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Florida Archive (3 of 4)
LEON
Originally part of Escambia and later Gadsden County, Leon County is located in
the Florida Panhandle and was created in 1824. It was named for Spanish
explorer Juan Ponce de León, and is notable for its rolling hills – something few
Florida counties boast. In the mid-19th century, Leon County was known for its
cotton, ranking 5th out of all of Florida and Georgia counties in the production of
cotton at the time. Leon County's population is concentrated in Tallahassee, the
state capital, although that now bustling city remained a small Southern town
when Leon’s license plate era dawned. Because Tallahassee was the center of
state government, it is perhaps unsurprising that Leon was among the first
Florida jurisdictions to begin issuing license plates, doing so in 1911. The county
continued issuing annual plates for a total of six years until the state took over in
1917. The 1914-15 plates, incidentally, were manufactured by the Baltimore
Enamel & Novelty Company and bear that company's seal on the reverse. Leon
plates are exceedingly rare, with four of the five known varieties being the only
surviving example of that particular issue in collectors' hands. By 1917,
registrations in Leon County neared 300.
LEVY
Created in 1845, Levy County lies along the Gulf Coast in west-central Florida. It
is home to the Suwannee River and was always a largely rural county with vast,
open wooded areas, springs and rivers, many square miles of forests and
marshlands, as well as 50 miles of Gulf Coast coastline. The town of Cedar Key
was originally the west coast terminal of the first cross-Florida railway. Early
crops and industry in Levy County included cotton, saw mills, turpentine and
resin, and later industry included forestry, commercial fishing, beef & dairy, and
diversified agriculture. The oldest known plates from Levy are dated 1913, and
are probably 1912-13 issues. The only other surviving Levy porcelain is a For
Hire plate from 1913-14, of which there is only a single surviving example.
LIBERTY
Liberty is a land-locked county situated in North-Western Florida. Created from
Gadsden County in 1855, Liberty has always been sparsely populated, largely
because the Apalachicola National Forest occupies half the county. The issuance
of porcelain license plates in Liberty is verified by two surviving examples of a
large plate dated 1913. It seems logical that the county would have continued
issuing plates throughout Florida's pre-state era, but there are no known plates
to document this supposition.
MADISON
Nestled against the Georgia border just south of Valdosta, Madison County was
created in 1827, becoming Florida's largest county at the time (Taylor, Lafayette
and Dixie counties were later carved from Madison's original boundaries).
Madison is an incredibly rare county from which to find porcelain license plates,
as there are only two known survivors - one 1915-16 For Hire plate and a second
1916-17 passenger issue.
MANATEE
Manatee County was created in 1855 from portions of Hillsborough and Mosquito
counties, and was named after the ocean animal of that name that frequents the
Gulf waters along the county’s Western border. During the porcelain license
plate era, Manatee played an important role in the state’s citrus industry, with an
abundance of orange groves and grapefruit trees. Although they are exceedingly
rare, there are actually six different Manatee porcelains known, dating from 1911
through 1917. The first issue is very large by Florida standards, measuring 13 1/2
inches in length. This makes it the largest Florida porcelain ever produced. By
1916, registrations had reached approximately 500, and surpassed 700 in 1917.
The 1916-17 plate is noteworthy for its strikingly beautiful black and red color
scheme.
MARION
Marion is a large, land-locked county in
North-Central Florida. In an effort to control
the Seminole, the Armed Occupation Act of
1842 encouraged white settlers to move into
Florida, many of whom came from South
Carolina. In 1844, Marion was chosen as the
name of the county, and grew tremendously.
Tobacco, rice, sugar cane, cotton and cattle
flourished. The end of the century saw
further growth as the citrus industry took off
and phosphate was discovered in the region.
The county seat of Ocala quickly became
Central Florida's most progressive area.
Agricultural products and cattle, turpentine
and timber, and the richness of the limestone
based soil was a major contributor to the
vigor of the farming economy and the teens
and ‘20s were a time of prosperity for Marion
County. This phenomenal growth coincided nicely with the dawn of Florida's
license plate era. Although the earliest surviving Marion plates date to 1912-13,
we have photographic evidence (see above right) that the county was issuing
plates at least as early as 1911-12. In terms of surviving porcelains in collectors'
hands, Marion plates are known for every year from 1912-13 through 1916-17,
including For Hire variants in 1914-15 and 1916-17. Passenger registrations
surpassed 500 by 1916 and neared 600 in 1917. The For Hire plates are the
highest numbers known in their respective years, suggesting perhaps that they
were issued in number blocks following the passenger issues. In all, there are
seven different varieties of Marion plates known to exist.
