Florida

Tiny Amelia Island, in the northeast corner of Florida, was once among the most important ports in the western hemisphere.

Before Florida was granted statehood, the island served as an international gateway between Spanish Florida and the English colonies that would later become the United States. Where Spanish monks and pirates once roamed, the island eventually developed into a significant seaport that exported the rich resources of Florida's interior in the late 1800s. This era was known as the Golden Age of Amelia Island and the town located on its north end, Fernandina. The railroad that connected Amelia Island to the Gulf Coast was largely responsible for the Golden Age, as it brought a burgeoning economy and many of the South's most prominent and wealthy figures. Today the island is best known as a resort community but retains the influence and charm of its remarkable past.

Orlando amounted to little more than scattered log cabins in the pine forest when Orange County established it as the county seat in 1857.

One of the earliest buildings was a log hotel, indicating Orlando's future as a tourist destination. After its incorporation in 1875, wood-frame structures replaced the log cabins, and prosperous citizens built large houses around the developing government and business center. By 1900, as Orlando recovered from the economic disaster of the Great Freeze of 1894 and 1895, brick construction replaced wood frame as once pretentious houses close to the central city were torn down to make way for modern business blocks. As residences moved to less congested neighborhoods, schools and churches followed. From its beginning, people arrived in Orlando to prosper and build. Those men and their buildings are gone, but the history of the city is richer because of their presence. Orlando's story can be traced through the continuing cycle of constructing, demolishing, and rebuilding anew.

See the people and places that helped shape Boca Raton, Florida, into the proud city that it is today.

Boca Raton has long served as a beautiful home to a host of interesting and talented people, from the Tekesta Indians and the buccaneers who sought refuge in the calm waters of its natural inland harbor, to today's proud residents. From a hardscrabble agricultural outpost along Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast line, the city is today one of America's great resort destinations and a prime address for a growing number of people from all over the world who want to live ""the good life."" Personalities including first settler Thomas Moore Rickards, society architect Addison Mizner, and inventor Domina Jalbert have all helped define Boca Raton, adding to the brick-and-mortar landmarks, attractions, and natural features that shape its landscape.

Pine Island is tucked between the mainland of southwest Florida and Sanibel and Captiva islands, only 17 miles long and accessible by a single drawbridge.

The community of Pine Island is a rare and lingering remnant of old Florida, with many praising it as the new Key West. The island's shores are home to mangroves teaming with fish instead of crowded beaches, making it a major destination for sport fishing enthusiasts and providing a livelihood for the independent commercial fishing families of the island. Strolling the lazy street to Bokeelia's famous fishing pier, or exploring an active Calusa Indian archeological site in Pineland, the crowds and tourist-related glitz common to most of Florida's islands are nowhere to be found, leaving visitors to discover Pine Island's unspoiled beauty at their own pace.

Protruding further out into the Atlantic than any other point along Florida's east coast, Jupiter has long served as a port of call for sailors, settlers, tourists, and the occasional hurricane.

Before the famous Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse began sending flashes of warning to those at sea in 1860, Spanish explorers, Black and Seminole inhabitants, and early American pioneers began building their own histories there, contributing to the consciousness and pride of residents today.

Discover the picturesque communities of Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach, one of the most popular and beloved travel destination on Flordia's coast.

The history of Central Brevard County is almost as long and complicated as the geographical borders of the county itself. Stretching north and south for 77 miles, Brevard County is a thin strip of land, barely 20 miles across at its widest point. Within these narrow confines, however, diverse and dynamic communities have left their marks and many continue to flourish, among them Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach. Only 32 miles in length, Merritt Island was once a scrub-covered parcel of land settled by hardy pioneers who raised cattle and cultivated citrus, vegetable, and pineapple crops. Though now a commercial and residential center, the careful observer can still find, tucked away in hammocks along the shore and surrounded by million-dollar homes, the old citrus groves, simple homes built by early settlers, and the remnants of small communities that were once hubs of activity. Cocoa Beach owes much of its story to the vision and energy of a single man, Gus Edwards, who promoted the area as a resort to rival the communities of Miami Beach and Venice. With the coming of the space
program to Florida's Atlantic coast in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the area built upon elaborately drawn subdivision plats and a few scattered buildings to become the bustling modern city it is today.

Once the third-largest port on the Gulf of Mexico, Apalachicola's diverse and colorful past remains visible today.

This delightful little fishing village has a warm and friendly atmosphere, making it even more appropriate that Apalachicola's name is a Native American word meaning ""friendly people."" When Apalachicola was established in 1831, its major industry was cotton export, and the city soon became an important port on the Gulf of Mexico. When the railroads expanded throughout the United States, Franklin County developed several large lumber mills to harvest and process wood from the surrounding cypress forests. These lumber magnates built many of the magnificent historic homes that still line Apalachicola's streets today. With more than 900 historic homes and buildings in the National Register Historic District, visitors are invited to stroll along the picturesque, tree-lined streets where Victorian homes display the charm of years gone by.

