Biography of Anders S. Andersen, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, FL

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Transcribed from:  The History of Florida:  Past & Present, The Lewis Publishing Co., Vol. 
III, page 77, 1923.

ANDERSEN, ANDERS S.  Going to sea when a boy, ANDERS S. ANDERSEN for years enjoyed the rough 
life of a sailor, until an accident of fortune or misfortune wrecked him on the shores of 
Florida and turned his energies into a new channel.  Since then he has been identified with 
the dredging industry, and is now one of the leading dredging contractors along the East 
Coast, being president of the Andersen Dredging Company of West Palm Beach.

Mr. ANDERSEN was born near Kolding, Denmark, in 1890.  He went to sea at the age of fourteen. 
From that time he was dependent upon his own efforts for his living.  His first trip was on 
a sailing vessel to Greenland.  For about a year following he was a sailor in the North Sea
and the Baltic.  This was followed by a service with the Hamburg-American Line between Hamburg 
and New York.  His last years on the deep sea were spent in the South American service on 
square-riggers, sailing from the port of New York.  While on one of the voyages in the Gulf 
of Mexico he was wrecked, and was landed at Pensacola.  This gave him his first knowledge 
of Florida.  He was wrecked in 1906, but in the early part of 1907 he again tried the sea, 
shipping out of Pensacola on a Norwegian square-rigger bound for South America with a cargo
of lumber.  This boat was wrecked off the Florida seas and landed at Key West.  That ended 
the chapter of his experiences as a sailor, and from that time he has been a resident of 
Florida.

At Key West he found employment in the dredging service with HOWARD TRUMBO, well known as 
the builder of Trumbo Island and the prominent dredging and filling contractor on various 
projects in Cuba.  His first experience at Key West was in the filling of the terminals for 
the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway, and following that he went with 
the Trumbo organization to Cuba on a large dredging project for the Spanish-American Iron 
Company.

On returning to Florida in 1910 Mr. ANDERSEN utilized his experience to engage in business 
in the employ of Mr. TRUMBO as Captain at West Palm Beach, and his first important work here 
was for the filling of Royal Palm Park and Floral Park at Palm Beach.  He handled also the 
dredging, piling, filling and sea-wall construction work for a number of the great estates 
at Palm Beach and West Palm Beach.  His facilities have also been employed by the municipalities 
of Palm Beach, Lake Worth and West Palm Beach, and he has completed some large contracts of 
excavation in the building of drainage canals, locks and other works in Palm Beach County 
and vicinity.

In 1922 his business was incorporated as the Andersen Dredging Company, Inc., of which he 
is president and active manager.  At the present writing the company has the contract for 
the excavation and building of locks for the St. Lucie Canal west of Stuart in Palm Beach 
County, and also the contract for the dredging of the Lake Worth Inlet for the Inlet Commission 
of Palm Beach County.  This latter project is designed to provide a harbor for West Palm Beach 
of sufficient depth to make this a real seaport and bring about a reduction of freight rates 
which will add a tremendous asset to the growing commercial importance of the city and its 
surrounding territory.  The Andersen Dredging Company, Inc., has a large and extensive equipment 
of dredge boats and drilling boats, equipped with hydraulic and other machinery for efficient 
work.  The company maintains a large pay roll and is one of the largest organizations in 
West Palm Beach employing labor.

Mr. ANDERSEN is a popular member of the community of West Palm Beach.  He is a York and Scottish 
Rite Mason and Shriner.  His beautiful home is known as the Billows, and is located at Palm 
Beach.  He married SELMA BORGESON, a native of Sweden, and they have a daughter and a son, 
INGRID and EINAR ANDERSEN.