MONROE
Located in South-Eastern Florida, Monroe County is the southernmost county in
the state and includes the islands of the Florida Keys. Created in 1823, much of
Monroe’s history is tied up with the history of its county seat of Key West, which
was a crucial military and commercial hub and the state’s most populous city in
the early 19th century. In Florida’s pre-state license plate era, the population of
Monroe County hovered around 20,000. Just as the city of Key West issued its
own porcelains, so too did the county of Monroe. However, the only known
plates from this exceptionally rare county are two surviving 1912-13 issues which,
for some unknown reason, are made on entirely different bases.
NASSAU
Created in 1824, Nassau County lies in the extreme North-Eastern corner of
Florida along the border with Georgia. The county’s prosperity has long thrived
on industries such as tourism, shrimping, and timber logging. Nassau is home to
Amelia Island and the county seat of Fernandina – a city which issued its own
porcelain license plates at the same time the county did. As for the Nassau-
issued porcelains, they appear to have been first issued in 1912-13, when a
distinctive 2 1/2 inch diameter disc was produced, making Nassau one of only six
Florida jurisdictions known to have produced round porcelains (the other five
being Duval, Palm Beach, Pinellas, St. Johns and St. Lucie.) Discs apparently
continued through 1914-15, after which the county switched to the more standard
rectangular issues for the duration of the pre-state era. There is one reported
1915 rectangular issue which I have been unable to verify. Although they are not
all known in collectors' hands today, Nassau porcelains appear to have come in
both passenger and For Hire versions.
OKALOOSA
Located in North-Western Florida, Okaloosa County was created extremely late in
Florida’s porcelain era. Indeed, not until 1915 was Okaloosa carved out of
portions of Santa Rosa and Walton Counties. There were probably fewer than
9,000 people in the entire county when it was created, with the area’s wealth
depending largely on the pine tree in the form of timber cutting and turpentine
stills, which caused railroads to be built to transport these goods to market.
Soon after, farming and ranching took over and settlement steadily increased.
Although the county was only created in 1915, they wasted no time in raising
revenue, issuing 1915-16 porcelains to motorists, of which one survivor is
documented today. Perhaps the most interesting characteristic of this plate is
the fact that the county name is misspelled! Spelling errors on Florida porcelains
are surprisingly frequent, as Sumter, Jefferson, and Suwannee Counties all have
similar problems, and Hillsborough County plates are spelled in two different
ways as well. In this case, whatever company was hired to manufacture the plates
apparently added a fictitious “S” to the county name. The Okaloosa 1915-16 is
one of only 6 Florida porcelains that are the sole surviving evidence that plates
were ever issued by their respective jurisdictions, the others being Bay County,
1915-16; Holmes County, 1916-17; Monroe County, 1912-13; Taylor County, 1915-16;
and Wakulla County, 1912-13.
ORANGE
Situated in central Florida, Mosquito County was created in 1824. It was renamed
Orange County in 1845 for the fruit that constituted the county's main product. All
six of Orange’s bordering counties issued porcelain license plates, so it’s no
surprise that Orange is known for a nice little run of its own. The first paved
roads in Orange County, outside the cities, were built in 1915 and 1916, and
automobile ownership likely increased along with this development. The first
known Orange County plates date from 1913-14 and are made of embossed
brass. However, the county switched to porcelain the following year and
apparently issued both passenger and For Hire plates annually through the end
of the pre-state era in 1916-17. Although it seems likely to exist, it is notable that
no 1916-17 For Hire has ever been seen. All of the For Hire variants from Orange
County are exceedingly rare, but the passenger issues are among the more
abundant of Florida pre-states, with probably ten or fifteen surviving examples
from each of the final three years known or presumed to exist. By 1917, the
county had to order nearly 1,000 plates for issuance to its motorists.
OSCEOLA
On May 12, 1887, Osceola was named a county, having been created from both
Orange and Brevard Counties. Located in central Florida, the County reached all
the way down to Lake Okeechobee until 1917 when Okeechobee County was
formed. For years, the earliest known Osceola porcelain dated to 1912-13.
