The English weakened Spanish power in the area by
supplying their Creek
Indian allies with firearms and urging them to raid the
Timucuan and Apalachee client-tribes of the
Spanish. On March 3
1845, Florida became the
27th state of the United States of America. On January 10 1861, before the formal outbreak of
the Civil
War, Florida seceded from the Union; On
June 25, 1868, Florida's congressional
representation was restored. font-size: 95%;">
Presidential elections results
Year
|
Republican
|
Democratic
|
| 2004 |
52.10%3,964,522
|
47.09%
3,583,544
|
| 2000 |
48.85%2,912,790
|
48.84%
2,912,253
|
| 1996 |
42.32%
2,244,536
|
48.02%2,546,870
|
| 1992 |
40.89%2,173,310
|
39.00%
2,072,698
|
| 1988 |
60.87%2,618,885
|
38.51%
1,656,701
|
| 1984 |
65.32%2,730,350
|
34.66%
1,448,816
|
| 1980 |
55.52%2,046,951
|
38.50%
1,419,475
|
| 1976 |
46.64%
1,469,531
|
51.93%1,636,000
|
| 1972 |
71.91%1,857,759
|
27.80% 718,117
|
| 1968 |
40.53%886,804
|
30.93% 676,794
|
| 1964 |
48.85% 905,941
|
51.15%948,540
|
| 1960 |
51.51%795,476
|
48.49% 748,700
|
The basic structure, duties, function, and operations of the
government of the State of Florida are defined and established by
the Florida
Constitution, which establishes the basic law of the state and
guarantees various rights and freedoms of the people. The legislature enacts bills,
which, if signed by the governor, become Florida Statutes.
The Florida
Legislature is comprised of the Florida Senate, which has
40 members, and the Florida
House of Representatives, which has 120 members. The current
Governor of
Florida is Republican Jeb Bush, brother of U.S. President George W. The Tampa area, once a
major center of Democratic union support, is now almost evenly split between
registered Republicans and Democrats, making it part of the
important I-4
Corridor swing region. The Walt Disney World
Resort, a mega-resort consisting of four theme parks, more than twenty
hotels, water parks, shopping centers, and other attractions, is an
important tourist attraction located in Lake Buena
Vista. Together, Walt Disney World, and other theme park
resorts such as Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld, are an important driver of the Central
Florida economy.
Other major industries include citrus fruit
and juice production, banking, and phosphate mining within the Bone Valley region. The
state did not have a state minimum wage law until November 2, 2004, when voters passed a
constitutional amendment establishing a state minimum wage and
mandating that it be adjusted for inflation every six months.
Historically, Florida's economy was based upon cattle farming and
agriculture (especially sugarcane, citrus, tomatoes, and strawberries). font-size: 95%;">
Historical
populations
|
Census
year |
Population
|
|
| 1830 |
34,730
|
| 1840 |
54,477
|
| 1850 |
87,445
|
| 1860 |
140,424
|
| 1870 |
187,748
|
| 1880 |
269,493
|
| 1890 |
391,422
|
| 1900 |
528,542
|
| 1910 |
752,619
|
| 1920 |
968,470
|
| 1930 |
1,468,211
|
| 1940 |
1,897,414
|
| 1950 |
2,771,305
|
| 1960 |
4,951,560
|
| 1970 |
6,789,443
|
| 1980 |
9,746,324
|
| 1990 |
12,937,926
|
| 2000 |
15,982,378
|
Race and ancestry
The largest reported ancestries in the 2000 Census were German (11.8%), Irish (10.3%), English (9.2%), American (8%) and Italian (6.3%).factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=04000US12&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010
Before the American Civil War, when slavery was legal, and during the Reconstruction era that followed, African Americans made
up nearly half of the state's population.fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/Historical
Census Broswer at the University of Virginia (URL accessed 26
August 2006). Their proportion declined over the next century, as
many moved north in the Great Migration while large numbers of northern whites
moved to the state. Today, large concentrations of black residents
can be found in northern Florida (notably in Jacksonville,
Gainesville and Pensacola), the Tampa Bay area, and South Florida (where their numbers have been
bolstered by significant immigration from Haiti and Jamaica).
Florida's Hispanic
population includes large communities of Cuban Americans in
Miami and
Tampa, Puerto
Ricans in Tampa and Orlando, and Central American migrant workers in inland West-Central
and South Florida. The Hispanic community continues to grow more
affluent and mobile: between the years of 2000 and 2004, Lee County in southwest Florida, which is largely suburban in
character, had the fastest Hispanic population growth rate of any
county in the United States.www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060309/NEWS01/603090396/1075
Whites of all
ethnicities are present in all areas of the state. There is a large
German population in
Southwest
Florida, a sizeable and historic Italian community in the
Miami area, and
white Floridians of longer-present generations in the culturally
southern areas of inland and northern Florida. Haitian Creole
is the third most spoken language at 2.2 percent, followed by
German at 0.6
percent and Italian at 0.4 percent.
