|
The
Red Hill Estate (1929-1941) / Archbold Biological
Station (founded 1941),
as a part of the Historical Legacy of the Roebling and Archbold Families
by
Fred E. Lohrer, Archbold Biological Station, April 2005
history
index | photo album index a
brief version of this historical legacy Web page (PowerPoint)
The genesis of the Archbold Biological Station, and its longstanding (64
years, 1941-2005) success in ecological research and education, is based
on a remarkable confluence of philanthropy by two of America’s major
business families; the Roebling and the Archbold.
The Roebling family excelled in construction and manufacturing
engineering; building enduring suspension bridges, manufacturing plants,
and even estates. The Archbold family had a strong tendency for the
support of science. Both families donated land for parks, conservation,
and science.
These family traditions influenced science several times, as in the
founding of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography (Roebling-1968) and
the Archbold Tropical Research Center (Archbold-1989), and enhanced
parks and conservation, as in the creation of the Glover-Archbold Park,
Washington, DC (Archbold-1924), Highlands Hammock State Park, Highlands
County, Florida (Roebling-1935), and the Middleham Estate addition to
the Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica, West Indies (Archbold-1982).
At the Archbold Biological Station, all three family traditions;
construction of enduring buildings, creation of parks and preserves, and
generous support of science, came together in continuing perfection. Details for these institutions and places, as well as for other
ancillary accomplishments and philanthropies, aspects of the historical
legacy of the Roebling and Archbold families, are presented below.
Contents
1. Family Trees. This is an abbreviated family tree for the seven Roebling and six Archbold family members mentioned in this
narrative (see Fig. 1, below).
1a. The Roebling family. John August Roebling (1806-1869); 3 of his
sons, Washington Augustus Roebling (1837-1926), Ferdinand William
Roebling (1842-1917), and Charles Gustavus Roebling (1849-1918), who
together formed the John A. Roebling’s Sons Company; one grandson, John
August Roebling, II (1867-1952), son of Washington A.; and two
great-grandsons, Donald Roebling (1908-1959), son of John A., II, and
Robert Clowry Roebling (1904-1983), grandson of Ferdinand W. 1b. The Archbold family. John Dustin Archbold (1848-1916); two of his
children, Anne Mills Archbold (1873-1968) and John Foster Archbold
(1877-1930); and four of his grandchildren, John Dana Archbold
(1910-1993), son of Anne M., Richard Archbold (1907-1976) and Adrian
Archbold (1909-1974), sons of John
F., and Frances Archbold Hufty (1912-), daughter of John F.
Figure
1. Family trees (abbreviated) of the Roeblings and Archbolds.

2. The Roebling Family.
(Steinman 1945) & <http://www.inventionfactory.com/history/RHAgen/index_noframe.html>
In 1831, John August Roebling, a German-trained engineer, immigrated to
the United States where he conducted a remarkable career as an
innovative construction engineer and an enterprising businessman. His
invention of wire rope (steel cable) and the vigorous promotion of its
use transformed practices in transportation, communication,
construction, and industry in the emerging industrial United States
(think; suspension bridges and cable cars, telegraph and electrical
cables, construction cranes, elevator cables for skyscrapers, cables use
in logging, mining, and shipping, and more). His grandson, John A. Roebling, II, constructed the 1,058-acre Red Hill Estate in southern
Highlands County, Florida, during 1930-33, and he donated it to Richard
Archbold in 1941.
2a. Roebling, the engineer and businessman. In America, John A. Roebling
founded a farming community for immigrant German families in western
Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh) at Saxonburg (Butler Co.). Later, in
1837, Roebling became an engineer for the State of Pennsylvania,
conducting surveys for canal and railroad routes. In 1841 he devised a
method of making wire rope for hoisting canal boats up and down gravity
planes traversing ridges. He set up a wire rope machine at his farm and
enlisted the help of local farmers to work in his protean factory. He
patented his method in 1842 and soon after the rural village of
Saxonburg was transformed into a thriving town as the home of a new
industry. In 1849 he established the Roebling Wire Company at Trenton,
Mercer Co., New Jersey. <http://www.inventionfactory.com/history/RHAgen/jarbio.html>
2b. Roebling suspension bridges. Of all the uses for his invention, wire
rope, John A. Roebling is best remembered for being the first engineer
to use steel cable in suspension bridges. His first suspension bridge
(1845) was a canal aqueduct spanning the Allegheny River at Pittsburgh.
In 1855 he completed the first suspension bridge for a railroad, this
over the Niagra Gorge in western New York. This bridge, the first
suspension bridge with stiffening trusses, established Roebling’s
international reputation as a designer of suspension bridges and also
established the overarching template for suspension bridge design for
the next 100 years. The culmination of John Roebling’s bridge-building
career was the design for the Brooklyn Bridge (completed in 1883),
itself a National Historic landmark. <http://www.nps.gov/chal/sp/p03new1.htm>
&
<http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbridgenews/AmHist/AmHist0473.htm>.
During 1859-1955, the Roebling Wire Company/John A. Roebling’s Sons
Company supplied steel cable for 24 suspension bridges in the United
States, Quebec, Canada, and El Salvador, and provided design services
for some of them. <http://www.inventionfactory.com/history/RHAbridg/index_noframe.html>
2c. Roebling philosophy of construction and of management of workers.
