In 1948, responding to a shortage of sand for the construction industry, mostly for stucco, George Pegram established Florida Silica Sand Company (FSS) and opened a sand mine in Opa Locka, FL. For the next 75+ years FSS has been responding to the needs of industry, always with the purpose of making it easy for businesses, contractors and tradesmen to get products they need, when they need them. In the early fifties, we saw a need for dry-graded sand. We developed a source for this material from central Florida and this led us into supplying sand for Abrasive Blasting and Water Filtration. As we started to serve the Abrasive Finishing Industry, we saw a need for other abrasive finishing media, such as Glass Beads, Aluminum Oxide, Steel Shot and equipment, such as Blast Pots, Blast Cabinets, Spare Parts. Likewise, we saw the need for Filter Gravel to compliment the Filter Sand we provided for the Water Filtration Industry. So, we added these products to our offering, making it even easier for customers to get their supplies and equipment in a timely manner and from one source. In the mid-fifties California introduced a landscape theme around Japanese Gardens utilizing River Gravel. We were already stocking River Gravel for water filtration, so it was easy for us to introduce this style to South Florida, where it quickly caught on. The use of gravel for decorative landscaping became so popular that, in the mid-sixties, to make it easy for customers to create and maintain their lawns and gardens, we began to bag gravel for sale at various retail outlets around the state. In the 1970’s, Chattahoochee gravel decks and patios, made with River Gravel installed with epoxy, were becoming popular and we were right there with a ready stock of gravel, making the purchasing and delivering processes quick and simple for the installers.

In the mid-1980’s we saw that deck installers were transitioning from Chattahoochee gravel decks to brick tile decks. In order to continue to service these installers, in 1985, we added brick tile to our product line. The vendor also manufactured a full line of brick which easily led FSS into selling brick for construction. In the succeeding years we would add other masonry products and accessories growing this line into our current Masonry Division. Over the years, as we added products and services. We acquired and sold various properties, including our gravel bagging operation. We always worked toward making it easy for our customers, around the state of Florida, to acquire our products. Today, we have three stocking yards (Miami, Riviera Beach, and Plant City), and a showroom at our corporate office, in Fort Lauderdale. We service the Masonry and Hardscapes Industry, the Abrasive Finishing Industry and the Water Filtration Industry as well as provide sand for various industrial purposes and manufacturing processes. Our Sand Plant is in Plant City. We service the needs of home owners, contractors and architects. Florida Silica Sand Company has affectionately been called FSS for many years and recently we registered FSS Company as our official name, with the state of Florida. We feel our new name better encompasses all the product lines we offer, in the various industries we serve, and leaves us open to enter other arenas where businesses need us to be a steady source of products they need. FSS Company is still owned by the second generation of the Pegram family. With many long-term employees, we continue to keep our focus on making it easy for our customers to get the products they need, when they need them.