Florida Panhandle Pioneer, Entrepreneur, Horticulturist and Publisher. George Mortimer West was the developer who founded Panama City. Later he also became a publisher. He helped organize the Gulf Coast Development Company which, in 1905, purchased the land which is now downtown Panama City. The company sold and developed tracts. He was elected to the town council. In 1909, the city was incorporated with a population of about 600, and it was named county seat in 1914 because of the central waterfront location. He also was instrumental in persuading A.B. Steele, a railroad builder from Georgia to come to the new community and found the Atlantic and St. Andrews Bay Railroad a.k.a the Bay Line. West, with Steele and other town council members decided on "Panama City" as the name of the new community because it was in a direct line of longitude with the Panama Canal which was being built at that time. George West organized and became the first editor of the town's first newspaper the "Panama City Pilot". His columns frequently dealt with the history of the area, and some of them have been published in a number of books including "Gems Gleaned from the Pages of the Panama Pilot". After his death, his wife Lillian Carlisle West took over the reins of the newspaper. He established a public library in Panama City in 1914. He was the author of "St. Andrews, Florida;: Historical notes upon St. Andrews and St. Andrews Bay, with maps, and a portrait of Governor Clark, and an appendix containing...", "Old St. Joe" And A Night on a Florida Beach". He was nominated as a Great Floridian in 2001, and his plaque is located at the Panama City Publishing Company in Panama City.
Florida Panhandle Pioneer, Entrepreneur, Horticulturist and Publisher. George Mortimer West was the developer who founded Panama City. Later he also became a publisher. He helped organize the Gulf Coast Development Company which, in 1905, purchased the land which is now downtown Panama City. The company sold and developed tracts. He was elected to the town council. In 1909, the city was incorporated with a population of about 600, and it was named county seat in 1914 because of the central waterfront location. He also was instrumental in persuading A.B. Steele, a railroad builder from Georgia to come to the new community and found the Atlantic and St. Andrews Bay Railroad a.k.a the Bay Line. West, with Steele and other town council members decided on "Panama City" as the name of the new community because it was in a direct line of longitude with the Panama Canal which was being built at that time. George West organized and became the first editor of the town's first newspaper the "Panama City Pilot". His columns frequently dealt with the history of the area, and some of them have been published in a number of books including "Gems Gleaned from the Pages of the Panama Pilot". After his death, his wife Lillian Carlisle West took over the reins of the newspaper. He established a public library in Panama City in 1914. He was the author of "St. Andrews, Florida;: Historical notes upon St. Andrews and St. Andrews Bay, with maps, and a portrait of Governor Clark, and an appendix containing...", "Old St. Joe" And A Night on a Florida Beach". He was nominated as a Great Floridian in 2001, and his plaque is located at the Panama City Publishing Company in Panama City.
Bio by: RosalieAnn
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