John A. Roebling always built his bridges and manufacturing buildings
with great care, superior materials, and beyond the maximum possible
loads. Early suspension bridges in Europe and United States were built
with passageways suspended by chains from wire cables. Some of these
early bridges failed. Likewise, some early suspension bridges built
without cross bracing of the deck also failed in high winds. These
failures only served to increase Roebling’s faith in his methods for
construction. Some of Roebling’s inventions and some for which he was
granted patents for were concerned with safety of manufacturing
equipment, boilers, and railroads. Roebling considered himself a field
engineer. He worked daily with his construction crews, always alert for
hazards to the workers, constantly reviewing the work, and devising
better techniques. He trained many of his workers and often promoted
from within. All these ideas were instilled in his three sons;
Washington, Ferdinand, and Charles who later formed the J.A. Roebling’s
Sons Company (Steinman 1945), and they had a
strong influence in the design and construction of John A. Roebling,
II's Red Hill Estate (1929-1941) in Lake Placid, Florida. 3. The Archbold Family.
3a. John Dustin Archbold was a key executive in the growth and success
of the Standard Oil Company. He became a Director of Standard Oil of
Ohio Company in 1875 and by 1897 was functionally in charge of the
company. As president (1896-1911) of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (founded
1882) he was largely instrumental in building up that corporation’s
business. In 1886, John D. Archbold became a member of the Board of
Trustees of Syracuse University, and later (1893) the Board’s president,
a position he held until his death in 1916. Over 30 years (1893-1914) he
contributed funds (nearly $6,000,000) for 8 buildings at Syracuse
University, including the full cost of the Archbold stadium (opened
1907, demolished 1972), Sims Hall (men's dormitory, 1907), the Archbold
gymnasium (1909, nearly destroyed by fire in 1947 but still in use), and
the oval athletic field. <http://archives.syr.edu/arch/buildings/chronolist.htm>
& <http://archives.syr.edu/arch/exhibits/ch-day.htm> A bequest from his
estate gave an additional $500,000 to the university. Among his other
charities was the New York Kindergarten Association, for which he built
its headquarters building, in memory of his deceased daughter, Frances
Dana Wolcott, and for which he also provided an endowment fund of
$100,000. His grandson, Richard Archbold, founded the Archbold
Biological Station in 1941 (Moore 1930,
National cyclopaedia,
ABS
Archives).
3b. Anne M. Archbold. A long-time resident of Washington, DC, Anne
Archbold was a strong supporter of science (see section 4c), parks and
conservation (see section 5b), and the the Gallinger Municipal (later DC
General) Hospital, where they named the hospital Nurses Residence the
Anne Archbold Hall, in honor of her support. <http://www.dcpreservation.org/endangered/2002/archbold.html>
3c. John Foster Archbold. After graduating from Yale University, John
Archbold traveled extensively in Asia for his father, visiting possible
oil-production areas. John Archbold retired from business early in his
life, and in 1910 moved his family to Thomasville, Georgia, where he
built a substantial (stucco-clad) Mediterranean-style plantation home
overlooking the Ochlocknee River at Chinquapin Plantation. On June 30,
1925, the new hospital in Thomasville was dedicated as the John D.
Archbold Memorial Hospital (now the Archbold Medical Center), a gift to
the town from John F. Archbold in memory of his father, John D.
Archbold. The original structure was so well designed that it is still
in use as the core of the greatly expanded hospital facility. John
Archbold also shared in the family’s interest in supporting science (see
section 4d) (ABS Archives).
3d.
Richard Archbold. In 1929, at age 22, Richard Archbold began a
10-year phase of biological exploration and a lifelong career as a
patron of science, first as a benefactor of the American Museum of
Natural History (see section 4f) and later as the founder and Resident
Director of Archbold Biological Station (see section 7). In 1929 he
participated as a photographer and mammalogist in a biological
expedition to Madagascar, the expedition first supported by his father
and later by his mother and himself. He later organized Archbold
Expeditions and in 1933-1939 funded, organized, and led three biological
expeditions to New Guinea (see section 4f). As the Resident Director of
Archbold Biological Station (1941-1976), he worked to establish, and
continually improve, the scientific facilities of the Station and he
supported all visiting scientists by maintaining living accommodations
and food service from his personal funds (see section 7). After 1941,
Richard Archbold was active in several local service organizations (Red
Cross, Boy Scouts). He helped found the Glades Electric Cooperative in
1945 (and remained a Trustee of the Cooperative until his death in 1976)
and the Lake Placid Lions Club in 1948. He was Secretary of the
Highlands Hammock State Park Advisory Council (1956-1976). He conducted
(1946) some of the original surveys for National Audubon Society’s
Corkscrew Swamp Preserve, near Naples, Florida. In 1974 he received the
Conservation Achievement Award of the Florida Conservation Council (Morse 2000,
Rand 1936, ABS Archives).