However, in September of 2008, a 1911-12 passenger issue turned up on EBAY.
Annual porcelains were produced for the duration of Florida's pre-state era,
coming in both passenger and For Hire variants (although not all are known). In
total, there are eight different known varieties of plates from this relatively tough
county. By 1917, numbers on Osceola porcelains were ranging up to
approximately 250.
PALM BEACH
Palm Beach is a county located in Southeast Florida along the Atlantic coast.
Created in 1909, it was carved out of what was then the northern half of Dade
County. The southern half of Palm Beach County was subsequently carved out to
create the northern portion of Broward County in 1915. Henry Flagler was
instrumental in Palm Beach’s development in the early 1900s with the extension
of the Florida East Coast Railway through the county from Jacksonville to Key
West. The earliest known Palm Beach plate is a three inch porcelain disc from
1913-14. Probably due to visibility issues, the size of the discs was enlarged to
five inches in diameter in 1914-15 and plates now came in at least two varieties -
passenger and motorcycle. The round format continued for a third straight year
in 1915-16 before the county finally switched to the more typical rectangular
porcelain in the final pre-state year. However, even here in 1916-17, when the
passenger plates were now rectangular, the motorcycle plates remained circular,
reverting back to a tiny 3 inches in diameter. Numbering up near #800, the
passenger plates from 1916-17 are relatively plentiful by Florida pre-state
standards, with perhaps a dozen of this final Palm Beach issue known in
collectors' hands. The prevalence of porcelain discs from Palm Beach marks the
county as one of only six Florida jurisdictions known to have produced round
porcelains (the others being Duval, Nassau, Pinellas, St. Johns and St. Lucie).
It is notable that beginning in at least 1915, the city of West Palm Beach also
began issuing plates, although the city of Palm Beach apparently never did.
Residents in that city would have been forced to carry city and county porcelains
simultaneously.
PASCO
In 1887 Pasco County was formed. By the turn of the century, this west-central
Florida county was still largely unsettled. The 1890 census showed just over
4,000 residents. Citrus was an important industry when the county was formed,
although a decline followed a freeze in 1895. Several large sawmills operated in
the county in the early part of the twentieth century and added to the regions
growing prosperity and population. It is perhaps notable that the city of
Zephyrhills lies in Pasco County and is known to have produced embossed tin
plates of its own. As for the county of Pasco, a run of five annual porcelain plates
is known, stretching from 1912-13 through 1916-17. Although very few Pasco
plates are known, all extant examples are passenger issues, suggesting that For
Hire variants may have never been produced. One especially interesting Pasco
porcelain showed up on EBAY in 2008. It is a 1914-15 passenger issue, but it was
manufactured in a completely different format from the other known 1914-15
plate, with enough major differences that it constitutes a separate variant type.
Not only does it lack the four drilled corner holes of the other known plate, but it
has squared corners instead of rounded ones, carries a dash between the two
dates, bears an inexplicable period after the county name, and was produced with
small holes at the top instead of slots. It also appears to be black instead of blue.
PINELLAS
Lying on the Western Florida Gulf Coast, Pinellas County seceded from
Hillsborough County in 1911. They got started producing license plates almost
right away, issuing a large embossed metal plate for 1912-13. The first porcelain
plates appeared the following year with small round discs dated 1913-14. These
first porcelain discs are exactly the same size and format as the Palm Beach
porcelains of the same year, and were clearly manufactured by the same
company. In 1914-15, Pinellas stuck with the round format and issued white &
green porcelain plates in passenger, For Hire and Motorcycle versions. For the
final two years of license plate issuance, Pinellas changed to the more standard
rectangular plates. There were about 1,000 plates issued in 1915-16 and 1,500 in
1916-17. Perhaps a dozen surviving examples are known for the passenger
issues of each of these last two pre-state years. By contrast, the For Hire
variants are incredibly rare, with only a few surviving examples from all years
combined.
PLANT CITY
Plant City is located in Hillsborough County in west-central Florida. The city was
primarily an agricultural community and was named after railway developer Henry
B. Plant in commemoration of his railroad which connected Plant City to the South
Florida Rairoad, bringing greater prosperity to the community. In February of
2011, a bottle digger unearthed the only surviving license plate from Plant City
that has been found. This undated plate presumably was on a car that carried a
HIllsborough County porcelain as well.
