On this site stood the phosphate mining town of Pierce. It was one of many company-owned mining towns and villages that once populated Polk County. Pierce was started in April 1906 by the Pierce Phosphate Company. This company was acquired in October 1906 by the American Agricultural Chemical Company, which owned and operated the town until it was disbanded in 1954-55. Pierce was one of the largest mining towns in Bone Valley, with more than 1,000 residents by 1940. In addition to a drying plant for the phosphate mined nearby, Pierce had houses, schools, a church, a commissary, and a hospital for the company's workers and their families. Housing and utilities were provided to residents for a modest monthly fee. Such mining towns were necessary in the early days of Bone Valley phosphate mining, since there were few roads and few automobiles. By the 1950s, workers could commute to their jobs, and the mining towns ceased to be necessary.
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