<http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/archbold/archbold.htm>
3e. Adrian Archbold. For 37 years (1937-1974) Adrian Archbold
was the Secretary-Treasurer of Archbold Expeditions (formerly Biological
Explorations), the Corporation founded by Richard Archbold to support
his activities in biological exploration and ecological research. As Secretary-Treasurer, Adrian
had fiduciary oversight responsibilities for the Corporation’s
investments, which provided the necessary funding for activities with
the American Museum of Natural History and for salaries and scientific
expenses at Archbold Biological Station. (ABS
Archives)
3f. Frances Archbold Hufty. In 1976, Frances Hufty, Richard Archbold’s
sister, assumed leadership of Archbold Expeditions after her brother’s
death (see section 7). She brought several decades of experience in
leadership positions for many charities to the task, and especially the
conservation activities of the Palm Beach Branch of the Garden Club of
America. Also in 1976, she became chairman of the advisory board of Pine
Jog Conservation Education Center, West Palm Beach, Florida. In addition
to her leadership for Archbold Expeditions, Frances Hufty has made many
financial contributions to Archbold Biological Station over the years to
support science and conservation. (see section 4h). (ABS Archives)
4. Family Patterns - Support of Science. The Roeblings and Archbolds
donated land and facilities for three scientific research institutions.
The Archbolds supported five separate scientific research programs. The
Roeblings amassed and donated a major collection of minerals.
Individuals are listed in the order of their birth dates.
4a.
Washington Augustus Roebling. <http://www.inventionfactory.com/history/RHAgen/warbio.html>
Although Washington Roebling’s activities were severely constrained
because of caisson disease (the bends), a debilitating illness he
acquired when working in the caissons of the Brooklyn Bridge, he
remained intellectually active over his long life. Begun in his student
years, and continuing throughout his entire life, he amassed a
remarkable and comprehensive collection of minerals. His son, John A. Roebling, II, donated the collection to the Smithsonian Institution in
1926, where it formed the core the greatly enlarged collection, and he also gave an endowment of $150,000 for the upkeep and enlargement
of the Roebling Mineral Collection. <http://www.mnh.si.edu/earth/text/2_0_0.html>
& <http://civilwarstudies.org/articles/Vol_3/roebling.htm> & <http://www.minsocam.org/msa/collectors_corner/arc/roebling4.htm>
(ABS Archives)
4b.
John August Roebling, II. On July 21, 1941, John A. Roebling, II,
donated his 1,058-acre, Red Hill Estate (see Red Hill brochure, 1939 <http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/album/album-RedHillbrochure-1939/index.htm>) to Richard Archbold. The Red
Hill Estate became the Archbold Biological Station <http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/abs/archbold/beginnings.htm>,
and the Roebling estate buildings became the core campus of the Station
(see sections 6 & 7).
4c. Anne Mills Archbold. Anne M. Archbold was a supporter of botanical
exploration and research in the Pacific Ocean. In 1939 she financed the
construction of a Chinese Junk, the “Cheng Ho,” <http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0507/feature2/index.html> an authentic copy, but
diesel powered, of a 15th-century vessel. She supported, and
participated in, two cruises of the Cheng Ho. The first cruise of the
Cheng Ho (January - July 1940), in the east Indies, was led by David
Fairchild, a tropical botanist explorer. Collection of living plant
materials (seeds, cuttings, rooted plants, tubers, etc.) was the primary
purpose of the cruise. The second cruise of the Cheng Ho (November 1940
- July 1941), to the Fiji islands, was under the leadership of Otto Degener, University of Hawaii, and in cooperation with the Arnold
Arboretum of Harvard University (she then sold the vessel to Degener who
formed a trading and exploration company) (Degener 1949,
Fairchild
1945).
4d. John Foster Archbold. John F. Archbold was one of the original
supporters of the 1924-1929 Cooperative Quail Investigation conducted in
the Thomasville, Georgia, region by Herbert L. Stoddard. This was the
first comprehensive field study in the United States of an upland game
bird. John F. Archbold and his wife, May B. Archbold, supported the
American share (through the American Museum of Natural History) of the
1929-1931 French-Anglo-American Zoological Expedition to Madagascar.
John’s son, Richard was the mammalogist and photographer on this
expedition (Rand 1936, ABS Archives).
4e. Robert Clowry Roebling. In 1968, Robert C. Roebling donated his
500-acre Modena Plantation on the northern tip of Skidaway Island (near
Savannah), his home for 34 years, to the State of Georgia for the
establishment of a marine research institution, the Skidaway Institute
of Oceanography (SIO). <http://www.skio.peachnet.edu/resources/>
& <http://www.skio.peachnet.edu/aboutus/history/roebling/roebling_family.php>
From the beginning, Robert Roebling developed Modena as a working cattle
and hog farm in close collaboration with the University of Georgia and
with careful improvement of the breeding stock as a primary goal.
Remote and island-bound, Modena was self-supporting. The well-built and
diverse Roebling physical plant gave SIO a head start. The early employees
of SIO depended heavily on the infrastructure
inherited from Roebling for offices and support activities. Roebling
buildings/structures still in use include;
two deep-water docks and a machine shop, a steel and concrete cattle
barn that now functions as laboratory and storage space, and
several Roebling buildings that are for student and visiting scientist
housing (Megathlin 2003).

