One Brick at a Time

By Marilyn Short
April 2020

Over a century ago, in about 1905 to be exact, a young nineteen-year-old by the name of John Gainey left his hometown of Brazil, Indiana and headed south to the land of sunshine and orange blossoms! Why he came to Largo, we don’t know for sure. Was it the fact the newly incorporated town of 291 residents needed a carpenter to help with the building boom? With its incorporation as a town, Largo had quickly moved from a scattered collection of houses into a prospering community. Sawmills dotted the landscape, citrus groves spread across the sandy soils, turpentine stills sprang up in the woodlands, and cattle ranches and hog farms evolved.

One thing we do know is that when John Gainey arrived in Largo, he built a block plant and sawmill at Railroad Avenue (First Avenue) just north of Bay Drive and began the arduous task of making rusticated block and milling planks of heart of pine timber. The handmade sculptured blocks produced at his plant are evident in buildings around Largo that were built in the early 1900’s such as the Johnson/Pinellas Hotel building, West Coast Garage, and in the walls of our historic 1910 Feed Store! John’s sawmill also supplied much of the lumber for Largo’s early buildings – including the Feed Store – and is listed as a carpenter on many projects such as the 1911 Belcher house, and the Methodist parsonage which no longer exists.

Records indicate that sometime around 1917, John left Largo and moved north to the Gainey family’s hometown of Massillon, Ohio. Again, why did he leave Largo, we do not know. I was fortunate to be able to visit with John’s son Richard and his family at this year’s Cracker Supper. Richard shared with me that although he was born late in his father’s life, he worked alongside his father for a brief period of time. Richard recalls his father mentioning on occasion that when he came to the Largo area that the town folks were very friendly, welcomed him with open arms, and even shared with him the secret of growing citrus!

John continued to use his carpentry skills throughout his life. Richard said his father mentioned to him, on many occasions, that one thing he definitely did not want to do was work in the coal mines. After leaving Largo, John went to work in 1918 for A.F. Wendling, a meat packing and distribution company. John also worked for the Timken Roller Bearing Company. In 1917, this innovative company moved to Canton, Ohio and began manufacturing automotive tapered roller bearings. Timken supplied all roller bearings for the U.S. Jeep built during World War II! John Gainey passed away in 1956.