The Planters Exchange

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 22, 2024

1. The Planters Exchange Marker

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From the National Register Nomination prepared by Wayne Gregory & Robert O. Jones, 8/1999:
The Planter's Exchange is significant in the areas of Commerce and Industry. Beginning in 1928, the company became the premier manufacturer of fertilizer, and supplier of pesticides, agricultural and general farm supplies

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 22, 2024

2. The Planters Exchange Marker

The marker is mounted above the bench at the center of the retail storefront.

needed by the shade tobacco growers in all of Gadsden and Madison Counties, Florida, as well as south Grady and Decatur Counties, Georgia.

Three Gregory Brothers (Clyde, Ben, and Tom) started the Planters Exchange in 1928. By 1931, Clyde the manager decided to go to law school. The other brothers, not wanting to be active in the business either, sought out investors and an active manager. They incorporated in September 1931 with W. L. Williams, a railroad agent, as manager with ownership. Potter Woodbery and Tom Delacy, who were growers and processors of shade tobacco, were brought in as investors with 1/3 ownership. Ben and Tom Gregory, also tobacco growers with significant cattle and timber interests, retained 1/3 ownership.

Despite the onset of the Great Depression of the 1930s, this group prospered, and with the leadership of W. L. Williams, The Planter's Exchange, Inc. became a tremendous asset to the community. Williams served as mayor of the town of Havana from 1939 to 1944, and Woodbery was a long-time County Commissioner of Gadsden County. The business contributed for over fifty years to the West Florida Livestock Association.

Although times were not easy for the early period of The Planter's Exchange, times began to improve quickly during and after World War II. The Planter's Exchange was locally famous for its PEX Brand tobacco fertilizers. In its early years, the Planter's Exchange used a small fertilizer mixer, weighed the product by a platform scale, and produced hand-sewn 200 lb. bags of fertilizer as a finished product. Prior to this, fertilizer was shipped in with very little local input as to the specific needs, and with little quality control. The Planter's Exchange began to offer soil analysis for two acres and larger and, coupled with good service, the business began to grow. In the mid 1940's, plans were made for a new and more efficient mixer plant. A three-story vertical mill was installed in 1948, and was state-of-the-art for the time, and is still in the building. During the late forties and fifties, this mill produced about 10,000 tons of shade tobacco fertilizer each year. This was approximately 75 to 80% of the total used by the regional market. This equipment operated with minor maintenance until 1993 when it was shut down still in operating condition.

The company was the first to handle charcoal for curing the cigar wrapper tobacco. In 1937, they found a charcoal plant near Pensacola, Florida, that had been getting the tar out of pine stumps and throwing the charcoal away. A franchise to sell the product was obtained, and charcoal was delivered to nearly every tobacco farmer in the area. In the fifties, propane gas burners became available, and the market for charcoal quickly disappeared.

The Planter's Exchange bought secondhand cheesecloth from the Connecticut area growers to sell to local area growers to reuse for one year. The cloth cover was essential for proper leaf thickness to roll a good cigar. The Connecticut valley area was the only other area where shade tobacco was grown in the United States. The company also sold new cloth that could be used for two years. Further, The Planter's Exchange repurchased this cloth from local farmers when it was too ragged to be used. They cleaned the cloth, compressed it into bales, and shipped it to various parts of the country where it was used for ground cover or cleaning rags.

The Planter's Exchange was the first to buy and ship pole beans and other produce grown by area farmers. By truck and by rail, Williams shipped beans to larger city markets such as Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville, and Louisville. This produce business was operated extensively and successfully for about 20 years until the state farmers markets came into existence in the region. The competition being very keen, this produce portion of the business was discontinued about 1950.

The company also sold insurance that related to the shade tobacco industry, such as fire, windstorm, hail, and truck and auto coverage. The Exchange was also a primary center for information about the region's industry.

While there were a few good years in the 1960s, these years showed the beginning of the collapse of the shade tobacco industry. Increased costs and declining demand made it more difficult to grow shade tobacco profitably; the last small crop was grown about 1976. Efforts were made with some success to continue the Exchange as a supplier of a broader spectrum of agricultural supplies such as seed, feed, and hardware, and continue to manufacture fertilizer for vegetables, pastures, and row crops. This business increased until about 1985, leveled out, and then began to decline. At this time, a nursery was started and more diverse retailing was introduced. The fertilizer plant was closed in 1993. In 1996, to preserve part of the warehouse and generate rental income, approximately 5,000 square feet was renovated in the section along 9th Avenue. The work was completed and the spaces were rented, but could not be sustained, and it was closed after about one year. About the same time, the retail operation of about 9,000 square feet was improved and renovated.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 22, 2024

3. The Planters Exchange — Retail Storefront

From the National Register Nomination:  In about 1932, a brick storefront with a fixed glass display front was connected to the east side of the warehouse. In 1938 the brick store more than doubled in size, being enlarged to the south. A second store front was created facing east on Second Street. Both have large display windows, and both have large single door entrances. The brick store sections have continuous brick foundations and brick exterior walls. A continuous parapet rises across the front, east elevation of the building.

Excerpt:  The Shade Tobacco Museum, Havana History & Heritage Society. Opened in 2021 housing archives from the shade tobacco industry in Gadsden County Florida. All tools and processes used for the growing and processing of shade tobacco which is used for the wrapper of fine handmade cigars. The museum goal centers around educating the public about the boom times during the last century of shade tobacco production. They feature changing exhibits and speakers from the industry.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 22, 2024

4. The Planters Exchange — Tower & North Warehouse

From the National Register Nomination:  A tall three-story portion in the center of the complex houses a vertical mill. The warehouse and processing plant is a one story, wood building with corrugated metal sides and roof. The warehouse runs in a northeasterly direction aligned with the railroad tracks.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 22, 2024

5. The Planters Exchange — Tower & South Warehouse

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 22, 2024

6. The Planters Exchange — Delivery/Pick-up Shelter

From the National Register Nomination:  An additional three resources contribute to the nomination: a separate wooden building, a truck weighing scale and scale shelter, and an open sided delivery/pick-up shelter which are a part of the Exchange.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, September 22, 2024

7. The Planters Exchange — Warehouse & Processing Complex

From the National Register Nomination:  The warehouse was built in stages from 1928 until 1948, and was built with large brick piers, 8x10 inch sills and 2 to 3 inch by 8 to 12 inch floor joists placed 16 to 24 inches apart. The floor is 2x6 inch tongue and groove lumber. The walls have 6-inch studs covered on the outside by corrugated metal and sealed inside with 1x6 inch tongue and groove lumber. The northern portion of the warehouse has small, fixed windows, and a cupola on the roof ridge. A brick firewall north of the tower defines the south end of the 1930s warehouse. The three-story tower and a large storage area extend eastward from the rest of the warehouse. The tower is built on tapered concrete piers and has a gable roof. The one-story warehouse roofs have a cupola on each section. The warehouse continues south from the south wall of the large easterly extension, and contains a wooden porch, fixed windows, and two cupolas. The south, gable end of the building has a porch and single door.