The Auchter Company was established in 1929Kerr, Jessie-Lynn
"Wilbur H. “Bill” Glass Jr.: Headed firm that crafted Jacksonville's skyline"
Florida Times-Union, October 21, 2010 in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

by George D. Auchter. The company was among Florida's oldest general construction contractors and built many of Jacksonville's civil and corporate buildings, including the City Hall.Dinger, Ed
"Company History: The Auchter Company"
Answers.com, 2005 and ranked among the top design/build firms in the US. The Auchter Company also helped build ships needed for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, as part of the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Emergency Shipbuilding Program The Emergency Shipbuilding Program (late 1940 – September 1945) was a United States government effort to quickly build simple cargo ships to carry troops and materiel to allies and foreign theatres during World War II. Run by the U.S. Maritime ...

. After the war the

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

closed in February 1946. The company went on to build many buildings and bridges until it was sold on March 26, 2007 to Perry-McCall Construction, Inc.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
/ref> Dsg UF Century Tower 20050507

Background

The Auchter Company did design and engineering work for both on-site construction and pre-construction pieces shipped worldwide. It built office buildings, factories, bridges, warehouses, resorts, churches, museums, residential projects, hospitals, and power generating stations. The company built Jacksonville International Airport, military bases, courthouses, and jails. To support World War II, it built floating repair

drydocks A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

for the US Navy. The privately-owned company was founded by George David Auchter in 1929. He later sold the company to the Glass family. Dave Auchter, one of the founder's grandsons, later became a company executive. Before moving to Jacksonville, Florida, George D. Auchter was from

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York Metropolitan A ...

. A trained engineer, Auchter came to work on a bridge project in the mid-1920s for a New Jersey employer. He received a Florida engineering license in 1922, and initially constructed bridges and overpasses. For the war effort built pulpwood

barges Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by Pusher (boat) ...

, floating repair drydocks, and

concrete ships Concrete ships are built of steel and ferrocement (reinforced concrete) instead of more traditional materials, such as steel or wood. The advantage of ferrocement construction is that materials are cheap and readily available, while the disadvantag ...

. After the war, he continued in civil construction and high-rise projects. Wishing to retire, Auchter sold the company to an investor group in 1981. One of the investors was Wilbur H. Glass Jr., whose father Wilbur H Glass Sr had been President of the Auchter Company for 14 years. Glass Jr also had a civil engineering degree, having joined the US Army as a field engineer in 1957. He worked at the Auchter Company, initially as a project manager and became a vice president in 1979. Glass bought out the other investors in 1993, and kept the Auchter Company name. The company continued its tradition of building Jacksonville's major works and expanded to other Florida locations. Glass also moved the company into retail service, such as

Gate Petroleum A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...

convenience stores and three big-box Target stores in the North Florida area. In 1999, the Auchter Company moved its headquarters to a First Coast Technology Park on the

University of North Florida The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sch ...

's campus. The new 3.36 acre headquarters helped build the company's relationship with the university. Glass's son, Brad Glass earned a degree in business administration from the University of North Florida and joined The Auchter Company in 1995. Jeff Glass, Wilbur's other son, started with the company in 1978. In 1993 Wilbur made both of his sons partners in ownership. Jeff retired in 2004 and Brad later went on to become President. In 2000, another of George Auchter's grandsons, Dave Auchter, became Director of Corporate Development after working as media director for World Golf Village and the National Football League's

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

. The Auchter Company continued as engineering construction contractors until 2007. Perry-Mccall Construction Inc. purchased the Auchter Company on March 26, 2007. JacksonvilleFLairport

Times Union Center taken from Jacksonville Landing

Construction work

The employee-owned company's 1,500 completed projects in 45 years"TopRank Florida - Top 200 Private Companies"
Florida Trend, June 1, 2010 span the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the term We ...

. *Jacksonville City Hall, (1960) now the Courthouse Annex Building * Crane Company Building (1928) *Old

Palm Valley Bridge The Palm Valley Bridge spans the Intracoastal Waterway in the Palm Valley area near Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It is located on County Road 210 in St. Johns County. In 2002, the old two-lane drawbridge was replaced with a fixed, clear span, f ...

in St. Johns County (1937) *

Modis Building Wells Fargo Center (originally Independent Life Building) is a skyscraper in the downtown area of Jacksonville, Florida, at the southeast corner of Bay and Laura streets. Standing tall, it is the city's second-tallest building. It was formerly ...

