Dr. Philip Phillips

Dr. Philip Phillips was a prominent businessman and philantropist in Central Florida who was best known as a citrus magnate who owned more than 5,000 acres of orange groves.

Phillips was born on Jan. 27, 1874, in Memphis, Tenn.  He got his medical degree from New York’s Columbia University.

The young doctor first came to Florida in 1894, where he purchased his first orange grove in Satsuma.

One of the most devastating freezes in Florida’s history occurred in early 1895. Two days of below-freezing temperatures and acres of destroyed citrus trees forced Doc to return to his home in Tennessee.

Doc returned to Florida in 1897, and the land he purchased in Osceola County led to the creation of a citrus empire and two packing houses.

In 1905, Dr. Phillips purchased a grove on the south side of Sand Lake. Ultimately, this land would become the site of the Orlando Regional Sand Lake Hospital, which was renamed in 2006 as The Dr. P. Phillips Hospital.

Phillips and his wife, Della, moved to Orlando where they raised their family and established their reputation for philanthropy.

Phillips was known for the many innovations that the company incorporated into the packaging and processing of orange juice.

As the family citrus business grew, Dr. Phillips brought in temporary help from the Bahamas. Housing was established for workers in the Dr. Phillips community and a post office was built to provide services.

In the 1950s, recognizing that proper health care for black citizens of central Florida was almost non-existent, Dr. Phillips was instrumental in establishing the Dr. Phillips Memorial Hospital.

The Phillips family’s generosity and keen passion for helping people in the community led to the establishment of The Dr. P. Phillips Foundation in 1953, to support charitable needs in the central Florida area, leading to the Foundation’s motto “to help others help themselves.”

In 1954, the citrus business was sold to Granada Groves and Phillips passed away on April 18, 1959. His tombstone was engraved with the words "Under His Hand the Wilderness Bore Fruit."

His legacy lives on today with Dr. Phillips Inc., a not-for-profit corporation which owns and leases commercial and industrial properties in the central Florida area and which as given more than $23 million in grants to Central Florida nonprofit organizations.