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From Florida Rock to Bluegrass Materials Florida Rock Industries Inc. was a prominent aggregates producer in the Florida market for many years. The company evolved from a business started by Thompson Baker in 1929. Baker bought a sand pit from Atlantic Bank of Jacksonville after The Great Depression. Three years later, in 1932, Thompson and his partner Jim Shands formed Shands & Baker and began producing ready-mixed concrete. While the company survived the depression, it closed down during the war years, when Baker joined the Marines and fought in the Pacific. He returned in 1945, a decorated vet- eran, and reopened the business. In the postwar boom, he led Shands & Baker into the crushed-stone business and oversaw the company's rapid growth throughout the 1950s and 1960s, when, almost annually, the business opened a new mine or quarry. What helped Florida Rock grow was the general population explosion in the com- pany's market areas, especially Florida, which in the postwar years rapidly became a mecca for both vacationers and retirees. In 1972, the company went public as Florida Rock Industries. Throughout much of the history of the com- pany, the Baker family remained the chief owners and managers of the business. Thompson Baker's son Edward joined the business in the 1960s, becoming president in 1969 and CEO in 1989, at which time his younger brother, John D. Baker II, was named president. In 1991, Edward Baker's son Thompson S. Baker II became vice-president. Thompson S. Baker still remained on the board of direc- tors but retired from active management of the company in 1989. LOCATIONS Bowling Green Administrative Office 1700 Patrick Way, Unit B Bowling Green, KY 42104 (270) 393-1700 Bowling Green North Quarry 809 McGinnus Quarry Rd. Bowling Green (Warren County), KY 42101 (270) 782-5905 Bowling Green South Quarry 2195 Barren River Rd. www.rockproducts.com ROCKproducts • AUGUST 2011 23 Bowling Green (Warren County), KY 42101 (270) 842-5618 Bowling Green Central Quarry 999 Lauren Avery Dr. Bowling Green (Warren County), KY 42101 Butler County Re-Sale Yard 2615 Bowling Green Rd. Morganton (Butler County), KY 42261 (270) 526-3564 Hartford Quarry 9352 State Route 69 NE Hartford (Ohio County), KY 42347 (270) 298-3221 Cumberland Quarry 21042 Hwy 160 Gordon (Lechter County), KY 41819 (606) 589-4614 Harlan Quarry 5075 N. U.S. Hwy 421 Bledsoe (Harlan County), KY 40810 (606) 558-3155 Harlan Block Plant (Baxter Block Plant) 958 S. U.S. Hwy 119 Baxter (Harlan County), KY 40806 Toll Free: (800) 825-7885 Allen Block Plant 222 Court St. Allen, KY 41601 (606)874-2274 Edgefield Quarry 36 Lloyd Rd. Trenton, SC 29847 (803) 637-0800 St. Marys Sand Company 6700 Stokes Rd. (C.R. 3) St. George, GA 31562 (912) 843-2049