Robert Lee McKenzie
American Christian fundamentalist (1870-1956)
Robert Lee McKenzie (October 16, 1870 – December 13, 1956) was an entrepreneur, a real estate developer, a founder and first mayor of Panama City, Florida, and an instrumental figure in the early history of Bob Jones University.
Biography
Business and political career
McKenzie was born and reared on a farm in Macon County, Georgia. Following graduation from high school, he owned and operated a general store.
In 1902 McKenzie moved to the Florida Panhandle and became joint owner of a naval stores business with 75 employees. McKenzie was the first in the area to use the innovative and less wasteful “turpentine cup” method for collecting pine tree resin. In 1904 McKenzie purchased waterfront property on St. Andrews Bay and cooperated with other businessmen in developing the town that they called Panama City with the aspiration that it become a port of entry for goods arriving via the planned Panama Canal.
After Panama City was incorporated in 1909, McKenzie was elected the first mayor. He also served two terms (1909-1913) as a representative from Washington County in the Florida House of Representatives. In 1913, McKenzie succeeded in his efforts to have Panama City named the seat of Bay County, which he had also helped to create.
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This entry incorporates text from “Robert Lee McKenzie” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.