More than 100 years ago, Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes moved to Brooksville to get into the cattle and citrus business. He had seven sons and they each joined the family business which was incorporated in 1910 as the Lykes Brothers. The main operations were moved to Tampa and they shipped cattle to Cuba aboard a three-masted wooden schooner.
The Lykes family homestead was the original Spring Hill. Dr. Lykes named the hill his home sits on Spring Hill. The Home is located on the north west side of the intersection of Fort Dade Avenue and Citrus Way. Most of the land that made up the original Lykes ranch is now part of the Cemex mine. The proposed mine expansion is additional land from the original ranch.
The Lykes family donated land that became a large portion of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. They also donated money to the hospital in Brooksville which was known as Lykes Memorial Hospital from 1967 through 1983.
The Lykes Brothers now run a 337,000 acre cattle ranch near lake Okeechobee. The book, A Land Remembered is said to be based in part on the Lykes Brothers story.
