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Miami
Transfer Company
Miami
Transfer Company is probably the oldest
continuously-operated firm in Miami. It
established in 1896, when Henry Flagler
needed help hauling the heavy cargo his
new railroad was bringing to Miami. Georgia
native George Coates formed Miami Transfer
Company, and Flagler used the mules and
horse-drawn wagons and carriages to move
machinery and supplies from the North to
destinations in Dade and Monroe Counties.
Early Miamians relied on Miami Transfer
for conveyance of all kinds; at the turn
of the Twentieth Century, the company had
the only funeral hearse in town.
George's Daughter Ellie E. Coates was born
in 1896, just two months after Miami was
incorporated as a city. When she died in
1990, her obituary in the Miami Herald stated
that she was "the first white woman born
in Miami." Her father's company was at 229
Twelfth Street, near what is now the Federal
Court House in downtown Miami. A 1904 directory
lists the telephone number of Miami Transfer
Company's general office as 81; its stables
on nearby Eleventh Street could be reached
by ringing up 74.
By the late 1930s, Frank R. May and his
family owned Miami Transfer Company. After
Mr. May died in the early 1960s, E.R. Siddall
and family took it over. Since 1985, Miami
Transfer Company and its affiliate, Florida
Rigging and Crane, have been owned by members
of the Utvich family. Michael Utvich, originally
from the Buffalo, New York area and later
Dayton, Ohio, is CEO. He and his wife Lorna
Randal Utvich, who is Corporate Secretary
of the company, and their family, have lived
in Coral Gables since 1966. Their sons Gregory,
Daryl and Michael Edward oversee daily operations
of both companies throughout Florida. David
Utvich, their eldest son, sales manager
for Bellsouth Business Systems in Central
Florida, serves on Miami Transfer Board
of Directors.
In addition to offices in Miami, the companies
have divisions in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale
and Tampa. Miami Transfer Company maintains
over 250 pieces of heavy duty equipment
to handle three distinct types of activities:
heavy and specialized hauling, equipment
and machinery moving, and rigging and cranes.
Skilled and certified operators and personnel
and provided with all equipment and services.
"We
moved the Miami Herald's gigantic presses,"
Michael Utvich recounted. "Florida Power
& Light is one of our principal customers
for moving large transformers, breakers
and turbine engines. General Electric, Westinghouse,
and Lockheed Martin are among the 1500 large
firms that have used the services of Miami
Transfer Company," he continued.
Not all the machinery they move is for industrial
use. "We pick up M.R.I. Medical systems
and similar equipment at ports of entry
for Hitachi, Toshiba, Siemens and others,
and deliver them to hospitals and medical
centers throughout Florida," Mr. Utvich
said. Now in its second century of service,
Miami Transfer Company proudly continues
the tradition of integrity that has been
associated with its name for over 100 years.
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