Article II, Section 9, of the Florida
Constitution provides that "English is the official language of
the State of Florida." Florida's current religious affiliations are
shown in the table below:
-
Christian,
82%
-
Protestant, 54%
- Baptist,
19%
- Methodist, 6%
- Presbyterian, 4%
- Episcopal, 3%
- Lutheran, 3%
- Pentecostal, 3%
- Other Protestant, 16%
- Roman Catholic, 26%
- Other Christian, 2%
- Jewish,
4%
- Other Religions, 1%
- Non-Religious, 13%
Education
Florida's public primary and secondary schools are administered by
the Florida Department of Education.
Florida's public-school revenue per student and spending per $1000
of personal income usually rank in the bottom 25 percent of U.S.
states. Governor Jeb
Bush has been criticized by many Florida educators for a
program that penalizes underperforming schools (as indicated by
standardized
tests, most prominently the FCAT) with fewer funding dollars. www.sptimes.com/News/050801/State/Bush_s_trustees_mostl.shtml
In 2002, former governor and then U.S. Senator
Bob Graham (Dem.) led
a constitutional-amendment ballot referendum designed to
restore the board-of-regents system. -->
Transportation
Highways
Florida's interstates, state highways and U.S. Highways are maintained by the Florida
Department of Transportation.
Florida's interstate highway system contains 1,473 miles
(2,371 km) of highway, and there are 9,934 miles
(15,987 km) of non-interstate highway in the state, such as
Florida state
highways and U.S.
Highways.
Florida's primary interstate routes include:
- I-4, which
bisects the state, connecting Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando, and Daytona
Beach, having junctions with I-95 at Daytona Beach and I-75
at Tampa.
- I-10, which
traverses the panhandle, connecting Jacksonville,
Lake
City, Tallahassee and Pensacola, having junctions with I-95 at
Jacksonville and I-75 at Lake City.
- I-75, which
enters the state near Lake City (45 miles west of Jacksonville) and
continues southward through Gainesville,
Ocala,
Tampa's eastern suburbs, Bradenton, Sarasota, and Fort Myers to
Naples,
where it crosses the "Alligator Alley" as a toll road to Fort
Lauderdale before turning southward and terminating in
Hialeah/Miami Lakes having junctions with I-10 at Lake City
and I-4 at Tampa.
- I-95, which
enters the state near Jacksonville and continues along the
Atlantic Coast through Daytona Beach, Melbourne/Titusville,
Palm Bay,
Vero
Beach, Fort Pierce, Port Saint
Lucie, Stuart, West Palm Beach, and Ft. Lauderdale before
terminating in Miami, having junctions with I-10 at Jacksonville and
I-4 at Daytona Beach.
Florida's secondary interstate routes include:
- I-110, a spur from I-10 into downtown
Pensacola.
- I-175, which connects I-275 to southern downtown
St.
Petersburg.
- I-195, an extension of Miami's Airport Expressway
(S.R.
a spur eastward from I-95 to Miami
Beach.
- I-275, a sixty-mile (100 km)www.kurumi.com/roads/3di/i275.html
westward loop from I-75 north of Ellenton, over the
Sunshine
Skyway Bridge, through St. Petersburg, to Tampa
International Airport and downtown Tampa, reconnecting with
I-75 in Tampa's northern suburbs.
- I-295, a partial beltway around Jacksonville that will
loop completely around the city by 2007.
- I-375, which connects I-275 to northern downtown St.
Petersburg.
- I-395, an extension of Miami's Dolphin Expressway
(S.R.
a spur eastward from I-95 to Miami Beach.
- I-595, which connects I-75, I-95, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and
Port
Everglades.
Florida has several toll roads, totaling 515 miles (830 km) of the state
highway system. Major toll roads include:
- I-75, as it passes through the Everglades between Naples and Fort Lauderdale
has been grandfathered as a toll road from its original
construction as S.R. 84
- Florida's
Turnpike, which begins at Interstate 75 south of Ocala and
continues southeast through Orlando, Port Saint Lucie, and south
through the western suburbs of Fort Lauderdale and Miami to
Homestead
For more information about the myriad secondary toll expressways
in Florida, see articles detailing roads maintained by the Florida Turnpike
Authority, the Miami-Dade
Expressway Authority, and the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority.
Intercity rail
In 2000, voters approved a constitutional amendment to construct
a high-speed rail system to interconnect Florida's major cities.
The Florida
High Speed Rail Authority, originally formed to implement the
high-speed-rail amendment, has vowed to find a way to implement the
system without the amendment.