Visit ""the island where time stands still"" and explore the romantic, almost forgotten history of old Florida in this visual history.

Rich in small town atmosphere and old Florida history, Cedar Key is a quiet island community nestled among many tiny keys on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Refuge for birds and wildlife, Florida's oldest port, and home to artists and writers, the island has long been admired for its tranquility and natural beauty.

Despite Marco Island's common distinction as the largest of Florida's Ten Thousand Islands, there are only 12 square miles of land upon which to wander - making the enormity of its history all the more remarkable.

Marco Island projects prominently from Florida's mainland at the peninsula's southwestern fringe, where the waters of the Everglades and the Gulf of Mexico commingle. Its tropical climate, verdant landscape, unique topography, and abundant wildlife sustained prehistoric Native American cultures for centuries. The first pioneer settlers arrived in 1870, carving out a niche on the harsh Florida frontier. Bustling villages soon sprang up on the island, bolstered by strong leaders and economies centered around farming and fishing. The crash of Florida's land boom, along with the Great Depression, devastating hurricanes, and a series of failed developments, ultimately stunted the island's growth. Most of Marco Island was sold to the Deltona Corporation in 1964, which transformed the island into a place its early residents might find unrecognizable.

While it may be hundreds of years younger than its Italian namesake, Naples, Florida, has an exciting history all its own!

Naples was not much more than a bend in the road in the 1940s, but by 1950, its beautiful beaches and balmy weather had been rediscovered, and development and tourism became the city's lifeblood. Although Hurricane Donna struck Naples in 1960, the building boom continued, and by the late 1970s, few undeveloped areas remained, culminating in 1972 for the development of a new gulf-front luxury community called Pelican Bay. More than 200 images offer insight into this rarely chronicled period of Naples' history, including seldom-seen historic photographs from the archives of the Naples Daily News (formerly the Collier County News) and vintage postcards from the collection of Nina Heald Webber.

Clearwater, situated on Florida's Gulf Coast, is a progressive city that is rife with history and known for its breathtaking landscape.

Early settlers, which included the Timucuan, Calusa, and Apalachee tribes, had plentiful fresh springs along its shore, and called the area "Pocotopaug,'? meaning Clear Water Harbor. After Florida had been seceded by the Spanish, early developers and speculators drew tourists and new residents touting Clearwater as a resort community with a comfortable climate. Opportunity and adventure brought many pioneering families, citrus farmers, railroad barons, and land developers to the area, and today, Clearwater is a locality that continues to move forward while preserving its distinct past.Images of America: Clearwateris a unique collection of photographs and facts that brings the history of this thriving city to life. Photographs culled from a variety of sources, including the Clearwater Historical Society and Hillsborough County Public Library's archives, showcase the people, places, and events that have contributed to the foundation of this special Florida community. Readers can take a visual journey to the unincorporated town of yesteryear to see how the "father of Clearwater'? James Stevens, Rev. C.S. Reynolds, and Henry Plant's grand hotel, the Belleview Biltmore, turned Clearwater into a prosperous city.

The Great Depression came early to St. Augustine with the end of the Florida land boom in 1926, followed by the stock market collapse in 1929.

Hotels closed, a major bank failed, subdivisions folded, and tourism was reduced to a trickle. The city's main employer, the Florida East Coast Railway, went into receivership in 1931, and public works projects sought to bring relief to the unemployed. The economy slowly improved toward the end of the 1930s, but it was World War II that brought economic recovery to the town. Local hotels were taken over for military training, and servicemen on leave from nearby military bases flooded the town, bringing prosperity once again to the Ancient City.

The Miami River has proudly served its inhabitants since hunter gatherer days and continues today.

Although the Miami River was originally just 4.5 miles in length, it has been a robust working river since the incorporation of Miami in 1896. With a volume of trade exceeding $4 billion annually, the Miami River has been central to the story of Miami for thousands of years. Native Miamians lived along the river for millennia and used it as their ""expressway,"" as well as their source for food and water. The riverbanks have been home to exotic animals, Jesuit missions, slave plantations, Army forts, Julia Tuttle (the ""Mother of Miami""), and a grand Gilded Age hotel. Even with the post-World War II rise of suburbia and the flight of residents away from the center of the city, the river has remained busy. Today, with a renaissance in central Miami, there has been a significant increase in appreciation for the role of the river in this revival and in the rich history of the city.

Safety Harbor’s five natural mineral springs have drawn visitors and residents to the shores of Old Tampa Bay for centuries.

