Grady22

Waldo E. Sexton

Waldo E. Sexton (1885 - 1967) was an entrepreneur whose unique enterprises have attracted visitors to [[[Beach, Florida]]] since the 1930s and remain of value to the community, industry, tourists, artists, historians and horticulturalists. He is one of the [[Great Floridians.]]

Born in Shelbyville, Indiana, he graduated from Purdue University College of Agriculture in 1911. While selling plows in 1914 he stopped in what is now Vero Beach, Florida and decided to settle for the opportunities in citrus. He planted 10,000 trees by 1917. His citrus related activities included operating a grove maintenance company, a cooperative packinghouse, and founding the Indian River Citrus League. He also started a cattle ranch, dairy farm, and insurance agency and developed three varieties of avocados. [1]

Sexton’s first venture in tourist attractions was the McKee Jungle Gardens, developed on 80-acres purchased for planting citrus groves with his business partner, Arthur G. McKee. They decided the landscape was too beautiful to plow under.[2] Operating from 1931 to 1976, the Gardens attracted crowds of 100,000 a year in its prime.[3] In 1932 a reviewer who had toured tropical botanical gardens around the world, including, Peradeniya in Ceylon said he approached his visit “with that secret doubt we conceal before our friends’ local enthusiasm. This doubt, however, was quickly resolved.“ The collection of rare tropical plants framed by native Florida oaks and palms “set an example for conservation and intelligent use of indigenous growth.” Landscape architect William Lyman Phillips designed “the exquisite series of waterways and landscapes, including the Cathedral of Palms, 300 Royal Palms set on a grid.[4]David Fairchild, a friend of Sexton, supplied many exotic plants for this project as well as his own private garden in Miami, The Kampong,[5] now part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden.[6]

In addition to thousands of orchids and lilies, the Mckee Jungle Gardens featured monkeys, alligators, bathing beauties and “ the wacky buildings and collections of Waldo E. Sexton, the folk architect and Florida nurseryman.[7] Without an architect or plans, Sexton built and decorated the Hall of Giants and the Spanish Kitchen with cypress milled in Florida, salvaged materials and his bell collection. For the Hall of Giants he located a massive mahogany board 35 feet long he had seen at the St Louis Exposition in 1904 and turned it into a table.[8]The large iron gates came from the demolished Whitehall Hotel in Palm Beach.[9] The Gardens closed in 1976 but reopened on 18 of the original acres as the McKee Botanical Garden in 2001 and is on U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Sexton continued creating unusual structures that became local landmarks and attractions. His penchant for wood, wrought iron, tile and collectibles, can still be viewed at his later enterprises in Vero Beach, including the Driftwood Inn, the Ocean Grill, and the Patio restaurant. Although he bought from many sources and sometimes sight unseen by the truckload through contacts, recognizable pieces from Addison Mizner designed Spanish style mansions in Palm Beach continue to attract new visitors. “…Mizner would no doubt immediately acknowledge the life's work of his kindred spirit and friend, Waldo Sexton, the man who saved what might have been lost forever and who shared his respect for the past and prescience of history's enduring commercial value.[10] The Driftwood Inn is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.[11]

One journalist described the businessman and artist who created such unusual attractions: “Sexton was a man who was not afraid to render an opinion and who never hesitated to embroider a story. He loved martinis and women, bells and thing from the sea, and he possessed a compelling urge to create. Some people called him an irresponsible screwball, an untruth he shrewdly did not deny, knowing that the world loves an eccentric.”[12]

References

1 Hail To The Chiefs Florida Grower. Willoughby: Jan 2005. Vol. 98, Iss. 1, p.8(1 pp.)

2 FLORIDA'S JUNGLE GARDEN OF RARE PLANTS:In the McKee Park the Riotous Blooms of Tropical Lands Have Been Added to the Native Growths With Unique Effect By HUBBARD HUTCHINSON New York Times (1857-Current file) New York, N.Y.:Sep 11, 1932. p.SM17 (1 pp.)

3 McKee Botanical Garden http://www.mckeegarden.org/about.php

4 FLORIDA'S JUNGLE GARDEN OF RARE PLANTS:In the McKee Park the Riotous Blooms of Tropical Lands Have Been Added to the Native Growths With Unique Effect By HUBBARD HUTCHINSON New York Times (1857-Current file) New York, N.Y.:Sep 11, 1932. p.SM17; (1 pp.)

5 A 1930's Florida Attraction Blooms Again Anne Raver New York Times (Late Edition (east Coast)).New York, N.Y.:Feb 10, 2002. p.17;

6 National Tropical Botanical Garden http://ntbg.org/about/history.php

7 A 1930's Florida Attraction Blooms Again Anne Raver New York Times (Late Edition (east Coast)). New York, N.Y.:Feb 10, 2002. p.17

8 McKee Botanical Garden http://www.mckeegarden.org/about.php

9 Family saves Mizner treasures from rubble By Augustus Mayhew III Special to the Daily News. Palm Beach Daily News.com Sunday, May 27, 2007 http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/search/content/news/travel/B1veromizner0527.html

10 Family saves Mizner treasures from rubble By Augustus Mayhew III Special to the Daily News. Palm Beach Daily News.com Sunday, May 27, 2007 http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/search/content/news/travel/B1veromizner0527.html

11 National Register of Historic Places, Florida, Indian River County, http://www.historicdistricts.com/fl/Indian+River/state.html

12 They Call It 'The Damndest Place You Ever Saw' -- On the Beach Where Turtles Come to Cry By JAY CLARKE. New York Times (1857-Current File). New York, N.Y.: Dec 12, 1971. pg. XX3, 1 pgs

WIKI LINKS

Great Men of Florida http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Great_Floridians">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Great_Floridians

McKee Botanical Garden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKee_Jungle_Gardens">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKee_Jungle_Gardens

Louisiana Purchase Exposition http://en.sikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana Purchase Exposition

Botanical_Garden_of_Peradeniya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botanical_Garden_of_Peradeniya

Categories 1885 Births, Purdue University alumni, Businesspeople: Businesspeople in agriculture, Architect: