Marie Selby Botanical Garden Logo

Archaeological Spotlight: Citrus Packing

oranges in packinghouse

Many visitors to Florida each winter ship or take back citrus for their friends and family up North. It would not be surprising if the guests at what was then the Webb Winter Resort on the Historic Spanish Point campus did the same.

Evidence implies that packing crates were assembled on the property. The oranges were wrapped in yellow colored tissue paper and packed into crates that were marked according to the grade of the oranges and secured with binding wires. Crates were stenciled with the Webb logo, “John G. Webb, Osprey, Florida.”

The carefully packed crates were then shipped by sail to Cedar Key, where they were loaded on the railroad bound for Fernandina.  From there they were shipped to New York by sail or steam, where they were sold as ready-to-eat citrus.

Visit the Webb Packing House to experience the process.