4f. Richard Archbold. Richard Archbold was a major benefactor of the
American Museum of Natural History where he was a Research Associate of
the Department of Mammalogy (1932-1976). As a Research Associate, he
founded Archbold Expeditions, based at the museum, and he funded,
organized, and conducted 3 biological expeditions to New Guinea during
1933-1939. After WW2, he also substantially funded 4 more expeditions to
New Guinea and one to Cape York, Australia, through Archbold
Expeditions, and at his death in 1976 he was supporting a 3-year field
study of mammals of Celebes by Guy Musser, the museum’s Archbold
Expeditions Curator of Mammals. The Archbold Expeditions New
Guinea/Australia vertebrate specimens, records, and photographs were
donated to the Museum. Richard Archbold also sponsored several exhibits
in the museum’s Hall of North American Mammals and in the Whitney Hall
of Pacific Birds. On December 30, 1969, Richard Archbold received the
Museum’s centennial commemorative medal for distinguished service from
the Trustees of the Museum. Probably, Richard Archbold’s greatest
contribution to science was that he founded (1941) and endowed (1976)
Archbold Biological Station, and added substantially to its original
land holdings of 1,058 acres. In 1973, Richard Archbold purchased 2,773
acres of pristine habitat adjacent to the western boundary of the
Station. On 2 July 1973, he donated 1,574 acres of this tract to the
Station and donated the remaining 1,249 acres upon his death in 1976
(see section 7) (Morse 2000,
ABS Archives).
4g. John Dana Archbold. For many years, John D. Archbold was the joint
sponsor of the Bredin-Archbold-Smithsonian Biological Survey of Dominica
in which 55 scientists from the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, and 20 other institutions have participated.
This support produced, up to the end of 1974, 60 scientific papers that
documented more than 170 previously undescribed species, as well as much
ecological information about the island’s biota. In 1989, John D.
Archbold donated his 190-acre Springfield Plantation on Dominica, West
Indies, to Clemson University as the Archbold Tropical Research Center.
<http://www.clemson.edu/coastalrec/atrec_execsummary.htm>
The Center now operates at Springfield Center as the Archbold Tropical
Research and Education Consortium, with leadership from Clemson
University. The mission includes research and education to promote the
conservation of biodiversity in the moist tropics
(see section 5c) (ABS Archives).
4h. Frances Archbold Hufty (& family). In 1976, Frances Hufty assumed
leadership of Archbold Expeditions, the non-profit corporation that
oversees Archbold Biological Station <http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/archbold/organization.htm>).
For 15 years she served as President of the Board and then continued as
Chairman. She and her family, and especially her husband Page Hufty,
guided the Station through now, nearly 30 years of continued growth and
success of the Station’s programs (see section 7). In January 28, 1983,
Frances and Page Hufty helped purchased the Lake Annie Tract (which
includes pristine Lake Annie, a 90-acre sinkhole lake) for the Station.
<http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/regionalecol/lkannie.htm> In 2002
she donated funding for an additional 3,648 acres of land adjacent to
the Archbold Biological Station. This property, called the Reserve, is
mostly ranchland with portions of native habitat. The Reserve will be a
site for long-term research on restoration ecology (ABS Archives). <http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/reserve/resrvindex.htm> 5. Family Patterns - Land Donated for Parks /Conservation. The Roeblings
and Archbolds donated land for three parks (city, state, and national).
Individuals are listed in the order of their birth dates.
5a. John August Roebling, II, and Margaret Shippen Roebling. In 1930,
Mrs. Margaret Roebling donated the $50,000 needed by a local group of
citizens to purchase a 500-acre, pristine cabbage palm-live oak forest,
Hooker Hammock, near Sebring, Highlands County, Florida. A private,
non-profit corporation, the Tropical Florida Parks Association, was
formed to manage the park. Mrs. Roebling, until her death on October 24,
1930, was a charter member of the corporation, and the Red Hill Estate
Engineer, Alexander Blair, was a Vice-President of the corporation, and
also Mrs. Roebling’s representative. After her death, John A. Roebling
continued support of the park’s development and maintenance (fencing,
and construction of roads, paths, and water-control structures),
contributing a further $300,000 during 1931-1934, when his Red Hill
Estate engineer, Alexander Blair, was also the supervisory engineer for
the park. In 1935 the land was donated to the state of Florida as the
nascent Highlands Hammock State Park, one of a handful of newly-created
state parks. At the transfer of property John A. Roebling also donated
another $25,000 for maintenance (Altvater 1979). In 1941 John A. Roebling donated his
1,058-acre Red Hill Estate (Including 6 concrete buildings and a steel
water-storage tank) to Richard Archbold who founded the Archbold
Biological Station on the site (see sections 6 &
7) (ABS
Archives).
