 Over time, he acquired an additional , planting orange groves and pecan trees.Some debate remains as to whether this was actually the first pool in Florida, as a St. Augustine pool has also made the same claim.One possibility is that this was the first spring-fed pool in the state, 
In 1875, deBary bought a small steamboat, the "George M. Bird", to transport his horses and dogs along the St. Johns River for hunting expeditions, and also to take fruit to market.