Florida History during Industrialization

Expansion and Railroads1885 began construction on the 540-

room Hotel Ponce de Leon.Flagler purchased the Jacksonville,

St. Augustine & Halifax Railroad, the first railroad in what would eventually become the Florida East Coast Railway

1890 He built a railroad bridge across the St. Johns River to gain access to the southern half of the state

1894 Flagler completed the 1150-room Royal Poinciana Hotel on the shores of Lake Worth in Palm Beach and extended his railroad to West Palm Beach.

Henry M. Flagler

Expansion and Railroads

By 1905, Flagler decided that his Florida East Coast Railway should be extended from Biscayne Bay to Key West

Flagler wanted to take advantage of additional trade with Cuba and Latin America as well as the increased trade with the west that the Panama Canal would bring.

1912, the Florida Over-Sea Railroad was completed to Key West.

Expansion and Railroads founder of the Plant System of

railroads and steamboats Bought at foreclosure sales in 1879

and 1880 the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad and the Charleston & Savannah Railroad.

His railroad connected the Gulf Coast to the rest of the state.

By providing better connections to the North he gave Florida orange growers quicker and cheaper access to Northern markets.

By constructing a network of railroads, warehouses, and shipping facilities he turned Tampa from a small town into a major port. (also the home port for a new line of steamships to Havana.)

Henry B. Plant

Expansion and Railroads

Managed properties of the L&N Railroad. 

Helped link the Panhandle to the rest of the state by building the Jacksonville, Pensacola, and Mobile Railroad

Chipley served in the Florida Senate from 1895-1897.  William Dudley Chipley

"Mr. Railroad of West Florida"

Expansion and Railroads

He was a free man of color; a master carpenter and builder

Responsible for building the Knott House, Murphy House, and Randall-Lewis House (some of the finer homes in Tallahassee)

Knott House was the spot where Union General McCook read the Emancipation Proclamation to the Union Army

George Proctor

Expansion and Railroads

The first president of the State Normal College for Colored Students.School to train African

American teachers for schools throughout Florida

Later renamed Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU)Thomas DeSaille Tucker

Expansion and Railroads

Bought 4 million acres of swampland from the state.

He drained and improved much of this land

And opened up the South Florida wilderness to settlement

Hamilton Disston