5b. Anne Mills Archbold. Anne Archbold lived in England during the early
20th century, and after WWI she returned to the United States. In 1922
she purchased 78 acres of forested land at Georgetown, Washington, DC,
where she built her home, Hillandale. She soon donated part of her land
to the city (in memory of her father) as part of the 250-acre
Glover-Archbold Park (founded in 1924, initially with 27 acres from Anne
Archbold, and then 77 acres from Charles C. Glover, Sr.). (see <http://www.gloverpark.org>
and click on history.) Her 25,000-square-foot Hillandale mansion was
designated a District of Columbia Historic Landmark in 1990 and a
National Historic Place in 1995 - District of Columbia
building#94001595 <http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/DC/District+of+Columbia/state.html>.
5c. John Dana Archbold. In 1975, John D. Archbold donated 950 acres of
pristine tropical forest, the Middleham Estate on Dominica, West Indies,
to The Nature Conservancy (see
section 4g). A 16,000-acre Trois Pitons National Park was
soon established adjacent to the Archbold property. In 1982, The Nature
Conservancy donated the Archbold property to Dominica, for inclusion in
the national park, as the Archbold Preserve. <http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/morne.html>
&<http://www.lennoxhonychurch.com/article.cfm?id=395>
6. The Founding of the Archbold Biological Station.
Donald Roebling, son
of John A. Roebling, II, and school-time friend of Richard Archbold,
facilitated the donation of his father’s Red Hill Estate to Richard
Archbold in 1941. In 1940, when deteriorating political conditions in
the western Pacific prevented a planned 4th expedition to New Guinea,
Richard Archbold led a successful six-month biological expedition to
southeastern Arizona to “collect facts instead of specimens.” It was in
Arizona that the importance of a good physical plant for a field station
was re-enforced in Richard’s mind. After the Arizona expedition, a
chance meeting occurred between Richard and Donald in New York City.
Donald learned of Richard’s desire to keep his team of research
biologists together at a field station during the post-New Guinea
period. Donald, mindful of his father’s plan to donate his Red Hill
Estate for a non-profit use, told Richard of the existence of the Red
Hill Estate. Richard visited Red Hill and saw its potential for a
biological field station. Thus Donald Roebling became the key
facilitator in the genesis of Archbold Biological Station. On July 21,
1941, John A. Roebling and his second wife, Helen Price Roebling, deeded
1,058 acres of land to Archbold Expeditions as an “absolute, unqualified
and unrestricted gift.” Following this remarkable donation of the Red
Hill Estate, Richard Archbold founded and sustained a biological field
station where scientists conduct research on the ecology of native
plants and animals of central Florida (Morse 2000,
ABS Archives).
7. Description of Archbold Biological Station. The long-term success of
ecological research stations is based on three essential ingredients;
land, physical plant, and an adequate dedicated endowment. These
ingredients came together at the Archbold Biological Station in the
proper balance that has continued to attract talented scientists,
interested in long-term ecological research, for over 64 years.
7a. Physical plant. The extraordinary Roebling buildings at the Red Hill
Estate, soundly built of poured concrete and using excellent materials
and construction practices, were originally the support and storage
facilities for a mansion that was never built. In October 1941, Richard
Archbold became the Resident Director of the Archbold Biological
Station, supporting the operation of the Station, managing the
day-to-day operation of the facility, and living in the Main Building
(the Roebling Storehouse <http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/album/album-RedHill-storehouse/index.htm>) until his death in 1976. With its own water
system and power generator, the Red Hill Estate was self-sufficient in
isolated rural south-central Florida. Richard Archbold, drawing on his
experiences of four biological expeditions to Madagascar and New Guinea,
re-enforced that self-sufficiency by establishing the living
accommodations and scientific support systems necessary to make the
Station the ideal place for long-term research, in all aspects of field
biology, by staff and visiting scientists. He converted storage units in
the Main Building to laboratories, offices, and a library. These
improvements have not modified the major historical features of the
buildings, and the structure has been well maintained; for example the
original bronze windows and doors are all fully functional, and the
bathroom fittings, water-treatment plant, and other Roebling-era
constructions are in daily operation. He also constructed 6 housekeeping
cottages for visiting scientists, built a dining room, and established
meal service. He maintained the Roebling machine shop and carpenter’s
shop, kept a small core of experienced Roebling employees on the
payroll, and brought his airplane mechanic, Robert Nagel, to the Station
as a skilled machinist. In 1945, Richard Archbold helped establish
Glades Electric Cooperative, thus bringing electricity to the rural sections
of Highlands and Glades counties. In 1947, the electric lines were
extended to Archbold Biological Station. With dependable electricity he
began the long process of air-conditioning the Main Building and the
cottages, and he continually upgraded the laboratories, scientific
equipment, and support facilities during his 35 years at the Station.
7b. Land. The original Roebling land, 1,058 acres of pristine pine and
oak forest, became the long-term ecological research capital of the
Station. In 1973, Richard Archbold added to that research capital by
purchasing 2,773 acres of adjacent pristine habitats. In 1983, Frances
and Page Hufty helped to purchased the adjacent 239-acre Lake Annie
Tract. In the 1990s the Station added 1,300 acres of adjacent pristine
habitats either through purchases from Foundation funds or by
acquisition of conservation mitigation tracts. In 2002, Frances Hufty
donated funds for 3,648 acres of adjacent pasture land and native
habitats to the Station. The property, now 8,841 acres <http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/gis/GeneralMaps/Acquisitionhist.htm> (actually owned
by the parent foundation, Archbold Expeditions), includes over 6,000
acres of pristine native habitats that are a globally significant
preserve for many species of endangered plants and animals. <http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/regionalecol/archlistedspp.htm>
7c. Endowment. At his death in 1976, Richard Archbold left his personal
fortune as a permanent endowment for the Station. Archbold Expeditions
has successfully managed the endowment for continued support.