POLK
Polk is a very large county in central Florida. It was created in 1861 when
Hillsborough County was divided in half, with the eastern half renamed Polk.
Small farms, orange groves and cattle dominated the county's early economy.
When the South Florida Railway crossed Polk and reached Tampa Bay in 1884,
people could now travel quickly from Jacksonville to Florida's west coast, and
towns along the railway route like Lakeland and Winter Haven grew
tremendously. The discovery of phosphate in the area in 1888 gave birth to a
new industry and the county's population soared to over 37,000 by 1910. Polk is
known to have begun the issuance of license plates in 1912. Over the course of
the first year, well in excess of 500 plates were issued, of which about 10 are
known to survive in collectors' hands today. In 1913-14, the county briefly
abandoned porcelain in favor of an embossed brass plate, but for whatever
reason, this experiment only lasted a year and porcelains were back for good in
1914-15. Plates continued to be issued through 1916-17, the passenger issues
being relatively common compared to most Florida porcelains. 1914-15 plates
neared 700, 1915-16 plates went well over 1,000, and by 1917 the numbers neared
1,500. There are a dozen or so of each of the passenger plates known today.
PUTNAM
Formed in 1849, Putnam County sits 30 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean and is
centrally located between Jacksonville, Gainesville, St. Augustine, and Daytona
Beach in the North-Eastern region of Florida. The county is known to have issued
license plates as early as 1911-12, but these were made of embossed brass. This
practice continued for the next two years, with the first porcelain plates not
coming onto the scene until 1914-15. Porcelains continued to be issued annually
through the duration of Florida's pre-state era. The 1916-17 issue is the most
common, with plate numbers surpassing 300 and perhaps a half dozen surviving
examples in collectors’ hands.
Originally part of Escambia and later Gadsden County, Leon County is located in
the Florida Panhandle and was created in 1824. It was named for Spanish
explorer Juan Ponce de León, and is notable for its rolling hills – something few
Florida counties boast. In the mid-19th century, Leon County was known for its
cotton, ranking 5th out of all of Florida and Georgia counties in the production of
cotton at the time. Leon County's population is concentrated in Tallahassee, the
state capital, although that now bustling city remained a small Southern town
when Leon’s license plate era dawned. Because Tallahassee was the center of
state government, it is perhaps unsurprising that Leon was among the first
Florida jurisdictions to begin issuing license plates, doing so in 1911. The county
continued issuing annual plates for a total of six years until the state took over in
1917. The 1914-15 plates, incidentally, were manufactured by the Baltimore
Enamel & Novelty Company and bear that company's seal on the reverse. Leon
plates are exceedingly rare, with four of the five known varieties being the only
surviving example of that particular issue in collectors' hands. By 1917,
registrations in Leon County neared 300.
LEVY
Created in 1845, Levy County lies along the Gulf Coast in west-central Florida. It
is home to the Suwannee River and was always a largely rural county with vast,
open wooded areas, springs and rivers, many square miles of forests and
marshlands, as well as 50 miles of Gulf Coast coastline. The town of Cedar Key
was originally the west coast terminal of the first cross-Florida railway. Early
crops and industry in Levy County included cotton, saw mills, turpentine and
resin, and later industry included forestry, commercial fishing, beef & dairy, and
diversified agriculture. The oldest known plates from Levy are dated 1913, and
are probably 1912-13 issues. The only other surviving Levy porcelain is a For
Hire plate from 1913-14, of which there is only a single surviving example.
LIBERTY
Liberty is a land-locked county situated in North-Western Florida. Created from
Gadsden County in 1855, Liberty has always been sparsely populated, largely
because the Apalachicola National Forest occupies half the county. The issuance
of porcelain license plates in Liberty is verified by two surviving examples of a
large plate dated 1913. It seems logical that the county would have continued
issuing plates throughout Florida's pre-state era, but there are no known plates
to document this supposition.
MADISON
Nestled against the Georgia border just south of Valdosta, Madison County was
created in 1827, becoming Florida's largest county at the time (Taylor, Lafayette
and Dixie counties were later carved from Madison's original boundaries).
Madison is an incredibly rare county from which to find porcelain license plates,
as there are only two known survivors - one 1915-16 For Hire plate and a second
1916-17 passenger issue.
