When Allan Markham watched the demolition of part of the old cannery building on West South Park Street last year, he was watching the final chapter of association with Okeechobee and the Markham family that spanned more than half a century, and a family business more than a century old.

The Markham family began canning tomatoes right after the Civil War. Mr. Markham recently said. He said his grandfather started the canning business then. The generations that followed, also followed in his footsteps. His father and uncle first came to Florida in 1924 and set up a canning factory in Homestead, south of Miami. "I came here (to Florida) in 1936," Mr. Markham said. "I was in Miami at the south, at Homestead. We heard about this plant here in Okeechobee, My brother and I came here and in the next year, we stated.

The January 13, 1939 issue of the Okeechobee News announced the opening.

"A deal was consummated this week in which the Markham Bros. Packing Co. took over the old building and equipment of the Frederica Packing Company and started operation in full force there yesterday with W.A. Markham in charge of the operations. The company bought the equipment from Frederica Packing Company while they purchased the building and lot from E.H. Walston and as soon as possible the new concern expects to enlarge the building and install more machinery which will make it possible to double the present output and ill give work to about 75 persons. Production will eventually increase to about 2000 cans per day and at first, tomatoes, and then beans and other vegetables, will be canned by the company. The Company was a growing concern in the community until it closed its doors in 1970. But during the intervening three decades, the cannery provided employment for many of Okeechobee’s citizens. At one point, Mr. Markham said that the cannery employed about 75 percent of the women in Okeechobee County.

During World War II, he said that they had government contracts and would pack in large cans. "We caned tomatoes and peaches for the Army," he said. "We packed for the government in gallon cans. In England, they loved marmalade and they used these peaches to make marmalade." Operating the cannery had Mr. Markham traveling the canning circuit just like the migrant farm workers, he recalled. "We would start here in Florida and can tomatoes," he said. When we finished here, we would go to Georgia and we would can peaches. Then, we would go on up to South Carolina and Virginia and finish up in Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, Highland Springs, that was the last place we canned and there were some Amish people up there."

He recalled one humorous incident that occurred one year at the height of the canning season in Okeechobee. He said he doesn’t recall the year this incident occurred. "We were canning one day here in Okeechobee. Back then, they drove the cattle right through the middle of town right down Park Street. We had over 100 women peeling tomatoes. These Brahman steers were wild. The factory we used had been a garage and a Chevrolet dealership and there was a big plate glass window in front.

"The cattle were so wild at that time because we had open range then. The cattle were wild and there were no fences. Some people had just a little fence. Then, they’d have to move them here through town to put them on the train. I guess we had a market here then, too. "These Brahman bulls jumped through that plate glass window. You should have seen those women running. They just wanted to get someplace and get away from those bulls. One or two of them got in.

The factory operated through the 40s, 50s and 60s. Then, the situation changed. "We were very successful here with the plant until the last two or three years." Mr. Markham recalled. "I’ll tell you what happened. We bought our tomatoes from the growers, and about half their crop was for the fresh market. They had to compete with Virginia, California, Maryland and all the other places. They can grow them cheaper there than we can here. They would pick two or more crops for the fresh market and then, they would let us go in and we would pick what was left. They grew tomatoes from Gainesville all the way down.

"Most of the tomatoes now are confined to south of the lake. That’s because the weather has changed. You get more freezes down here now. One year, we packed one million cases in the Florida factories. That year, the total in the Unites States was 10 million, so we packed 10 percent of all the tomatoes. When they went to stake tomatoes, it got to be quite a bit more expensive picking these tomatoes by hand. The way we used to pick was to haul the vines down. We made tomatoes. We had ketchup. We had tomato juice."

Speaking about the tomato juice brought another fact to mind for Mr. Markham. "We had what you’d call homogenized tomato juice," he said. "We would give it a certain process at very high pressure and stir it up and it would never separate. Tomato juice before that would separate. We were the ones who started that."

He has many memories of the years he has resided in Okeechobee and those early days. "There was a big thing on Saturday night," he said. "There was always a big fight between the cattlemen and the fishermen. They would all come to town and have a little too much to drink on Saturday night. And, for sure someone would get in a fight. That was out Saturday night entertainment."

Mr. Markham served in the Florida Legislature from 1959 through 1967. He said that he served as chairman of the Banks and Loans Committee and served on the Appropriations Committee during those years. He said he felt he served the county well. One of those with whom he served was out current governor Lawton Chiles. "Lawton and I knew each other very well. We were very close. In fact, we lived on the same street and Mr. Lawton and I had children in school together. They had a special school for the representatives’ children. He would take them one day and I would take hem the next. He had three and I had two. I became very close to him," he recalled.

Now that he’s retired Mr. Markham, and his wife, Dolly, divide their time between Okeechobee and Virginia.