Amtrak service exists in
Florida: Sanford, in Greater Orlando, is the southern terminus of the
Amtrak Auto
Train, which originates at Lorton, Virginia, south of Washington, DC. Orlando
is also the eastern terminus of the Sunset Limited, which
travels across the southern United States via New Orleans,
Houston, and
San Antonio
to its western terminus of Los Angeles.
Florida is served by two additional Amtrak trains (the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor), which
operate between New York City and Miami. Miami has an automated guideway people-mover system, as
well as a 22-mile metro
system, and most cities have bus service.
Airports
Florida's major international airports, which processed more
than 15 million passengers in 2005, are Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
(22,390,285), Miami International Airport (31,008,453), Orlando
International Airport (34,128,048) and Tampa
International Airport (19,045,390).
Secondary airports, with annual passenger traffic exceeding 5
million in 2005, include Jacksonville International Airport (5,741,652), Palm Beach
International Airport (West Palm Beach) (7,014,237) and
Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers)
(7,518,169).
Other smaller, regional airports with commercial service (with
passengers served in 2005, where available) include those at
Daytona Beach (615,841), Fort Walton
Beach, Gainesville (345,788), Key West,
Melbourne (466,367) ,Naples,
Panama City (382,551), Pensacola
(1,638,605), Sarasota-Bradenton (1,337,571), St. Petersburg-Clearwater (596,510) and Tallahassee
(1,129,947). Sanford (1,649,237) is primarily served by international
charter airlines.2005 North America Airports Traffic
Statistics URL retrieved September 15, 2006
Metropolitan areas
Florida has nineteen Metropolitan
Statistical Areas (MSAs) defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget
(OMB).
|
Metropolitan
Statistical Areas |
2005
Population |
|
Cape Coral-Fort Myers Metropolitan Statistical
Area |
549,442 |
|
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach Metropolitan
Statistical Area |
494,649 |
|
Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin Metropolitan
Statistical Area |
188,939 |
|
Gainesville Metropolitan Statistical Area |
256,985 |
|
Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area |
1,277,763 |
|
Lakeland Metropolitan Statistical Area |
541,840 |
|
Miami-Ft.Lauderdale-West Palm Beach Metropolitan
Statistical Area |
5,422,200 |
|
Naples-Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical
Area |
317,788 |
|
Ocala Metropolitan Statistical Area |
304,926 |
|
Orlando-Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical
Area |
1,861,707 |
|
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville Metropolitan
Statistical Area |
531,970 |
|
Panama City-Lynn Haven Metropolitan Statistical
Area |
161,721 |
|
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, Florida Metropolitan
Statistical Area |
439,877 |
|
Port St. Lucie-Fort Pierce Metropolitan
Statistical Area |
381,033 |
|
Punta Gorda Metropolitan Statistical Area |
154,030 |
|
Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice Metropolitan Statistical
Area |
673,035 |
|
Sebastian-Vero Beach Metropolitan Statistical
Area |
130,043 |
|
Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area |
334,886 |
|
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan
Statistical Area |
2,589,637 |
Important cities and towns
City Population > 700,000
City Population > 300,000
City Population > 200,000
- Hialeah
- Orlando
- St. Petersburg
City Population > 100,000
- Cape Coral
- Clearwater
- Coral Springs
- Fort Lauderdale
- Gainesville
- Hollywood
- Miami Gardens
- Pembroke Pines
- Miramar
- Palm
Bay
- Port Saint Lucie
- Pompano Beach
- Tallahassee
City Population > 75,000
- Boca Raton
- Brandon
- Davie
- Deltona
- Kendall
- Lakeland
- Melbourne
- Miami Beach
- Plantation
- Sunrise
- West Palm Beach
|
City Population > 50,000
- Boynton Beach
- Bradenton
- Daytona Beach
- Deerfield Beach
- Delray Beach
- Fort Myers
- Fountainbleau
- Kendale Lakes
- Kissimmee
- Largo
- Lauderhill
- Margate
- North Miami
- North Miami Beach
- Palm Coast
- Palm Harbor
- Pensacola
- Sarasota
- Spring Hill
- Tamarac
- Tamiami
- Town 'n' Country
- Weston
City Population > 25,000
- Altamonte Springs
- Aventura
- Apopka
- Bartow
- Bonita Springs
- Coconut Creek
- Cooper City
- Coral Gables
- De
Land
- Dunedin
|
- East Lake
- Egypt Lake-Leto
- Fort Pierce
- Greater Carrollwood
- Greenacres
- Hallandale Beach
- Homestead
- Jupiter
- Kendall West
- Key
West
- Lake Magdalene
- Lake Worth
- Lauderdale Lakes
- Lehigh Acres
- North Fort Myers
- North Lauderdale
- Ocala
- Ocoee
- Oakland Park
- Ormond Beach
- Oviedo
- Palm Beach Gardens
