The Lykes Family

By DAN DEWITT, Published Sep. 30, 2005, Tampa Bay Times

Frederick Eugene Lykes 

Frederick Lykes is an important historic figure not so much for his contributions to Hernando County, though they were considerable, but because he was the last local member of a business empire that started in Hernando and grew into one of the largest in the state. The first Frederick Lykes moved to Hernando County with his wife, Margaret, from South Carolina in 1851. They put their mark on the county immediately, though unintentionally, by calling their homestead near the current intersection of Fort Dade Avenue and Citrus Way, Spring Hill. The name was later appropriated by the Deltona Corp. for the huge development actually built on mostly flat and springless land that entirely changed the county.

Shortly after arriving, the Lykes family built a private school, the first in the county. Their son, Howell Tyson Lykes, was trained as a doctor and practiced briefly in Hernando County before getting into the business of harvesting cedar trees for use as pencils.

Dr Howell Tyson Lykes

Founded by Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes and sons in 1900, Lykes Bros. Inc. has a solid heritage and strong history upon which to stand. In the 1870s, Dr. Lykes gave up the practice of medicine to take over his family's 500-acre farm in rural Hernando County, where he engaged in citrus growing and cattle ranching, including the export of cattle to Cuba. 

Dr. Lykes moved his family to Tampa in 1895 to focus on the cattle trade and launch his seven sons into the business world. In 1900 the older boys opened an office in Havana, Cuba, doing business as Lykes Brothers. All of the brothers eventually joined the family operations and to this day the company remains a privately held, family-managed business that focuses its efforts on agriculture, including citrus, cattle ranching, forestry and sugar cane; sustainability management and consulting; insurance and land investment.

In the 1930s, Lykes Bros. purchased the 265,000-acre Lykes Ranch in West Texas, south of Alpine. By the 1950s, Lykes Bros. Steamships was the largest U.S. shipping line, with 54 cargo ships operating out of Gulf ports. A Lykes Bros. ship would be the first to sail into Shanghai harbor after the U.S. established relations with mainland China. A leader in citrus concentrate, the $15 million Lykes Pasco citrus-processing plant was the biggest in Florida. The corporation took a blow when La Candelaria, the 15,000-acre Lykes estate 250 miles east of Havana, was nationalized during the Cuban Revolution. It is now a cooperative farm.

The Lykes Brothers Steamship Company traces its roots to the Civil War, when Dr. Howell T. Lykes collected and delivered cattle to confederate soldiers in Florida. After the war, Dr. Lykes raised cattle and citrus fruit and shipped them to Cuba. Dr. Lykes’ seven sons continued and expanded the cattle and shipping business, and formed the forerunner of the present company in 1900. The Lykes Lines tradition of naming their ships after family members dates back to that time, when the brothers named their first ship, a 110 foot long, 75 ton three-masted schooner Doctor Lykes after their father.

Our ship's namesake, Velma Lykes, was the wife of the oldest of the Lykes brothers, Frederick Eugene Lykes, and this was actually the third ship to bear her name.