MANATEE
Manatee County was created in 1855 from portions of Hillsborough and Mosquito
counties, and was named after the ocean animal of that name that frequents the
Gulf waters along the county’s Western border. During the porcelain license
plate era, Manatee played an important role in the state’s citrus industry, with an
abundance of orange groves and grapefruit trees. Although they are exceedingly
rare, there are actually six different Manatee porcelains known, dating from 1911
through 1917. The first issue is very large by Florida standards, measuring 13 1/2
inches in length. This makes it the largest Florida porcelain ever produced. By
1916, registrations had reached approximately 500, and surpassed 700 in 1917.
The 1916-17 plate is noteworthy for its strikingly beautiful black and red color
scheme.
MARION
Marion is a large, land-locked county in
North-Central Florida. In an effort to control
the Seminole, the Armed Occupation Act of
1842 encouraged white settlers to move into
Florida, many of whom came from South
Carolina. In 1844, Marion was chosen as the
name of the county, and grew tremendously.
Tobacco, rice, sugar cane, cotton and cattle
flourished. The end of the century saw
further growth as the citrus industry took off
and phosphate was discovered in the region.
The county seat of Ocala quickly became
Central Florida's most progressive area.
Agricultural products and cattle, turpentine
and timber, and the richness of the limestone
based soil was a major contributor to the
vigor of the farming economy and the teens
and ‘20s were a time of prosperity for Marion
County. This phenomenal growth coincided nicely with the dawn of Florida's
license plate era. Although the earliest surviving Marion plates date to 1912-13,
we have photographic evidence (see above right) that the county was issuing
plates at least as early as 1911-12. In terms of surviving porcelains in collectors'
hands, Marion plates are known for every year from 1912-13 through 1916-17,
including For Hire variants in 1914-15 and 1916-17. Passenger registrations
surpassed 500 by 1916 and neared 600 in 1917. The For Hire plates are the
highest numbers known in their respective years, suggesting perhaps that they
were issued in number blocks following the passenger issues. In all, there are
seven different varieties of Marion plates known to exist.
MONROE
Located in South-Eastern Florida, Monroe County is the southernmost county in
the state and includes the islands of the Florida Keys. Created in 1823, much of
Monroe’s history is tied up with the history of its county seat of Key West, which
was a crucial military and commercial hub and the state’s most populous city in
the early 19th century. In Florida’s pre-state license plate era, the population of
Monroe County hovered around 20,000. Just as the city of Key West issued its
own porcelains, so too did the county of Monroe. However, the only known
plates from this exceptionally rare county are two surviving 1912-13 issues which,
for some unknown reason, are made on entirely different bases.
NASSAU
Created in 1824, Nassau County lies in the extreme North-Eastern corner of
Florida along the border with Georgia. The county’s prosperity has long thrived
on industries such as tourism, shrimping, and timber logging. Nassau is home to
Amelia Island and the county seat of Fernandina – a city which issued its own
porcelain license plates at the same time the county did. As for the Nassau-
issued porcelains, they appear to have been first issued in 1912-13, when a
distinctive 2 1/2 inch diameter disc was produced, making Nassau one of only six
Florida jurisdictions known to have produced round porcelains (the other five
being Duval, Palm Beach, Pinellas, St. Johns and St. Lucie.) Discs apparently
continued through 1914-15, after which the county switched to the more standard
rectangular issues for the duration of the pre-state era. There is one reported
1915 rectangular issue which I have been unable to verify. Although they are not
all known in collectors' hands today, Nassau porcelains appear to have come in
both passenger and For Hire versions.
OKALOOSA
Located in North-Western Florida, Okaloosa County was created extremely late in
Florida’s porcelain era. Indeed, not until 1915 was Okaloosa carved out of
portions of Santa Rosa and Walton Counties. There were probably fewer than
9,000 people in the entire county when it was created, with the area’s wealth
depending largely on the pine tree in the form of timber cutting and turpentine
stills, which caused railroads to be built to transport these goods to market.
Soon after, farming and ranching took over and settlement steadily increased.
