The month of January marked the end of an era in not one, but two areas of Fernandina's history.
     Standard Marine Supply Corporation, which was founded in Fernandina in 1900, announced it would close their store at the corner of Alachua and North 2nd Street and move their operations to the company's headquarters in Tampa. Only a few days later, Suzanne Davis Hardee, a Nassau County native and former vice-president of Standard Marine, died at the age of 81.
     The Hardee family was instrumental in the founding of the modern shrimping industry in Fernandina. Brothers Ira, John and Noble Hardee founded Standard Hardware and Grocery Company in 1900. As the shrimping industry began to change from rowboat and cast-net operations to the fleets of motorized trawlers that made the docks at the foot of Centre Street their home, the Hardee brothers sold everything that could be found on a shrimp boat - from the largest nets to the smallest engine parts.
     When the industry began to expand after World War II, the company expanded as well, to places like Louisiana, Texas, Key West, the Caribbean and South America.

Standard Marine at Alachua and Second Streets was a
Fernandina tradition for over 100 years.
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     Standard Hardware was also, for many years, the home of one of Fernandina's most unique businesses - Burbank Trawl Makers. For the latter half of the 20th century, anyone who walked or drove by Standard Hardware on Alachua Street would most likely see an array of dark blue or dark green shrimp nets suspended in the air between the main building and the metal-clad building out back. The nets were hand-sewn by several generations of the Burbank family and were not only used by local shrimpers, but by fishermen all over the world. The Burbanks later expanded their net-making abilities to the sporting goods industry - supplying nets for baseball batting cages all over the country.
     Burbank Net Makers has relocated to the old pogy plant on the northern end of Amelia Island, but Standard Hardware's closing will leave a void in the local fabric that will take a long time to mend.
     Likewise, the loss of Suzanne Hardee will be felt by many Fernandina natives and newcomers alike. Mrs. Hardee was a native of Crandall, on the St. Marys River in northern Nassau County, who came to Fernandina at the age of 8. She graduated from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, and returned to Fernandina and married Ira Hardee, Jr. in 1944.
     After her husband's death in 1970, Suzanne Hardee became the vice-president of Standard Hardware, served as a director of the Chamber of Commerce and, in 1972, became the first woman director of the Florida National Bank.

Suzanne Davis Hardee was instrumental in
recording the unique history of Amelia Island.
Photo courtesy of Susan Steger
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     Over the last three decades, Suzanne Hardee became one of Fernandina's leading ladies of history. She served as president of the Amelia Island Restoration Founda-tion and was involved with the Duncan Lamont Clinch Historical Society. She was also an indispensible asset of the Amelia Island Museum of History. Mrs. Hardee conducted endless research on a number of historical topics, leaving behind a treasure chest of information for future generations to enjoy. She painstakingly cataloged old maps, paintings and photographs that are now stored in the room that bears her name.
     She also found the time to publish some of the results of her research. Her books include "The Golden Age of Amelia Island: A Glimpse" and "The Churches of Amelia Island".
     Mrs. Hardee was also a generous contributor to Amelia Now, having penned articles on the Hoyt House, Fairbanks House, and other Fernandina landmarks.
     Her presence, along with that of Standard Hardware, will be sorely missed. However, thanks to her love of history and her efforts to preserve our unique heritage, the people of Fernandina Beach will remember Suzanne Davis Hardee for many generations to come.