Florida S Great Ocean Railway

The building of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway extension over water to Key West from 1905 to 1916 was s triumph of engineering and logistics. The Keys were remote and with little means of communication. The massive amounts of materials had to be moved with steam power. This book tells the story of the planners and their plan and its execution. It has 250 old photos, most of which have never been published before.

It is safe to say that without railroads, Florida wouldn't be what it is today. Railroads connected the state's important cities and towns, conquered the peninsula's vast and seemingly impenetrable interior, ushered in untold numbers of settlers and tourists, and conveyed to market--faster than any previous means of transportation--the myriad products of Florida's mines, forests, factories, farms, and groves. Gregg Turner traces the long, slow development of Florida railroads, from the first tentative lines in the 1830s, through the boom of the 1880s, to the maturity of the railroad system in the 1920s. At the end of that decade nearly 6,000 miles of labyrinthine track covered the state. Turner also examines the decline of the industry, as the automobile rose to prominence in American culture and lines were abandoned or sold for hiking trails and green spaces. Meticulously researched and richly illustrated--including many never-before-published images--A Journey into Florida Railroad History is a comprehensive, authoritative history of the subject. Written by one of the nation's foremost authorities on Florida railroads, it explores all the key players and companies, and every significant period of development. This engaging and lively story will be savored and enjoyed by generations to come.

All aboard for the history of one of the most audacious and innovative railroad engineering feats in history from the celebrated Floridian author. Although several people had considered constructing a railroad to Key West beginning in the early 1800s, it took a bold industrialist with unparalleled vision to make it happen. In 1902, Henry Flagler made the decision to extend the Florida East Coast Railway to “the nearest deepwater American port.” In this book, renowned Florida historian Seth H. Bramson reveals how the Key West Extension of the Flagler-owned FEC became the greatest railroad engineering and construction feat in United States, and possibly world, history, an accomplishment that would cement Flagler’s fame and legend for all time. Join Bramson as he recounts the years of operation of this great railroad, what it did for the Florida Keys and what it meant to the resident conchs. Includes photos

In the midst of the Great Depression, a furious storm struck the Florida Keys with devastating force. With winds estimated at over 225 miles per hour, it was the first recorded Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States. Striking at a time before storms were named, the catastrophic tropical cyclone became known as the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, and its aftermath was felt all the way to Washington, D.C. In the hardest hit area of the Florida Keys, three out of every five residents were killed, while hundreds of World War I veterans sent there by the federal government perished. By sifting through overlooked official records and interviewing survivors and the relatives of victims, Thomas Knowles pieces together this dramatic story, moment by horrifying moment. He explains what daily life was like on the Keys, why the veteran work force was there (and relatively unprotected), the state of weather forecasting at the time, the activities of the media covering the disaster, and the actions of government agencies in the face of severe criticism over their response to the disaster. The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 remains one of the most intense to strike America's shores. Category 5 is a sobering reminder that even with modern meteorological tools and emergency management systems, a similar storm could cause even more death and destruction today.

This innovative book provides a dynamic—and often surprising—view of the range of environmental issues facing the United States today. A distinguished group of scholars examines the growing temporal, spatial, and thematic breadth of topics historical geographers are now exploring. Seventeen original chapters examine topics such as forest conservation, mining landscapes, urban environment justice, solid waste, exotic species, environmental photography, national and state park management, recreation and tourism, and pest control. Commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of the seminal work The American Environment: Interpretations of Past Geographies, the book clearly shows much has changed since 1992. Indeed, not only has the range of issues expanded, but an increasing number of geographers are forging links with environmental historians, promoting a level of intellectual cross-fertilization that benefits both disciplines. As a result, environmental historical geographies today are richer and more diverse than ever. The American Environment Revisited offers a comprehensive overview that gives both specialist and general readers a fascinating look at our changing relationships with nature over time.

With a modest two-story hotel and various small cottages, Long Key Fishing Camp offered a dramatic departure from the usual opulence of Henry Flagler’s hotels that dotted the east coast of Florida. The final resort opened during his lifetime, Long Key lacked palatial structures with manicured grounds, extravagant recreational facilities, and world-class amenities. Prospective visitors were frankly warned not to expect the same level of comfort provided at sister properties. Yet still they came. Carefully researched and replete with photographs and maps never before published, Long Key offers the first history of this unique destination. Historian Thomas Knowles recounts the extraordinary tale of how a railroad work camp became a world-renowned sportfishing center and a preferred vacation spot of a cadre of well-to-do individuals that included businessmen, poets, nobles, and politicians. This rustic island, with its unparalleled fishing grounds and cabins named after local fish—“The Kingfish,” “The Porpoise,” “The Barracoota,” “The Shark”—inspired fierce loyalty among its clientele, even during the dark years of the Great Depression. Zane Grey, Lou Gehrig, Wallace Stevens, Charles Kettering, Andrew Mellon, and Herbert Hoover were among those who would return season after season. Completely destroyed by the fatal 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, the first category 5 storm to make landfall in the United States, Flagler’s unique island getaway has been largely forgotten. Knowles expertly depicts this slice of long-lost Florida and resurrects the famous personalities who found refuge from the limelight at Long Key.

Virtually every month for fourteen years, Gene Burnett wrote a history piece under the title "Florida's Past" for Florida Trend, Florida's respected magazine of business and finance. The first volume of collected essays from that series proved so popular among book readers that two more volumes have been published. Pineapple Press is now proud to make them available in paperback. Burnett's easygoing style and his sometimes surprising choice of topics make history good reading. Each volume divides Florida's people and events into Achievers and Pioneers, Villains and Characters, Heroes and Heroines, War and Peace, and Calamities and Social Turbulence. Read a chapter and you'll find you've gone on to read more. Read this volume and you'll find yourself looking for the next two. Next in series > > See all of the books in this series

Florida's size and shape meant a largely remote interior until shortly before the Civil War. The catalysts for blasting through that anonymity were three ambitious and very different visionaries who built railroads linking east to west and north to south: Henry Morrison Flagler, David Levy Yulee, and Henry Bradley Plant. Their iron horses transported people––rich tourists from New York, slaves from Africa sold in Havana––and goods from around the state and the globe: oysters, cattle, sugar cane, molasses, and phosphate. Versions of the main lines run today––hauling freight in and out of the state and carrying passengers to connecting lines nationwide. Yet Florida’s size and shape still get in the way of efficient auto trips and affordable inter-state air travel. A private company is today planning to build a high-speed passenger train from Miami to Orlando. This book is the complete history of railways in the state of Florida––telling the tale of its beginnings as well as its future.