Hubbard L. Hart

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Hubbard L. Hart (May 4, 1827 – December 12, 1895) was an American entrepreneur who built Florida’s leading steamboat line and expanded into hotels, orange groves, and lumber mills. He was born in Guilford, Vermont, and after living in Georgia, moved to Palatka, Florida in 1855. He married Mary Adams (died 1880) and later Cecilia Thompson (married in 1884).

In 1860 Hart bought the paddle-steamer James Burt and ran a two-day trip from Palatka to Silver Springs, down the Ocklawaha River, while also hauling lumber from his mills. When the Civil War began, he supported the Confederacy, transporting supplies and helping with blockade running, earning about CSA$11,000. Near the end of the war he was hired to clear the Ocklawaha River of debris for 4,500 CSA, left the war with the rank of colonel, and later helped move Union troops in 1865–66.

After the war, Hart built the Griffin, the first inboard-paddle boat, in 1866, allowing safer navigation of the river. The Hart Line expanded with new routes to the Ocklawaha and Pansoffkee, and travelers enjoyed Hart’s orange groves, wildlife, and swimming at Silver Springs. The James Burt sunk during the war, and Silver Springs service was replaced by the newer boats, which earned praise from travelers like Harriet Beecher Stowe.

The business faced a downturn after 1889 as railroads took freight work and tourism slowed. Hart kept the company alive by building luxury hotels, upgrading boats, and offering new river cruises, including trips on the Indian River. A setback came when the Putnam House hotel in Palatka burned in 1884. Hart died in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1895 after a fall from a trolley car. Hart Lines continued under his brother-in-law into the 1920s, until automobiles made steamboats obsolete.