Butts Road in Boca Raton, Florida is named for August H Butts. He was married to Natalie Swanson and was a prominent landowner. He established Butts Farms, which became one of Boca Raton’s main employers during the Great Depression and one of Florida’s largest truck farms. Successfully cultivated many of them as bean fields, helping to establish Palm Beach County as the nation’s “winter vegetable capital” and “Bean Capital of the World.” The farm provided housing, a church, a general store, and an elementary school for its employees.
Here is a timeline of Butts’ life:
- 1884 born in Florida
- 1910 living at 628 12th St, Miami, FL with wife Nettie (Nattie) and children Florine & Clarence
- 1910’s came from Lake County, Florida, then to West Palm Beach
- 1920 living on Okeechobee Road, Precinct 11, Palm Beach FL with wife Nattie and children Janette, Clarence, Harold and Myrtle. Butts was a farm laborer.
- 1928 Bought about 3,000-35000 acres here, starting in 1928 that had been vacated in the “Bust.”
- 1930 living in Pompano, FL with wife Natalie and children Harold and Myrtle. Butts was an overseer of truck farm
- 1955 August Butts died in Florida
Sources: http://www.pbchistoryonline.org/page/august-h-butts
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