- Panama City
- Pinellas Park
- Plant City
- Port Orange
- Port Charlotte
- Riviera Beach
- Royal Palm Beach
- Sanford
- South Fort Myers
- Titusville
- University
- Wellington
- Westchester
- Winter Haven
- Winter Park
- Winter Springs
|
Professional sports teams
Club
|
Sport
|
League
|
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
Football |
National Football League |
| Tampa
Bay Buccaneers |
Football
|
National Football League
|
| Miami
Dolphins |
Football
|
National Football League
|
| Orlando
Magic |
Basketball |
National Basketball Association |
| Miami
Heat |
Basketball
|
National Basketball Association
|
| Tampa
Bay Lightning |
Ice
hockey |
National Hockey League |
| Florida
Panthers |
Ice hockey
|
National Hockey League
|
| Tampa
Bay Devil Rays |
Baseball |
Major
League Baseball |
| Florida
Marlins |
Baseball
|
Major League Baseball
|
| Orlando
Predators |
Arena
football |
Arena
Football League |
| Tampa Bay
Storm |
Arena football
|
Arena Football League
|
| Brevard County Manatees |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| Clearwater Threshers |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| Daytona
Cubs |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| Dunedin
Blue Jays |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| Fort
Myers Miracle |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| Jacksonville Suns |
Baseball
|
Minor League Baseball
|
| Jupiter
Hammerheads |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| Lakeland
Tigers |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| Sarasota
Reds |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| St. Lucie
Mets |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| Tampa
Yankees |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| Palm
Beach Cardinals |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| Vero
Beach Dodgers |
Baseball
|
Minor
League BaseballFlorida State League
|
| Miami FC |
Soccer |
USL First
Division |
| Ajax
Orlando Prospects |
Soccer
|
USL Premier Development League |
| Bradenton Academics |
Soccer
|
USL Premier Development League
|
| Central Florida Kraze |
Soccer
|
USL Premier Development League
|
| Cocoa
Expos |
Soccer
|
USL Premier Development League
|
| Palm Beach
Pumas |
Soccer
|
USL Premier Development League
|
| Bradenton Athletics |
Soccer
|
W-League |
| Central Florida Krush |
Soccer
|
W-League
|
| Cocoa
Expos |
Soccer
|
W-League
|
| Central Florida Strikers |
Soccer
|
Women?s Premier Soccer League |
| Miami
Surf |
Soccer
|
Women?s Premier Soccer League
|
| Orlando
Falcons |
Soccer
|
Women?s Premier Soccer League
|
| Palm Beach
United |
Soccer
|
Women?s Premier Soccer League
|
| South
Florida Breeze |
Soccer
|
Women?s Premier Soccer League
|
| Tampa Bay
United |
Soccer
|
Women?s Premier Soccer League
|
| Florida
Everblades |
Ice hockey
|
East Coast Hockey League |
| Florida
Seals |
Ice hockey
|
Southern Professional Hockey League |
| Jacksonville Barracudas |
Ice hockey
|
Southern Professional Hockey League
|
| Pensacola Ice Pilots |
Ice hockey
|
East Coast Hockey League
|
Orlando, Florida (Name TBA)
|
Basketball
|
American Basketball Association |
| Palm
Beach Imperials |
Basketball
|
American Basketball Association |
| Pensacola
Aviators |
Basketball
|
American Basketball Association |
| Jacksonville Jam |
Basketball
|
American Basketball Association |
| Tampa
Bay Strong Dogs |
Basketball
|
American Basketball Association |
Spring training
Florida is the traditional home for Major League Baseball spring
training, with teams informally organized into the "Grapefruit League."
As of 2004, Florida
hosts the following major league teams for spring training:
Club
|
Location
|
| Atlanta
Braves |
Walt Disney World
|
| Baltimore
Orioles |
Fort Lauderdale
|
|
Chronology
- Key Dates:
-
1929: Thompson Baker enters building materials business.
-
1932: Baker and Jim Shands found Shands & Baker.
-
1941: Company is temporarily disbanded because of World War II.
-
1945: Shands & Baker is re-founded.
-
1969: Baker's son Edward L. Baker becomes company president.
-
1972: Edward Baker is named CEO; company goes public.
-
1973: Company name is changed to Florida Rock Industries.
-
1987: Company acquires Cement Products.
-
1997: Founder Thompson Baker dies.
-
1998: Florida Stone opens calcium products plant in Florida and crushed-stone plant in Georgia; company buys sand and gravel plant in Maryland.
-
1999: Company finishes construction of $100 million cement plant in Florida and acquires Harper Bros. and Custom LTD.
Additional topics
This web site and associated pages are not associated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Florida Rock Industries, Inc. and has no official or unofficial affiliation with Florida Rock Industries, Inc..