In celebration of Women’s History Month, the City of Sanford is sharing the story of how the Sanford Buggy Company building — and women working in it — played a role in World War II.

Before the Sanford Buggy Company building became the home of City and County offices, it lived a long and interesting life as the home to all manner of industry – from buggies to textiles. However, for a brief period of time, it was part of a national effort and sealed a special place in our nation’s history.

In January 1942 — a mere month after the attack on Pearl Harbor — President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9024 establishing the War Production Board. The board converted factories across the United States into manufacturing plants for the war effort.

With so many men called up to serve, women were called upon to keep those plants in production. Across the U.S., women – mainly white and married – became welders, mechanics, and aircraft assembly workers. “Rosie the Riveter” became a cultural allegory.

Not that Black women weren’t engaged in the war effort. Hoping to break out of low-paying jobs like domestic and food services, many Black women sought industrial war work. However, most factories only hired Black women when white workers were unavailable. Black women in war jobs were often referred to as “Black Rosies.”

The number of women who entered the workforce during World War II is estimated at 6.7 million, increasing the female labor force by almost 50 percent. Manufacturing alone accounted for more than 3 million additional female workers.

In Sanford, too, the push for war labor led to an increase in women working in traditionally male jobs. We know that some of these “Rosies” found their war jobs right in the center of downtown.

The Sanford Furniture Company acquired the Sanford Buggy Company building in the early 1940s and added the third floor (and an elevator). In 1944, in response to the call of our nation, the company slowed its furniture production and hired women to help it provide war supplies (and some furniture).

The U.S. Army relied on tugboats to meet various needs throughout World War II, from retrieving embattled ships to providing anchors for war vessels to shuttling crew members to their posts. The tugboats needed bumpers and netting, and that's what the women working at the Sanford Furniture Company were tasked with producing.

Following the end of the war, the number of women working industrial jobs dropped to almost pre-war levels. That sharp decline is attributed to scaled back production, displacement by men, and discrepancies in the wages and positions offered to women relative their wartime work.

As in the rest of the country, many of Sanford’s women left the workforce. The netting and bumper operation ceased and the Sanford Furniture Company went back to solely furniture production by male workers.

Now, the building is owned by Lee County Government and is home to the Sanford/Lee County Planning Department, the Sanford Area Growth Alliance, and several county offices – with women serving on all three floors in a variety of roles.

Take a look at this video produced in Sanford during this time period. “Sanford at War: My Home Town Goes to War” would’ve played on the big screen at all of the theaters in Sanford. 

The video shows the nets and bumpers being made by the Sanford Furniture Company. If you walk through the building today, you’ll see many of the same beams and braces.

In fact, amid the work being done, you can spot very distinct braces that look like a capital Y. Those braces were preserved when Progressive Contracting Company renovated the Buggy building for public use in 2015. Take a look at this photo from the building's current third floor. Those braces are still standing.

The City of Sanford is proud of the historical significance of the Sanford Buggy Company building, and is grateful to the many women who stepped in to keep our country running during times of war.