Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Side One: Born in Newnansville, Florida, in 1875, Dr. John Gordon DuPuis moved to Lemon City after graduating from medical school at the University of Kentucky in 1898. He began his practice in a one-room frame building behind the Conolly Hotel. The building served as DuPuis’ office and as one of the first drug stores in south Florida. DuPuis was involved in larger Dade County medical affairs, including helping during a yellow fever outbreak in 1899. He worked with the local Seminoles in the early 1900s, who regarded him as a white medicine man. In 1902, DuPuis had a new office built on the corner of Lemon Avenue (NE 61st St.) and Rock Road (NE 2nd Ave.). It was the first concrete building constructed north of downtown Miami. It housed DuPuis’ office and drugstore on the first floor, and his family residence on the second. The building is an excellent example of a late 19th-early 20th century commercial structure and is one of the few examples of its type to survive in Miami. Although his family moved out of the building in 1925, the doctor continued to use the medical office to care for his patients. The building remained in the family after DuPuis’ death in 1955. Side Two: In addition to his medical practice, DuPuis was actively involved in the agricultural development of Dade County. He believed that pure fresh milk was necessary for good health, and kept a cow in the pasture across the street from his drug store. DuPuis was known for giving free milk to sick babies. In 1904, he bought several Dutch Belted cows and opened the White Belt Dairy west of Lemon City. The dairy quickly became one of the largest in Dade County, with 900 cows occupying 2,000 acres. The dairy was managed by DuPuis’ wife, Katherine, and later by his son, John, Jr. In addition to medicine and agriculture, DuPuis was deeply interested in education. He served as a school supervisor and chairman of the board of trustees of his district, both unpaid positions. As early as 1911, DuPuis pushed for a high school in Lemon City, one that focused on vocational training with an emphasis on agriculture. The new high school, named the Dade County Agricultural School, opened in 1915. The school received federal funding for its vocational program in 1917, and bought eighty acres of land for use as a school farm. The school was later renamed Edison Junior High.