7d. Summary. With Archbold family leadership, the Station continues to
thrive. Since the early 1980s the Station has added: new permanent
scientific staff; space in new buildings for research, education, and
service; new housing for visiting scientists; and more land. The mission
of Archbold Biological Station includes ecological research, land
management, education, and conservation. Through good leadership, the
original ingredients of physical plant, land, and endowment, embellished
over the years, continue to produce quality products in all Station
programs. Archbold Biological Station is recognized as one of the
premier biological field stations in the nation (Morse 2000, ABS Archives). <http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/archbold/beginnings.htm>
8. Acknowledgments.
I am grateful to the following people for their help; Cheryl Henderson
for Fig.1, Beverly Mazzeo for
genealogy research, Mike Mazzeo for scanning photos and for digital
image processing, W.R. "Rip" Roebling for information about Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and Modena Pantation, Hilary
M. Swain
for helpful comments on several drafts of this document, and Charlotte
Wilson for the loan of John A. Roebling, II, and Margaret Roebling photos
and for finding Roebling Web sites.
9. Literature Cited.
ABS Archives (Archbold Biological Station Archives). The historical
archives at Archbold Biological Station are a partially cataloged
collection of; newspaper articles and obituary notices, magazine
articles, correspondence, brochures, unpublished reports, meeting
notices, photographs, and other ephemera about; the Archbold Biological
Station, Station-related people, the Red Hill Estate, and regional
history. The ABS archives are available by appointment. The archives
catalog is not digital. Altvater, A. 1979. Highlands Hammock. Sebring, Florida, Sebring
Historical Society. Degener, O. 1949. Naturalist’s south Pacific expedition - Fiji.
Honolulu, Paradise of the Pacific. Fairchild, D. 1945. Garden islands of the great east. New York, C.
Scribner’s Sons. Megathlin, C. 2003. Skidaway Institute of Oceanography: Celebrating 35
years of discovery 1968-2003. Scenes, Newsletter Skidaway Marine Sci.
Foundation. July 2003:4-7. Moore, A.L. 1930. John D. Archbold and the early development of Standard
Oil. New York, MacMillan. Morse, R.A. 2000.
Richard Archbold and the Archbold Biological Station.
Gainesville, Univ. Press of Florida.
National cyclopaedia of American biography. 1892-1984. New York, J.T.
White. Rand, A.L. 1936. The distribution and habits of Madagascar birds. Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 72:143-499. Steinman, D.B. 1945. The builders of the bridge: The story of John Roebling and his sons. New York, Harcourt Brace.
Appendix A. Roebling Buildings of Historical Significance. The Archbold Biological Station is one of many Roebling buildings
nationwide that are of historical significance. Contents
1. Roebling manufacturing sites at or near Trenton, New Jersey
2. Recent Redevelopment of Roebling Industrial Properties in New Jersey
3. Roebling, New Jersey, an industrial town designed by Charles Gustavus
Roebling 4. Roebling, New Jersey, a modern evaluation
5. Roebling family homes, Estates, and
other residential buildings, on historical registers 5a. John August Roebling, Saxonburg, Pennsylvania
5b. Ferdinand William Roebling, Trenton, New Jersey
5c. John A. Roebling, II, Lake Placid, Florida 5d. Donald Roebling, Clearwater, Florida
1. Roebling manufacturing sites (wire rope, electrical wire, steel
mills) at or near Trenton, New Jersey. History. In 1849, John A. Roebling established the Roebling Wire Company
in Trenton, New Jersey (Mercer Co.). From 1949, until his death on 22
July 1869 (of injuries sustained during the early stages of the Brooklyn
Bridge construction), he remained architect, engineer, inventor,
designer, and draftsman of the company. He personably planned and
designed every building of his new wire mills and shops and invented and
designed nearly every piece of machinery that went into them. Some of
the machines he designed in the early days of the plant continued
producing wire rope until at least 1945 (Steinman 1945). In 1871, JAR’s sons (Washington, Ferdinand, and Charles) incorporated
John A. Roebling’s Sons (JAR Sons). The main works, or “Upper Roebling
Works,” about a mile from the center of Trenton, included the wire rope
fabrication center and the Roebling Research Laboratory. The “Lower
Roebling Works,” the Buckthorn Works in south Trenton, was the site of
electrical wire and cable manufacturing. In 1877 Charles G. Roebling
became president of JAR Sons and he designed all the new Roebling
factories and machinery including; new expanded facilities at the
original Trenton site, the Buckthorn Plant (1902), and at the new
Roebling Steel Company (1904-1906) at Roebling, N.J. (Florence Township,
Burlington County). This steel factory (hot mills, steel and copper wire
mills, woven wire fabrics mills), the Kinkora Works, was 10 miles south
of Trenton, and included 9 open hearth furnaces on 234 acres. There were
248 buildings in the main plants of JAR Sons, excluding the Kinkora
Works. <see <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/>
and: search for Kinkora Works; select item#7, "Kinkora Works, Second and
Hornberger Avenues;" and select "data pages" for a 67-page document on
the history of the Kinkora Works & <http://www.inventionfactory.com/history/RHAgen/handbook/hbintro.html> In 1952 JAR Sons was sold to Colorado Fuel & Iron Co (CFI). By 1967 the
Roebling work force was cut almost by half. By 1968 the former JAR Sons
Trenton plant was closed. In 1969 Crane Corporation purchases CFI. In
1974 all the remaining Roebling plants closed down; the buildings were
abandoned and lay fallow.2. Recent Redevelopment of Roebling Industrial Properties in New Jersey.
