Robert Lee McKenzie

Robert Lee McKenzie (October 16, 1870 – December 13, 1956) was an entrepreneur, a real estate developer, a founder and first mayor of Panama City, Florida, and an instrumental figure in the early history of Bob Jones University.

McKenzie was the first in the area to use the innovative and less wasteful “turpentine cup” method for collecting pine tree resin.

In 1913, McKenzie succeeded in his efforts to have Panama City named the seat of Bay County, which he had also helped to create.

During World War II, McKenzie served as Chairman of the Bay County Chapter of the Red Cross (1941–44) and as a member of the Selective Service Board (1940–47).

Following Belle’s death, McKenzie married Blandford Dixon, a schoolteacher twenty-four years his junior; and he had two daughters by his second marriage.