He had come to calling Florida “my domain” because in his eyes, he'd made the whole thing possible, at least, as I say, the eastern half of the state possible by bringing the railroad there and allowing people to establish farms where they can grow crops and send the fruits back on the railroad. Part of his motivation was to prove that by george, he could do it and he would do it. I think that when people got wind of the rumor that he was going to do this and scoffed at it, “Flagler’s folly,” they call it. And there was no other practical explanation for it, except that he was also stubborn and prideful. I mean, I think that's to explain why at age 75, he would undertake the building of the railroad from Miami to Key West across 155 miles of, largely, water. This comes from, probably as a result of his penniless childhood and ingrained desire to succeed and that never goes away with a lot of people. One of the things I loved about the book is you had quite a few different people’s descriptions of Henry Flagler from his time, people from his era writing about him. Key West had always been a thriving, basically, Caribbean port. Augustine across to Tampa, and everything south of that line would have had a big stamp like the map makers used to put “terra incognita,” because there wasn't anything there until you got to Key West. Who knows how long it would have been before South Florida was discovered? He's the guy who brought the railroad here and with its civilization for that matter, he made all east coast of Florida possible. This is like the American Casablanca that would have all occurred sooner or later.īut Flagler was the man who did it, and he did it when he did it. STANDIFORD: Well, of course, obviously we would have grown and grown mightily because what's not to like down here? The same things that draw people, the beauty of the climate and now the very diversity of cultures and food. WLRN: Was Florida, especially South Florida, destined for growth and population expansion, even if Henry Flagler had not built that railroad? Do you think it would have happened anyway? This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. WLRN’s Luis Hernandez spoke with Standiford about his book, which is the Sundial Book Club selection for the month of January. It's called ‘ Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean.’ But his most ambitious dream was to extend his railroad all the way to Key West, over difficult terrain and open water.Īuthor Les Standiford wrote the book about Flagler’s dream. He helped develop West Palm Beach and Miami. His railroad opened the east coast of Florida to the rest of the country. ![]() Our journalists are continuing to work hard to keep you informed across South Florida. ![]() WLRN is here for you, even when life is unpredictable. Then came the oil and rail magnate Henry Flagler. There was a time when the only way to get to Key West was by boat.
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