At Trenton, New Jersey. In 1985, the Trenton Roebling Community
Development Corporation (TRCDC) was founded (650 South Broad Street,
Trenton 08611). TRCDC is a non-profit organization dedicated to the
commercial re-use of the Roebling wire mill site. a) In 1989, the 80-ton Roebling wire rope machine was designated a
National Mechanical Engineering Landmark. <http://www.asme.org/history/brochures/h139.pdf> b) In 1996, Phase One (Block 1 of the Roebling Project) of
revitalization of the Roebling “Upper Works” in Trenton was completed
with; the opening of The “Roebling Market,” <http://www.ccharchitects.com/roeblingu.asp>
including several retail establishments in the 50-acre Mill Yard, an
adjacent senior housing project (Pellettieri Homes incorporating a 1899
Roebling Wire Mill, <http://ccharchitects.com/pellettieri.asp>, The
Invention Factory, an interactive science museum operated by Princeton
University, is in the Roebling Machine Shop (constructed 1890 & 1901),
which is on the National Register of Historic Places. <http://www.njht.org/profiles/invention-factory.html>
& <http://www.inventionfactory.com>, and the 10,000-seat sports and
entertainment Sovereign Bank Arena. c & d) Two other redevelopment proposals either are dormant or are
progressing very slowly; a 1989 proposal for Block 2 redevelopment
<http://www.specialtyretail.net/issues/dec98/Roebling_Complex.htm> and a
Trenton City Government plan for Block 3 <http://www.whitmanco.com/prague.shtml>. e) A planned (2004) new Roebling Community School, a 1,200 student pre-K
- G8 school will combine new construction with historically-significant
Roebling industrial structures on a 6.5-acre site. Roebling structures
to be used include Building 54 (1924) and Buildings 58 and 62 from the
late 19th Century. Two remaining Roebling buildings will be used for
administrative space. The City of Trenton plans to build a children’s
museum on an adjacent lot. School construction completion is expected in
2007. <http://www.ccharchitects.com/roeblingschool.asp> & <http://www.ccharchitects.com/pdf/news006.pdf>.
At Roebling (Florence Township), New Jersey. The Roebling Steel Mill
became an U.S. Environmental protection Agency Super Fund Site because
of industrial chemicals buried on site. <http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/0200439c.pdf>
& <http://www.epa.gov/Region2/superfund/npl/0200439c.htm> & <http://www.epa.gov/Region2/news/2003/03098.htm>
& <http://www.epa.gov/superfund/accomp/not_funded/roeb.htm> The Florence
Township Redevelopment Agency acquired the property to redevelop the
234-acre site. Currently (2004-05) the EPA is working on site cleanup
and on the historic restoration of the Main Gate House and Ambulance
Garage. A Roebling Main Gate museum is planned. <http://www.pacpubserver.com/new/news/11-14-99/roebling.html>
3. Roebling, New Jersey, an industrial town designed by Charles Gustavus
Roebling. Roebling, New Jersey (Florence Township, Burlington Co.), is 10 miles
south of Trenton, N.J. on the banks of the Delaware River. Roebling was
founded in 1905 as an industrial town adjacent to the Roebling Steel
Company (hot mills, steel and copper wire mills, woven wire fabrics
mills) which was constructed concurrently during 1904-1906 <
http:capitalcentury.com/1905.html>.
Designed entirely by Charles G. Roebling, <http://www.inventionfactory.com/history/RHAgen/cgrbio.html>
the 250-acre town had; wide paved streets on a rectilinear plan, 750
brick houses all of a similar type, a central circle with a bank and a
company store, a public school, several churches, a Roebling Inn, and
many other recreational and service buildings constructed by the
Roebling Co. At the east end of Main Street was the steel mill’s Number
One Gate. The houses were rented and never sold. In the 1921 census,
Roebling had 4,000 people including 1,400 Roebling employees.
Nonetheless, the town could house only 40% of the 2,000 steel-mill
workers. After WW2, the company sold the houses to the residents, and in
1974 the Roebling steel mill closed. The town is still occupied <http://www.roebling.org/ImagesOfAmericaRoebling.htm>,
and it is planning a major centennial celebration for summer 2005.
