Download or read book Last Train to Paradise written by Les Standiford and published by Crown. This book was released on 2003-08-05 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fast-paced and gripping true account of the extraordinary construction and spectacular demise of the Key West Railroad—one of the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken, destroyed in one fell swoop by the strongest storm ever to hit U.S. shores. In 1904, the brilliant and driven entrepreneur Henry Flagler, partner to John D. Rockefeller, dreamed of a railway connecting the island of Key West to the Florida mainland, crossing a staggering 153 miles of open ocean—an engineering challenge beyond even that of the Panama Canal. Many considered the project impossible, but build it they did. The railroad stood as a magnificent achievement for more than twenty-two years, heralded as “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” until its total destruction in 1935's deadly storm of the century. In Last Train to Paradise, Standiford celebrates this crowning achievement of Gilded Age ambition, bringing to life a sweeping tale of the powerful forces of human ingenuity colliding with the even greater forces of nature’s wrath.
Download or read book Flagler written by Edward N. Akin and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2020-04-15 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From reviews of the first edition: "A succinct and informed account of [Flagler's] leadership in transforming Florida's economy."--American Historical Review "An important contribution to the understanding of Standard Oil's extended partnership and how the personal desire of Flagler led to the early development of Florida's Atlantic Coast."--The Historian Henry M. Flagler (1830-1913), the ambitious Gilded Age tycoon who designed and built much of Florida's fashionable east coast, rode to success on the rails. As John D. Rockefeller's closest adviser in the 1870s, Flagler helped assemble the Standard Oil empire. In this thoroughly researched biography, Akin shows that Flagler understood early in his career that cheap freight rates determined industrial profits. Portraying Flagler as an aggressive entrepreneur, Akin documents his shrewd negotiations to obtain reduced rates, rebates, and drawbacks from the railroads, thus assuring Standard Oil's national domination over oil transportation costs. Flagler drove himself as hard as he drove a bargain, obsessed with the desire to create a monument to himself that he called "my domain." His legacy was no less than modern Florida. In 1885, at the age of fifty-five, he turned his attention away from Standard Oil and began construction of the Ponce de León luxury hotel in St. Augustine, the city where he had honeymooned with his second wife. Realizing he could never fill its rooms unless better transportation with the North was available, he embarked on the second railroad venture of his lifetime, creation of the Florida East Coast Railway. Flagler's resort empire eventually included The Breakers in Palm Beach and the Royal Palm in Miami; his Atlantic coast railroad extended all the way to Key West, an engineering achievement that was called the "eighth wonder of the world." By the beginning of the twentieth century, Flagler dominated not just the resort and railroad industries in Florida but steamship and agricultural operations, too. Florida politicians gave his projects preferential treatment, even changing the state's divorce law so he could marry for a third time. Woven into this biography are details about Flagler's family, personality, three marriages, alienation from his only son, and devotion to the Presbyterian church--copy that fueled society gossip columns from New York to Palm Beach for decades. Edward N. Akin, author of Mississippi: An Illustrated History and other works on southern history, taught at Mississippi College in Clinton. His biography of Henry Flagler won the 1985 Phi Alpha Theta manuscript prize.
Download or read book Henry Flagler Builder of Florida written by Dr Sandra Sammons and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-10-17 with total page 79 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exciting biography about the man who changed Florida's east coast with his hotels and his Florida East Coast Railway. Henry Morrison Flagler was already a millionaire when he first visited Florida in 1878. He liked what he saw. He came back and built railroads along the east coast so that others could more easily come. And he built grand hotels so that those who came had a beautiful place to stay. By the end of his long and productive life, he had built a railroad all the way to the very end of the Keys. It arrived in Key West in 1912. Henry Flagler was very determined and practical. He met all the great challenges he set for himself. Ages 9-12 Next in series > > See all of the books in this series
Download or read book The Greatest Railroad Story Ever Told written by Seth H. Bramson and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book Henry Flagler written by Sidney Walter Martin and published by Tailored Tours Publications Incorporated. This book was released on 1998 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of the life and accomplishments of Henry Flagler who made his first fortune in oil and his second in the development of parts of Florida.
Download or read book Florida s Flagler written by Sidney Walter Martin and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2010-02-01 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Henry Morrison Flagler (1830-1913) was a railroad tycoon and partner with John D. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil Company. Although most of his fortune was made in the North, he devoted the better part of his life and his wealth to the development of Florida. Published in 1949, Florida's Flagler was the first biography of Flagler, tracing his life from his heritage and youth through his early dealings in grain, his association with Rockefeller, and his later activities in Florida. Sidney Walter Martin presents a colorful and authoritative account of the accomplishments and failures of this controversial figure.
Download or read book Palm Beach Mar a Lago and the Rise of America s Xanadu written by Les Standiford and published by Atlantic Monthly Press. This book was released on 2019-11-05 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the first Gilded Age to the second, a “charming, zippy history . . . a rollicking, informative lesson in real estate, American history, and current events.” —Town & Country Looking at the island of Palm Beach today, with its unmatched mansions, tony shops, and pristine beaches, one is hard pressed to visualize the dense tangle of Palmetto brush and mangroves that it was when visionary entrepreneur and railroad tycoon Henry Flagler first arrived there in April 1893. Trusting his remarkable instincts, he built the Royal Poinciana Hotel within a year, and two years later, what was to become the legendary Breakers—instantly establishing the island as the preferred destination for those who could afford it. Over the next 125 years, Palm Beach has become synonymous with exclusivity—especially its most famous residence, Mar-a-Lago. As Les Standiford relates, the high walls of Mar-a-Lago and other manses like it were seemingly designed to contain scandal within as much as keep intruders out. This book tells the history of this fabled landscape intertwined with the colorful lives of its famous and infamous protagonists, from Flagler’s two wives to architect Addison Mizner, who created Palm Beach’s “Mediterranean look” to heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her husband E. F. Hutton, the original residents of Mar-a-Lago. With authoritative detail, Standiford recounts how Marjorie ruled Palm Beach society until her death in 1973, and how the fate of her mansion threatened to tear apart the very fabric of the town until Donald Trump acquired it in 1985. “Edifying, energetic, and captivating.” —Florida Weekly
Download or read book The Two Henrys written by Sandra Wallus Sammons and published by Pineapple Press Inc. This book was released on 2010 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stories of two men named Henry who loved Florida and built railroads which brought growth and development to Florida.
Download or read book Palm Beach written by Aerin Lauder and published by Assouline Publishing. This book was released on 2019-09-01 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early in the 1900s, one-time oil baron Henry Morrison Flagler took interest in the Southern coast of Florida and began developing an exclusive resort community. Establishing a railroad that would allow easier access to the area, he went on to build two hotels—his hope was that America’s first families would come to populate the area. This modest community would later evolve into an iconic American destination, hosting British royalty, American movie stars, and becoming the home-away-from-home to some of the country’s leading families. As the century continued, Palm Beach established itself as a luxury hideaway synonymous with old-world glamour and new-world sophistication. In this splendid volume, longtime resident and Palm Beach social fixture Aerin Lauder takes us through her Palm Beach. From favorite restaurants like Nandos and Renatos, to favorite houses like La Follia and Villa Artemis, she takes us to the elite shopping of Worth Avenue and the scenic walkways of the Lake Worth trail, all the while relating to us the histories, faces, and places that have become so identified with Palm Beach.
Download or read book The Last Train to Key West written by Chanel Cleeton and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-06-16 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Instant New York Times bestseller One of Bustle’s Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2020 “The perfect riveting summer read!”—BookBub In 1935 three women are forever changed when one of the most powerful hurricanes in history barrels toward the Florida Keys. For the tourists traveling on Henry Flagler’s legendary Overseas Railroad, Labor Day weekend is an opportunity to forget the economic depression gripping the nation. But one person’s paradise can be another’s prison, and Key West-native Helen Berner yearns to escape. After the Cuban Revolution of 1933 leaves Mirta Perez’s family in a precarious position, she agrees to an arranged marriage with a notorious American. Following her wedding in Havana, Mirta arrives in the Keys on her honeymoon. While she can’t deny the growing attraction to her new husband, his illicit business interests may threaten not only her relationship, but her life. Elizabeth Preston's trip to Key West is a chance to save her once-wealthy family from their troubles after the Wall Street crash. Her quest takes her to the camps occupied by veterans of the Great War and pairs her with an unlikely ally on a treacherous hunt of his own. Over the course of the holiday weekend, the women’s paths cross unexpectedly, and the danger swirling around them is matched only by the terrifying force of the deadly storm threatening the Keys.
Download or read book Bubble in the Sun written by Christopher Knowlton and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2021-01-12 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christopher Knowlton, author of Cattle Kingdom and former Fortune writer, takes an in-depth look at the spectacular Florida land boom of the 1920s and shows how it led directly to the Great Depression. The 1920s in Florida was a time of incredible excess, immense wealth, and precipitous collapse. The decade there produced the largest human migration in American history, far exceeding the settlement of the West, as millions flocked to the grand hotels and the new cities that rose rapidly from the teeming wetlands. The boom spawned a new subdivision civilization—and the most egregious large-scale assault on the environment in the name of “progress.” Nowhere was the glitz and froth of the Roaring Twenties more excessive than in Florida. Here was Vegas before there was a Vegas: gambling was condoned and so was drinking, since prohibition was not enforced. Tycoons, crooks, and celebrities arrived en masse to promote or exploit this new and dazzling American frontier in the sunshine. Yet, the import and deep impact of these historical events have never been explored thoroughly until now. In Bubble in the Sun Christopher Knowlton examines the grand artistic and entrepreneurial visions behind Coral Gables, Boca Raton, Miami Beach, and other storied sites, as well as the darker side of the frenzy. For while giant fortunes were being made and lost and the nightlife raged more raucously than anywhere else, the pure beauty of the Everglades suffered wanton ruination and the workers, mostly black, who built and maintained the boom, endured grievous abuses. Knowlton breathes dynamic life into the forces that made and wrecked Florida during the decade: the real estate moguls Carl Fisher, George Merrick, and Addison Mizner, and the once-in-a-century hurricane whose aftermath triggered the stock market crash. This essential account is a revelatory—and riveting—history of an era that still affects our country today.
Download or read book Hastings Florida s Potato Capital written by Gregory Leonard and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2021 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The town of Hastings owes its existence to Standard Oil Company cofounder Henry Flagler, who, by 1886, was building a hotel in St. Augustine. In 1890, Flagler invited his cousin Thomas Horace Hastings to establish a model farm to raise vegetables for the hotels he was building along the east coast of Florida. It soon became widely known that there was big money to be made in agriculture in Florida. The mild winters gave Hastings a significant advantage over other areas of the nation, and entrepreneurs from the north and west came to seek their fortunes. The story of Hastings is the story of a town that once was the center for pioneering the production of winter vegetables for cities and towns throughout the eastern United States. It is a story of a group of strong, industrious, and creative people who made a lasting impact on the history of Florida.
Download or read book Pleasant City West Palm Beach written by Everee Jimerson Clarke and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2012-09-18 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pleasant City, a neighborhood of West Palm Beach, Florida, is the oldest African-American community in Palm Beach County. The first black settlers came to a place called the Styx--later owned by white millionaires who then rented their backyards to black workers--to work on the railroad and Henry Flagler's hotel and mansion. Forced out when the land became valuable, the blacks purchased land and settled Pleasant City. Pleasant City was marketed as a "High Class Colored Subdivision" in 1913, and many of the pioneers still have descendants in the area today.
Download or read book Hotel Ponce de Leon written by Leslee F. Keys and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Presents new information about the creation and construction of the Hotel Ponce de Leon, its eighty years as a luxury resort hotel, and its transformation into the centerpiece of Flagler College. Keys does an excellent job of capturing the historical, cultural, and even political themes that were part of the hotel's development and its adaptation for use as a four-year college."--William T. Abare, Jr., president, Flagler College "Keys's monumental work documenting the creation and evolution of 'The Ponce' and its role in the Florida tourist industry and as the home of Flagler College is impressive. This is an important addition to those interested in heritage tourism and historic preservation and their impact on this nation."--Ted Ligibel, co-author of Historic Preservation: An Introduction to Its History, Principles and Practices "In this richly detailed account, Keys deftly traces the metamorphosis of Hotel Ponce de Leon from exclusive hostelry to community icon to symbol of the grandest designs of a gilded age. Here is the last word on the first resort."--Les Standiford, author of Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean "Chronicles the architectural and community history of one of America's greatest buildings."--Dana Ste. Claire, author of Cracker: The Cracker Culture in Florida History Henry Flagler's opulent Hotel Ponce de Leon drew worldwide praise from the day its elaborately carved doors opened in 1888. Built in the Spanish Renaissance Revival style, the architectural and engineering marvel featured the talents of a team of renowned artisans, including the designs of architects John Carr re, Thomas Hastings, and Bernard Maybeck, electricity by Thomas Edison, and interior decoration and stained glass windows by Louis Tiffany. Hotel Ponce de Leon is the first work to present the building's complete history and detail its transformation into the heart of Flagler College. Leslee Keys, who assisted in the restoration, recounts the complicated construction of the hotel--the first major structure to be built entirely of poured concrete--and the efforts to preserve it and restore it to its former glory. The methods used at Flagler College have been recognized as best practices in historic preservation and decorative arts conservation, and today the campus is one of Florida's most visited heritage tourism destinations. Leslee F. Keys is director of historic preservation and assistant professor of history at Flagler College.
Download or read book Florida East Coast Railway written by Seth H. Bramson and published by Red Wheel/Weiser. This book was released on 2006 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Florida East Coast Railway has been the speedway to America's playground for more than 110 years. FEC offered some of America's finest rail passenger service until 1968 and remains the freight lifeline of Florida's east coast. The railroad arrived on the shores of Biscayne Bay on April 15, 1896, and it reached Key West in January 1912. That feat etched both Henry Flagler's and the railroad's names in Florida and U.S. railroad history. FEC's operation is so precise and punctual, its roadbed and motive power so well maintained, that it is the benchmark for every other railroad in the country.
Download or read book Martin Johnson Heade in Florida written by Roberta Smith Favis and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation. "Roberta Favis tells the story of the last two decades of the life and artistic career of Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904), when the peripatetic painter settled permanently in St. Augustine, Florida. Providing generous illustrations in both black and white" Annotation. Roberta Favis tells the story of the last two decades of the life and artistic career of Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904), when the peripatetic painter settled permanently in St. Augustine, Florida. Providing generous illustrations in both black and white and color, she reassesses his career and importance by focusing on this late period of his work and looking more closely at his local context and the contemporary issues particular to the state that became his home. The history of Heade's career in Florida is, like many Florida stories, a complicated interplay between the forces of tourism and development and the rich natural beauty of the state. Favis closely examines Heade's relation to the development of tourism in St. Augustine and uses his writings to show his sometimes conflicting attitudes toward development and conservation. He artistically celebrated the beauties of the state being touted as "the new Eden," but he was an active participant in the projects of Henry Flagler to transform St. Augustine into a mecca for northern tourists, while his writings expressed concern that the pristine environment and its inhabitants were already threatened. In words and in pictures, Heade spoke of the vitality, beauty, and the fragility of Florida. Combining his biography, art, and writing, Favis captures and early chapter in the history of art in Florida and brings to light an early and compelling advocate for the preservation of the state's natural riches. ... Adapted from jacket.
Download or read book Beechers Stowes and Yankee Strangers written by John T. Foster and published by . This book was released on 2024-11-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tells the story of Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom's Cabin), her brother Charles, and a small group of Yankee reformers who lived in Reconstruction Florida.
