A Place in Florida - Honoring the Unsung Hero of Air Conditioning

There's a place in Florida that honors the almost-forgotten inventor of air conditioning who received little fame and died a pauper.

Through the years, Willis Carrier has been credited with inventing air conditioning, without which Florida would be an unbearable place to live. Most textbooks call him 'the father of air conditioning'. And it is true that Carrier invented the first modern electrical air conditioner in 1902 and applied it to commercial use.

But without Dr. John Gorrie and Stuart W. Cramer, who coined the term air conditioning in 1906, Carrier could not have done what he did when he did. And the state's growth in the 20th and 21st centuries can be traced directly to Gorrie. Whoever gets the credit - and probably all three deserve some - the invention arguably might be more important than Edison's light bulb, Edison's movies or Edison's phonograph.

This place in Florida, better known for its world-famous oysters, honors Gorrie as the inventor. While textbooks barely mention Gorrie's role, Apalachicola has not forgotten what he did:

• 繚 There's the John Gorrie State Park and Museum in Apalachicola.


• 繚 Gorrie Square in Apalachicola is named for Gorrie.


• 繚 The John Gorrie bridge across Apalachicola Bay connects Apalachicola with East Bay.

He also has been honored posthumously in other ways:

• 繚 In 1914, Florida gave a statue of Gorrie to the National Statuary collection in Washington.


• 繚 At least two Florida schools are named for him: Gorrie High School in Jacksonville and John Gorrie Elementary School in Tampa.


• 繚 The University of Florida annually gives the John Gorrie Award to the medical graduate most likely to become a successful general practitioner.


• 繚 The Liberty Ship USS John Gorrie was named in his honor.

So how did Gorrie invent this significant machine in Apalachicola? And why did he die a pauper?

Gorrie, trained as a physician who studied tropical diseases, came to this place in Florida in 1833 because it was the third largest port on the Gulf Coast, harboring ships carrying cotton to New England and Europe.

A resident physician at two Apalachicola hospitals, Gorrie became convinced during a yellow fever outbreak that cold was a healer. He cooled hospital rooms with ice in a basin suspended from the ceiling, which led him to experiment with artificial ice.

He couldn't wait for ice to be imported from Northern lakes, so he invented a machine that made ice - a machine that laid the groundwork for modern refrigeration and the machine that Carrier made a household word.

In 1851, Gorrie was granted Patent No. 8080. The original model of the machine and scientific articles he wrote are at the Smithsonian Institution. A replica is on display at the John Gorrie State Park and Museum in Apalachicola.

Gorrie failed to profit from his important invention. Impoverished, he tried to raise money to manufacture it, but the venture failed when his partner died. Humiliated by criticism, financially ruined, his health broken, Gorrie died in seclusion in 1855. He is buried in Gorrie Square in Apalachicola.