The Auchter Company

The Auchter Company was established in 1929 in Jacksonville, Florida by George D. Auchter. The Auchter Company was one of Florida's oldest general construction contractor. The Auchter Company built many civil and corporate buildings in Jacksonville, including the City Hall and also helped build ships needed for World War 2, as part of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program the US Navy. After the war the shipyard closed down in February 1946. The Auchter Company built many buildings and bridges until sold on March 26, 2007 to Perry-Mccall Construction Inc.[1] [2] [3]

Century Tower, at the University of Florida built by The Auchter Company
Riverplace Tower in Jacksonville
The Auchter Company
Construction
Industry
Founded1929
FounderGeorge D. Auchter
HeadquartersJacksonville, Florida
Key people
  • George D. Auchter President
  • William H. Glass President
  • Dave Auchter
  • Julia B. Auchter
  • Brad Glass President
  • Steven B. Glass CEO
  • Charles R. Diebe President
ProductsBuilding, Bridges, Towers and in 1940s ships
Footnotes / references
The Auchter Company was acquired by Perry-Mccall Construction Inc. on March 26, 2007

Background

The Auchter Company did design, engineering for both on site construction and preconstruction pieces that were ship around the world. The Auchter Company did construction of office buildings, factories, bridges, warehouses, resort, churches, museums, residential projects, hospitals and power generating stations. The Auchter Company built Jacksonville International Airport, military bases, courthouses and jails. To support World War 2 The Auchter Company built for the UN Navy floating repair drydocks. The Auchter Company was a private company first owned by it founder George David Auchter. George D. Auchter found the company in 1929. George D. Auchter later sold the company to the Glass family. Dave Auchter, a grandson of the firm's founder later became an executive of the company.

George D. Auchter before moving to Jacksonville, Florida was from Red Bank, New Jersey. George D. Auchter a trained engineer came to Jacksonville to do a job on bridge project mid 1920s for a New Jersey employer. George D. Auchter received George D. Auchter in 1922 a Florida engineering license. George D. Auchter started by building bridges and overpasses. For the war effort built pulpwood barges, floating repair drydocks and concrete ships After the war he continued in civil construction and high-rise projects. [4] George Auchter wanting to retire he sold the company to a group investors in 1981. One of the investors was William H. Glass Jr.. William H. Glass Jr. father was The Auchter Company president for 14 years. William H. Glass Jr. also had adegree in civil engineering. William H. Glass Jr. in 1957 joined the U.S. Army as a field engineer. William H. Glass Jr. worked first in The Auchter Company as a project manager. Wiliam H. Glass Jr. became a vice president in 1979. Wiliam H. Glass Jr. purchased the other investors interest in 1993, and keep the name The Auchter Company. Wiliam H. Glass Jr. continued the company tradition of building the major works in Jacksonville and expanded to other Florida location. Also moved the company to retail like Gate Petroleum Convenience Stores and three big box Target stores in the North Florida area.

The Auchter Company move its headquarters in 1999 to a First Coast Technology Park located on the campus of the University of North Florida. The new 3.36 acres headquarters helped build its relationship the University. William Glass's son, Brad Glass earned a degree in business administration from the University of North Florida and became part of joined The Auchter Company in 1995. Jeff Glass brother of Brad Glass also joined The Auchter Company. Wiliam H. Glass Jr. made both Jeff and Brad partners in The Auchter Company. Later Brad Glass purchased Jeff share in the company and became president in 2002. In 2000 George Auchter grandson, Dave Auchter became the director of corporate development. Dave Auchter departed his job as media director for World Golf Village and the National Football League's Jacksonville Jaguars. The Auchter Company continued as engineering, construction constructors till 2007. Perry-Mccall Construction Inc. purchased the Auchter Company on March 26, 2007.[5][6][7][8][9] [10][11][12][13][14]

The old 1937 Palm Valley drawbridge, built by The Auchter Company that was demolished and replaced in 2002
Jacksonville International Airport circa 1968
Jacksonville Civic Auditorium (1962) now the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts

Construction work


Ships built

Small Auxiliary Floating Dry Docks (AFD - AFDL)
USS Adept (AFD-23) built by The Auchter Company in 1944
AFD-23 sister ship USS Dynamic (AFD-6)-AFDL-6 on Nov. 2, 2006

The Auchter Company built Auxiliary Floating Docks, Light (AFDL) for the US Navy. They were also called Auxiliary Floating Docks (AFD). AFD were 288 ft long, had a beam of 64 ft (20 m), and draft of 3 ft 3 in empty and 31 ft 4 in (9.55 m) flooded to load a ship. A normal crew was 60 men. AFDL displacement 1,200 tons and could lift 1,900 tons to take a ship out the water for repair. AFDL were built as one piece, open a both ends. AFDLs has a crew of 30 to 130 men, living in a barge alongside the AFDL. Used to repair small crafts, PT boats and small submarines. All AFD were reclassified AFDL after the war in 1946. [15][1][16][17]

References
  1. Building the Navy's Bases in World War II, History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps 1940-1946 Chapter IX, Floating Drydocks
  2. Reference for business, The Auchter Company
  3. Metro Jacksonville, The Premature Destruction of Downtown Jacksonville, April 12, 2012
  4. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service War 1938 to 1947, Florida's Historic World War II Military Resources
  5. flcorporates.com, The Auchter Company
  6. Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage. Jacksonville: University of North Florida Press, by Wood, Wayne, 1989
  7. Jacksonville Florida Times-Union, 17, January 1940, 13 March 1940, 24 September 1940, 15 October 1940, 6 May 1942, 3 January 1943, 18 March 1943, 26 April 1943
  8. Jacksonville Journal, 15 October 1940; 21 January, 9 June 1942
  9. bloomberg.com Company Overview of The Auchter Company
  10. Amid Changes, Auchter Co. on Ground Floor of City's Rise," Jacksonville Business Journal, October 17, 2005
  11. "Auchter Co. is Building its Jacksonville Legacy," The Florida Times Union, March 15, 2002, p. C1., by Daniels, Earl
  12. "Auchter Wants to Build Company Headquarters at Tech Park," The Florida Times Union, July 29, 1999, p. E1, by Mathis, Karen Brune
  13. "Sky's Not The Limit," Jacksonville Business Journal, July 24, 2000.
  14. "Third Generation Takes Helm of The Auchter Co.," Jacksonville Business Journal, March 13, 2002.
  15. "Floating Dry-Docks (AFDB, AFDM, AFDL, ARD, ARDM, YFD)". shipbuildinghistory.com. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  16. navsource.org, USS Ability (AFDL-7)
  17. US Navy, AFDL: SMALL AUXILIARY FLOATING DRY DOCK (N-S-P)
  18. Dunstaffnage, war years
  19. Fold3.com, War Diary, 1/1-31/45 › Page 1
  20. navsource, USS AFD-21
  21. navsource, USS AFD-22
  22. navsource,USS Adept (AFD-23)
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