Although the county was only created in 1915, they wasted no time in raising
revenue, issuing 1915-16 porcelains to motorists, of which one survivor is
documented today. Perhaps the most interesting characteristic of this plate is
the fact that the county name is misspelled! Spelling errors on Florida porcelains
are surprisingly frequent, as Sumter, Jefferson, and Suwannee Counties all have
similar problems, and Hillsborough County plates are spelled in two different
ways as well. In this case, whatever company was hired to manufacture the plates
apparently added a fictitious “S” to the county name. The Okaloosa 1915-16 is
one of only 6 Florida porcelains that are the sole surviving evidence that plates
were ever issued by their respective jurisdictions, the others being Bay County,
1915-16; Holmes County, 1916-17; Monroe County, 1912-13; Taylor County, 1915-16;
and Wakulla County, 1912-13.
ORANGE
Situated in central Florida, Mosquito County was created in 1824. It was renamed
Orange County in 1845 for the fruit that constituted the county's main product. All
six of Orange’s bordering counties issued porcelain license plates, so it’s no
surprise that Orange is known for a nice little run of its own. The first paved
roads in Orange County, outside the cities, were built in 1915 and 1916, and
automobile ownership likely increased along with this development. The first
known Orange County plates date from 1913-14 and are made of embossed
brass. However, the county switched to porcelain the following year and
apparently issued both passenger and For Hire plates annually through the end
of the pre-state era in 1916-17. Although it seems likely to exist, it is notable that
no 1916-17 For Hire has ever been seen. All of the For Hire variants from Orange
County are exceedingly rare, but the passenger issues are among the more
abundant of Florida pre-states, with probably ten or fifteen surviving examples
from each of the final three years known or presumed to exist. By 1917, the
county had to order nearly 1,000 plates for issuance to its motorists.
OSCEOLA
On May 12, 1887, Osceola was named a county, having been created from both
Orange and Brevard Counties. Located in central Florida, the County reached all
the way down to Lake Okeechobee until 1917 when Okeechobee County was
formed. For years, the earliest known Osceola porcelain dated to 1912-13.
However, in September of 2008, a 1911-12 passenger issue turned up on EBAY.
Annual porcelains were produced for the duration of Florida's pre-state era,
coming in both passenger and For Hire variants (although not all are known). In
total, there are eight different known varieties of plates from this relatively tough
county. By 1917, numbers on Osceola porcelains were ranging up to
approximately 250.
PALM BEACH
Palm Beach is a county located in Southeast Florida along the Atlantic coast.
Created in 1909, it was carved out of what was then the northern half of Dade
County. The southern half of Palm Beach County was subsequently carved out to
create the northern portion of Broward County in 1915. Henry Flagler was
instrumental in Palm Beach’s development in the early 1900s with the extension
of the Florida East Coast Railway through the county from Jacksonville to Key
West. The earliest known Palm Beach plate is a three inch porcelain disc from
1913-14. Probably due to visibility issues, the size of the discs was enlarged to
five inches in diameter in 1914-15 and plates now came in at least two varieties -
passenger and motorcycle. The round format continued for a third straight year
in 1915-16 before the county finally switched to the more typical rectangular
porcelain in the final pre-state year. However, even here in 1916-17, when the
passenger plates were now rectangular, the motorcycle plates remained circular,
reverting back to a tiny 3 inches in diameter. Numbering up near #800, the
passenger plates from 1916-17 are relatively plentiful by Florida pre-state
standards, with perhaps a dozen of this final Palm Beach issue known in
collectors' hands. The prevalence of porcelain discs from Palm Beach marks the
county as one of only six Florida jurisdictions known to have produced round
porcelains (the others being Duval, Nassau, Pinellas, St. Johns and St. Lucie).
It is notable that beginning in at least 1915, the city of West Palm Beach also
began issuing plates, although the city of Palm Beach apparently never did.
Residents in that city would have been forced to carry city and county porcelains
simultaneously.
PASCO
In 1887 Pasco County was formed. By the turn of the century, this west-central
Florida county was still largely unsettled. The 1890 census showed just over
4,000 residents. Citrus was an important industry when the county was formed,
although a decline followed a freeze in 1895. Several large sawmills operated in
the county in the early part of the twentieth century and added to the regions
growing prosperity and population. It is perhaps notable that the city of
Zephyrhills lies in Pasco County and is known to have produced embossed tin
plates of its own. As for the county of Pasco, a run of five annual porcelain plates
is known, stretching from 1912-13 through 1916-17. Although very few Pasco
plates are known, all extant examples are passenger issues, suggesting that For
Hire variants may have never been produced. One especially interesting Pasco
porcelain showed up on EBAY in 2008. It is a 1914-15 passenger issue, but it was
manufactured in a completely different format from the other known 1914-15
plate, with enough major differences that it constitutes a separate variant type.
