Jesse Hardy

Fighting to keep his land

Sunday,
September 07,
2008

Who is
Jesse Hardy

His Story

The Ballad of Jesse Hardy

Interview with Jesse

My Story

I'm a survivor. All my life, I've had big challenges. This property fight is no different. I'm a fighter - a fighter for survival of my way of living.

In 1935, late October, the 24th to be exact, I was born to Jesse and Naomi Hardy of Overstreet Florida, a small spot in the wilderness outside of Port St. Joe. Born in a home in the woods with the help of midwife, Aunt Lizzy Jane, to a family whose life was a simple one, but not an easy one. My father died when I was just a youngun, and my mother raised me, and my brother Houston.

Service to our country was a fundamental belief in my home, growing up. My mother's brothers were all military men. My Uncle Huey died in service in Panama, my Uncle James served as a Paratrooper in the Army, and Uncle Hamp served under General Patton in World War II. In fact, when I was old enough, my mother took me to the enlistment office to sign up. Navy boot camp in the Great Lakes was my first taste of the world - when I was just 18. Spent most of my time in the Navy as a SEAL. And spent a lot of time recovering from injuries, broken hand, foot, spine, leg, shattered eardrum, plus exposure to asbestos, all contributors to my permanent disability from the Navy.

After leaving the Navy, I went back to Florida and tried living in the Miami area. Working for the Port Authority, I removed large boats from their shipping cradles, and those cradles were made out of teak and mahogany - the same wood from which the boats were made.

The home Jesse built

At about the same time, I discovered Southern Golden Gate Estates, after I got my real estate brokers license, in the late 1960s. The glistening slash pines, the tranquility and wilderness reminded me of the northern Florida wilderness of my boyhood. In 1976, I bought 160 acres and built my own home, built it with my own hands. No electricity, just a simple home, and a simple life. Today, I use a generator for power... and propane for cooking and refrigeration.

While I was still working for The Port Authority, they paid me to get rid of the wood from the shipping cradles that I dismantled. I paid a man to truck the wood over to my property in Southern Golden Gate Estates and with that teak and mahogany, I built the foundation for my first house. And I remilled the extra wood in a sawmill that I built. The sawmill was a good business until a fire swept through the property in 1985 and destroyed the mill - and nearly killed me, too.

Jesse's first fish pond

It was in the 1990s I got the idea to develop an aquaculture farm on my property. There's no way the oceans are going to be able to support all of us with food. We are going to have to farm some fish to feed ourselves. So, I did alot of research, got a permit from the State of Florida to develop a fish farm, and I dug my first test pond. Today it's stocked with turtles and bass. Good cash crops. And I have permits to dig four more ponds and to stock them with fish. And that's what I am trying to do with my homestead.

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