(1974) (was the Independent Life Building) *

Jacksonville Landing The Jacksonville Landing (informally The Landing) was a festival marketplace in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida, at the intersection of Independent Drive and Laura Street, along the Jacksonville Riverwalk.Humana Building The Humana Building, also known as the Humana Tower, is a 1985 skyscraper in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, located at 500 West Main Street and headquarters of the Humana Corporation. It was built by The Auchter Company. Description The 26-stor ...

(1985) *

Riverplace Tower The Riverplace Tower is a 28-floor office building on the south bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest building in the state of Florida and was the defining landmark in Jacksonvi ...

(1967) (was the Gulf Life Tower) *BellSouth Tower Jacksonville, now

TIAA Bank Center TIAA Bank Center is a skyscraper in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Standing 447 feet (136 m) tall, it is the city's third-tallest building, as well as the largest in terms of class "A" rentable area with .SunTrust International Center The SunTrust International Center is a building in Downtown Miami, Florida, United States. It is located in the heart of the Central Business District, on Southeast 1st Street near 3rd Avenue. It is one block west of Biscayne Boulevard. The tower ...

(1974) *Western Union Telegraph buildings (1931) now the

Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, also known as MOCA Jacksonville, is a contemporary art museum in Jacksonville, Florida, funded and operated as a "cultural institute" of the University of North Florida. One of the largest contemporary ...

* EverBank Center (1998) *Parts of the

Naval Air Station Jacksonville Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jacksonville) is a large naval air station located approximately eight miles (13 km) south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 Location NAS Jack ...

*Parts of the

Naval Station Mayport Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a military airfield (Admi ...

(1941-1943) *Navy's Mayport officers' quarters by the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

* Merrill-Stevens Drydock & Repair Co. *St. Regis Paper Company Factory *

Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the Ma ...

Coffee Plant *

Anheuser Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...

Yeast Plant *

Two Prudential Plaza The Two Prudential Plaza is a 64-story skyscraper located in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. At tall, it is currently the sixth-tallest building in Chicago and the 28th-tallest in the U.S., being only five feet from 1,000 feet, making it t ...

(1985) * Ponte Vedra Inn and Club *

Amelia Island Plantation Omni Amelia Island Resort is a luxury resort community located on Amelia Island, Florida, the westernmost barrier island on the Atlantic Ocean in the U.S. The resort's tennis facility hosted the Bausch & Lomb Championships, a major Women's Tenn ...

Jacksonville Port Authority The Jacksonville Port Authority (JPA) also known by its brand name, JAXPORT, is the independent government agency in Jacksonville, Florida, that owns and operates much of the seaport system at the Port of Jacksonville. History The Jacksonville P ...

Wharf *Parts of the Jacksonville's St. Vincent's Medical Center *

Century Tower (University of Florida) The Century Tower is a bell tower containing a carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tu ...

(1953) and Gym and another building *Old Duval County Courthouse (1958) *

Jacksonville International Airport Jacksonville International Airport is a civil-military public airport 13 miles (21 km) north of Downtown Jacksonville, in Duval County, Florida. It is owned and operated by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority. History Construction star ...

(1965) * Jacksonville Civic Auditorium (1962) * Baptist Health Center Downtown) *First Baptist Church of Jacksonville (1993) *Old

Jacksonville Public Library The Jacksonville Public Library is the public library system of Jacksonville, Florida. It primarily serves Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida, Duval County, and is also used by the neighboring Baker County, Florida, Baker, Nassau County, Fl ...

downtown *Jacksonville's Hendricks Avenue Overpass *Haines Street Expressway *Beach Boulevard Intercostal Waterway Bridge in Jacksonville Beach *Amelia Island River Bridge in Fernandina *Vilano Bridge in St. Augustine.

Ships built

Small Auxiliary Floating Dry Docks (AFD - AFDL)

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 displaced 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 at 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 A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the wa ...

and small submarines, all AFD were reclassified AFDL after the war in 1946. * USS AFD-19 - AFDL-19 served in Dunstaffnage a Scottish village, sold and moved to

* USS AFD-20 - AFDL-20 served American Samoa * USS AFD-21 - AFDL-21 * USS AFD-22 - AFDL-22 * USS ''Adept'' (AFD-23) - AFDL-23navsource,USS ''Adept'' (AFD-23)
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auchter Company Companies based in Jacksonville, Florida Privately held companies based in Florida Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1929 Architecture firms based in Jacksonville 1929 establishments in Florida