Dr. Johnston Harvey Ross

Highlights

Winter Haven

Florida Citrus Exchange

Bio

Dr. Johnston Harvey Ross was born in Rockingham County, Va. in 1844. He was educated at the University of Michigan and St. Louis Medical College. After practicing medicine in Kokomo, Indiana, from 1875 to 1895 Ross moved to Winter Haven, Florida in 1895.

Ross became interested in the citrus industry and bought several groves. A scholarly man and a gifted speaker, Ross made an immediate impact in his new home. With a group of several others involved in the industry, Ross traveled to California in 1909 to study the state’s cooperative marketing system. The knowledge from this trip was brought back to Florida and used to help organize the Florida Citrus Exchange. Ross served as a President of the Exchange from 1913 to 1924. Ross also served as a director of the Florida Villa Citrus Growers Association in Winter Haven. Ross also published several articles on the topics of citrus cultivation. In 1962 he was among the first group inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame.