Floridas railroads emerged in the 1830s amid Native American upheaval and territorial colonization. Many periods of development marked this fascinating heritage, but one era towers above the rest: the 1920s. It was then that Florida experienced a colossal land boom, one of the greatest migration and building stories in American history. People poured into the state as never before, real estate traded hands at breakneck speed, and the landscape added countless new homes, hotels, apartments, and commercial buildings. Floridas biggest railroadsthe Atlantic Coast Line, Seaboard Air Line, and Florida East Coastwere unprepared for the tidal wave of traffic. Thus, the Big Three had to rapidly expand and increase capacity. Dozens of projects unfolded at great cost, by one estimate over $100 million. When the building frenzy ended, the railway map of the state stood at its greatest extentsome 5,700 miles. Further, the frequency of railway service within and to the Sunshine State reached an unprecedented level, never again to be repeated.

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.

Railroads have served the northern counties of Central Florida since before the Civil War. Following the war, railroads expanded down the peninsula to bring transportation services to even more people and places throughout the region. By 1929, the railroad network in the state had reached its peak, with some communities being served by two or more railroad lines. Trains provided the means for growth and development, and the local depot was the focal point of every town throughout Florida's central region. Stretching across the middle section of the peninsula from coast to coast, the Central Florida area includes Levy, Gilchrist, Alachua, Putnam, and Volusia Counties to the north, while the counties of Sarasota, Desoto, Highland, Osceola, and Brevard define the southern boundary. Featuring depots of the Atlantic Coast Line, Seaboard Air Line, Florida East Coast, and their predecessor railroads, the photographs used by the author were obtained from local historical groups, the Florida State Archives, and private collections.

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.

When the first "Iron Horse" arrived in Southwest Florida--at Charlotte Harbor in 1886--nearly 150,000 miles of railroads already existed in America, the transcontinental route was open, and Pullman sleeping cars were in wide use. But despite a late start, railroads forever transformed this beautiful region of the Sunshine State and connected its people to the outside world. In Railroads of Southwest Florida, the golden age of railroading is documented with captivating images of stations, machines, and the people whose lives were affected by this significant form of transportation. From interior views of well-furnished passenger cars to scenes of hardworking men who made it all possible, this collection provides a thorough look at a fascinating, almost forgotten heritage.

During the Roaring Twenties, millions of Americans moved to the Sunshine State seeking quick riches in real estate. Many made fortunes; others returned home penniless. Within a few years thousands of residential subdivisions, palatial estates, inviting apartment buildings and impressive commercial complexes were built. Opulent theaters and imposing churches opened, along with hundreds of municipal projects. A unique architectural theme emerged, today known as Mediterranean Revival. Railways and highways saw a renaissance. New cities--Boca Raton, Hollywood-by-the-Sea, Venice--were built from scratch and dozens of existing communities like St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando were forever transformed by the speculative fever. Florida has experienced numerous land booms but none more sweeping than that of the 1920s. This illuminating account details how one of the greatest migration and development episodes in American history began, reached dizzying heights, then rapidly collapsed.

Florida's railroad heritage began in the 1830s amidst Native American upheaval and territorial colonization. Surpassing waterways as the primary mode of transport, the "Iron Horse" linked practically every town and city, carried tourists and locals, and ably conveyed the wealth of Florida's mines, factories, forests, groves, and farms. Nearly 175 years later, railroads still remain a dependable source of transport within the Sunshine State.

Now home to approximately 2.5 million people, Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs that make up the City of New York. It was during the 1920s that Brooklyn experienced some monumental changes in the early motorized world of cars, trucks, buses, and trains. In this decade, Brooklyn saw the construction of the world's largest promenade, the Coney Island Boardwalk, as well as the construction of most of the homes that still exist in Brooklyn. The 1920s also brought Brooklyn's sewers and paved roads. Slowly but surely, farms and gardens began to vanish in the name of progress. Brooklyn became a refuge for many. It offered the opportunity for peaceful living in a growing urban society. Discover the people and places of Brooklyn in a decade of growth and prosperity, and travel back to the beginnings of a diverse community with a rich ethnic heritage. Join Eric Ierardi in this celebration of a unique American city with a fascinating past. Brooklyn in the 1920s is sure to appeal to both residents and newcomers and will serve as a valuable tool in teaching the history of Brooklyn to future generations.

For over a year, Railroad Bill eluded sheriffs, private detectives hired by the L&N line, and bounty hunters who traveled across the country to match guns with the legendary desperado. The African American outlaw was wanted on multiple charges of robbery and murder, and rumor had it that he stole from the rich to give to the poor. He terrorized busy train lines from east of Mobile to the Florida Panhandle, but as soon as the lawmen got close, he disappeared into the bayous and pine forests--until one day his luck ran out, and he was gunned down inside a general store in Atmore, Alabama. Little is known about Railroad Bill before his infamy--not his real name or his origins. His first recorded crime, carrying a repeating rifle without a license, led him into a gunfight with a deputy and made him a wanted man throughout Florida in 1894. His most celebrated escape--a five-day foot chase with scores of men and several bloodhounds--led to tales of Railroad's supernatural ability to transmogrify into an animal or inanimate object at will. As his crimes progressed from robbing boxcars to wounding trainmen to murdering sheriffs, more and more reward money was offered for his capture--dead or alive. Today, Railroad Bill is the subject of many folk songs popularized by singers such as Paul McCartney, Taj Mahal, Gillian Welch, and Ramblin' Jack Elliot. But who was he? Where did he come from? What events led to his murderous spree? And why did some view him as a hero? In Railroad Bill, Larry Massey separates fact from myth and teases out elusive truths from tall tales to ultimately reveal the man behind the bandit's mask.

In the 1920s, a tremendous land boom gripped Florida, and waves of people descended upon the Sunshine State. Between just 1923and 1925 an estimated 300,000 people came to permanently settle in the state, and over a dozen new counties were created in this single decade. Fueled by postwar prosperity, tourists and new residents poured money into the state's economy and dramatically increased the demand for land, homes, hotels, industry, recreation, commerce, and services. At the height of the boom, when many believed that the bubble had to burst, there came news that a new resort city was under development on the Gulf Coast below Sarasota, and all eyes turned to Venice. Over the decades since its creation, Venice, with its balmy climate, unlimited boating and fishing, and pristine mainland beach, has grown to be a Mecca for thousands of tourists, snowbirds, and retirees. Carved out of a tropical wilderness by America's oldest and wealthiest union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Venice was made into a Gulf Coast oasis with Spanish-style architecture, beautiful landscaping, and a friendly network of tree-lined streets and boulevards. Visual documentation of this early era has captured a city in its infancy and a valuable piece of Venice's heritage.