Not only does it lack the four drilled corner holes of the other known plate, but it
has squared corners instead of rounded ones, carries a dash between the two
dates, bears an inexplicable period after the county name, and was produced with
small holes at the top instead of slots. It also appears to be black instead of blue.
PINELLAS
Lying on the Western Florida Gulf Coast, Pinellas County seceded from
Hillsborough County in 1911. They got started producing license plates almost
right away, issuing a large embossed metal plate for 1912-13. The first porcelain
plates appeared the following year with small round discs dated 1913-14. These
first porcelain discs are exactly the same size and format as the Palm Beach
porcelains of the same year, and were clearly manufactured by the same
company. In 1914-15, Pinellas stuck with the round format and issued white &
green porcelain plates in passenger, For Hire and Motorcycle versions. For the
final two years of license plate issuance, Pinellas changed to the more standard
rectangular plates. There were about 1,000 plates issued in 1915-16 and 1,500 in
1916-17. Perhaps a dozen surviving examples are known for the passenger
issues of each of these last two pre-state years. By contrast, the For Hire
variants are incredibly rare, with only a few surviving examples from all years
combined.
PLANT CITY
Plant City is located in Hillsborough County in west-central Florida. The city was
primarily an agricultural community and was named after railway developer Henry
B. Plant in commemoration of his railroad which connected Plant City to the South
Florida Rairoad, bringing greater prosperity to the community. In February of
2011, a bottle digger unearthed the only surviving license plate from Plant City
that has been found. This undated plate presumably was on a car that carried a
HIllsborough County porcelain as well.
POLK
Polk is a very large county in central Florida. It was created in 1861 when
Hillsborough County was divided in half, with the eastern half renamed Polk.
Small farms, orange groves and cattle dominated the county's early economy.
When the South Florida Railway crossed Polk and reached Tampa Bay in 1884,
people could now travel quickly from Jacksonville to Florida's west coast, and
towns along the railway route like Lakeland and Winter Haven grew
tremendously. The discovery of phosphate in the area in 1888 gave birth to a
new industry and the county's population soared to over 37,000 by 1910. Polk is
known to have begun the issuance of license plates in 1912. Over the course of
the first year, well in excess of 500 plates were issued, of which about 10 are
known to survive in collectors' hands today. In 1913-14, the county briefly
abandoned porcelain in favor of an embossed brass plate, but for whatever
reason, this experiment only lasted a year and porcelains were back for good in
1914-15. Plates continued to be issued through 1916-17, the passenger issues
being relatively common compared to most Florida porcelains. 1914-15 plates
neared 700, 1915-16 plates went well over 1,000, and by 1917 the numbers neared
1,500. There are a dozen or so of each of the passenger plates known today.
PUTNAM
Formed in 1849, Putnam County sits 30 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean and is
centrally located between Jacksonville, Gainesville, St. Augustine, and Daytona
Beach in the North-Eastern region of Florida. The county is known to have issued
license plates as early as 1911-12, but these were made of embossed brass. This
practice continued for the next two years, with the first porcelain plates not
coming onto the scene until 1914-15. Porcelains continued to be issued annually
through the duration of Florida's pre-state era. The 1916-17 issue is the most
common, with plate numbers surpassing 300 and perhaps a half dozen surviving
examples in collectors’ hands.
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| Use this shortcut to jump to the Florida archive page of your choice PAGE 1 (Alachua-Escambia) PAGE 2 (Fernandina-Lee) PAGE 3 (Leon-Putnam) PAGE 4 (Santa Rosa- West Palm Beach) |
| Marion County, FL 1911-12 For Hire |
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| The first known Orange County plates were issued in 1913-14 and were made of embossed brass. |
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| The first Pinellas County plates were large embossed metal plates dated 1912-13 |
| After starting with porcelain in 1912, Polk briefly experimented with brass plates in 1913-14, but went back to porcelain the following year. |
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| The first three county-issued plates from Putnam were all made of embossed metal. Only in 1914-15 did porcelains finally make their appearance. |
| This is a close-up of the plate in the photo to the right. There are no such plates surviving today. |
LEON - PUTNAM
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