ALGER-SULLIVAN LUMBER COMPANY RESIDENTIAL HISTORIC DISTRICT

In 1901, one of the largest and most advanced southern pine sawmills east of the Mississippi River was built here. In the tradition of the era, the Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company built its own town to house and supply the families of mill workers. By 1915, the mill town of Century included a hotel, hospital, commissary, post office, executive club, business district, schools, churches, and segregated housing districts for black and white families. Housing ranged from small shotgun houses to large two-story, executive homes. Standing along Church Street is one of the lumber company’s last built town structures - a large theater and recreation hall completed in 1922. After a remodeling in 1946, it became lumber company offices. The deteriorated black residential district along Pond Street was largely demolished and the homes replaced in 1986 through a state block grant. The remaining residential district along Front, Church, Fourth, and Mayo streets, and Jefferson and Pinewood avenues represents a rare intact example of an early-twentieth century planned company town in Florida. The district, consisting of 45 historic buildings and a formal garden site, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.