A ceremonial mound erected by indigenous peoples offers proof of human life stretching back before written history. Spanish explorers landed here in the 16th century, and 300 years later, the first seeds of Florida’s citrus industry were planted by Odet Phillipe. The Florida boom of the 1920s brought development and population growth. Expansion stalled during the Great Depression, but after World War II, Safety Harbor became a tourist destination for the rich and famous, permanently changing the city’s future. Images of the past create a nostalgic reminder of hardy people and their perseverance despite devastating hurricanes and fires. The timeless tranquility of sunrises and sunsets and Spanish moss draped from massive oaks endures throughout this historical, artsy city on the bay.

Laura Kepner is coauthor of A Brief History of Safety Harbor, Florida; author of the children’s book When Lourdes Was Big; and former editor of the literary journal Odet. She serves on the boards of the Safety Harbor Museum & Cultural Center and the Whispering Souls African American Cemetery. Since 2008, Kepner has walked the land of the Tocobaga, ever in awe.

A fascinating journey through the history of Jacksonville, Florida with postcard images and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

Jacksonville's Consolidation of 1967marked the end of individual towns in Duval County, but it established Jacksonville, all 840 square miles of it, as the largest city in the continental United States.

Collectors and authors Andrew Bachmann and Maria E. Mediavilla, with the help of the historical society's Emily Lisska and local historian Dr. Wayne Wood, share their personal postcard collections and take readers on a captivating journey through Jacksonville's history. Featured are postcards that show the 1920s real estate boom and transportation across the St. Johns River. View postcards that document the ever-changing Hemming Plaza, a metamorphosis that continues even today. This second volume of vintage postcard images will give readers a deeper insight into Jacksonville's past and the great importance of historic preservation.

Jacksonville Revisitedis a visual and written documentation of how the city has grown and developed since the introduction of postcard communication. The changes in commerce and landscape are illustrated and preserved through postcards.

Through vintage postcards and photos, a diverse group of people and places are shown as they actually appeared-sportsmen and their "catches;" bathers whose attire evolved from bloomers and formal dress to one-piece bathing suits; the early "swing" and rickety wooden bridges; rustic frame hotels giving way to modern motels; the "downtown" areas of Indian Rocks Beach, Pass-a-Grille, Madeira Beach, and Clearwater Beach; plus casinos, bathhouses, waterslides, a Grand Hotel, and much more.

Join veteran journalist Chris Wadsworth and Allison Fortuna from the Bonita Springs Historical Society as they recount the history of Bonita Springs and its beginnings.

The pioneer history of Bonita Springs stretches back to the 1880s, when an Alabama cotton planter named B. B. Comer bought 6,000 acres of land along Surveyors Creek. He started a tropical fruit plantation, and his tiny village became known as Survey, in honor of the U.S. Army engineers who had first surveyed the region during the Seminole Wars decades before. When Florida started to boom in the early 20th century, investors bought up much of the land in the area. They quickly gave the community the more attractive moniker Bonita Springs and renamed the nearby creek the Imperial River. Beautiful beaches and world-class hunting and fishing soon turned Bonita Springs into a tourist mecca. Popular roadside attractions sprang up along the fast-growing Tamiami Trail, including the Everglades Wonder Gardens, the original Shell Factory, and the famous Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track.

Once known as Gasparilla Island, Boca Grande has become one of the best places to vacation and live.

Life on Gasparilla Island once had a very different rhythm. With a past intimately tied to Charlotte Harbor and the rich fishing grounds it provided, Gasparilla Island was, in its early history, the site of a small fishing village and a commercial fishery. The discovery of phosphate deposits in the region and the introduction of the railroad soon increased the pace of life, and a thriving port was built on the island's south end. As the twentieth century dawned and the Florida boom loomed on the horizon, the town of Boca Grande began to hum with the activity of a rapidly growing population. Though much has changed through the years--the little fishing village has vanished, the estimable Boca Grande Hotel is gone, and the once bustling port is now a state park--much of the region's unique history continues to inform the modern landscape. The venerable lighthouse, constructed in 1890, now serves as a museum of local history, and the grand Gasparilla Inn still stands firmly upon its original 1911 site. Those who now call Boca Grande home cherish it for the same island magic that fishermen and railroad officials recognized long ago: its unspoiled natural beauty, inviting climate, world-class fishing, and welcoming community.

The story of Sanibel and Captiva Islands stretches back over three centuries, to a time when Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon tried to subdue the Calusa Indians.

The next few centuries were flooded with pioneers, fishermen and clergymen in their quest to tame the wilderness in search of a better life. Discover how anthropologist Frank Cushing visited pioneer Sam Ellis in 1895 after the farmer discovered bones on his homestead and how President Theodore Roosevelt's men saved a little girl from drowning when he lived on a houseboat in Captiva to study local marine life. Join local history columnist Jeri Magg as she recounts the storied history of these little slices of paradise.