<http://www.roebling.org/index.html> The entire town, The Roebling
Historic District (2nd - 8th avenues), is on the National Register of
Historic Places, and it includes 2 buildings, the Roebling Public School
(Hornberger Ave.) and the Roebling Wire Company (Hornberger and 2nd
avenues), that are both on the National Register of Historic Places
(see <http://www.state.nj.us/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists.htm> and click
on Burlington Co., and scroll to Florence Township).
4. Roebling, New Jersey, A modern evaluation. Fred Kent, an urbanist, is
president of the Project for Public Spaces. In an interview with
Architectural Record (April 2000), he talked about recent developments
in our urban landscape. “A city I like is Roebling, N.J. It’s a company town, built between 1904
and 1906 by one of the sons of John A. Roebling, designer of the
Brooklyn Bridge. If you were to rate all the New Urbanist communities on
a scale of one to 10, you might get a five. Roebling would be a nine. It
has connected housing, separate, single-story family homes, narrow
streets, commercial areas, a fire station that contains both the
community center and a library. The firemen also function as volunteers
who maintain the community center. It seems so perfect you can't believe
it's real, but it is.” <http://www.pps.org/info/press/articles_about/architectural_record_4_2000>
5. Roebling Family Homes, Estates, and Other Residential Buildings, on
Historical Registers. a) John August Roebling’s first home. In 1831, John A. Roebling
immigrated to America from Germany. He settled at Saxonburg, Butler
County, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh), and organized a farming
community for immigrant German families. In 1841 he devised a method of
making wire rope. He patented his method in 1842, built a wire rope
machine at his farm, and enlisted the help of local farmers to work in
his protean factory. Soon after the hamlet of Saxonburg became the home
of a new industry. The John Roebling House (John Roebling Shop) at
Rebecca and Main Sts., Saxonburg, and the Saxonburg Historic District,
centered on Main Street & Intersecting St., are both on the National
Register of Historic Places. <http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/PA/Butler/state.html>
& <Miniature
Railroad&Village>
b) Ferdinand William Roebling. <http://www.inventionfactory.com/history/RHAgen/fwrsrbio.html>
Ferdinand W. Roebling died at his home on 16 March 1917. The F. W.
Roebling Mansion, 222 West State Street, Trenton, New Jersey, is in
Trenton’s State Street Historical District and is a Trenton Historic
Landmark. (see map <http://www.trentonnj.org/PDFs/Historic
Landmarks map-tabloid size.pdf>). In 1885, Ferdinand W. Roebling also built Roebling Row, at 198-210 West
State Street, Trenton, New Jersey. This row of seven attached Romanesque
Revival homes was constructed of brick and brownstone. Each home had a
distinct facade, but all were stylistically united. The row was designed
by William A. Poland, a Mercer County, New Jersey, native. One building
in the Row, 204 West State Street, was always associated with Washington
A. Roebling II (1881-1912, son of Charles G. Roebling) who traveled to
Europe to purchase furniture for his home at 204 West State Street.
Unfortunately, he sailed home on the Titanic and thus never moved into
his house. 204 West State Street is now the state office of the League
of Women Voters of New Jersey. The building is in Trenton’s State Street
Historical District and is a Trenton Historic Landmark. <http://www.lwvnj.org/capitalcampaign.html>
c) John A. Roebling, II. John A. Roebling built the Red Hill Estate
(1929-1941) (see Red Hill brochure, 1939 <http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/album/album-RedHillbrochure-1939/index.htm>), 8 miles south of Lake Placid, Highlands County, Florida,
and donated it to Richard Archbold, heir to Standard Oil wealth, in
1941. The Roebling Red Hill Estate, comprised of 6 concrete buildings
and one steel water storage tank, was constructed during 1930-33 of
superior materials (reinforced concrete walls/floors, steel roof
trusses, cement roof panels, terra cotta roof tiles, bronze
doors/windows, copper gutters/soffits, pigmented coquina stucco). The
remarkable Roebling buildings, still functioning in their original
grandeur, now form the core campus of Archbold Biological Station. <http://www.archbold-station.org/abs/album/albumindex.htm> The
buildings, and the 1,058-acre Red Hill estate, have been developed into
a nationally recognized site for long-term ecological research that
continues to this day on the Station’s expanded 8,841-acres (includes
+6,000 acres of globally-threatened Florida scrub habitat). In July
2007, the core campus of the Station, the Roebling Red Hill estate
buildings, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for
its historical significance in architecture, science, and conservation.
d)
Donald Roebling. Spotswood, Donald Roebling's Clearwater,
Florida, home, is on the National Register of
Historical Places, Pinellas County, Florida, and is one of Florida’s
Historical Sites for Pinellas County. <http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/FL/Pinellas/state.html>
“Donald Roebling Estate (Spotswood). 700 Orange Ave. 1929+. Tudor
Revival. Roy W. Wakeling, architect. 2 and a half-story main house, red
brick, bay windows on entrance and garden facade, semi-octagonal
elevator tower added in 1939. Home of Donald Roebling, inventor.
Private. Estate subdivided. N.R. 1979.” <
http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/facts/reports/places/Counties/Pinellas.cfm>
- - - Home
| Top
| Index
© Archbold Biological Station,
25 May 2005; last revision, 15 April 2008
Webmaster, Fred Lohrer send
e-mail
|