Last Train to Paradise (22 page)

Acknowledgments

I
AM INDEBTED TO
many, of course, though to none more than John Blades, director of the Henry Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, as well as to the chief curator of that institution, Sandra Barghini, and to its archivist, Lisa Diamond. The holdings of the Flagler Museum contain virtually every extant document bearing on the building of the Key West Extension, as well as copies of the research, popular writing, and ephemera that have been produced in the years since.

I am also greatly indebted to the work of three Flagler biographers:

Sidney Walter Martin, whose
Florida’s Flagler
was originally published by the University of Georgia in 1949 and reprinted as
Henry Flagler: Visionary of the Gilded Age
in 1998 by Tailored Tours Publications.

David Leon Chandler, whose
Henry Flagler
was published by Macmillan in 1986.

And Edward N. Akin, whose
Flagler: Rockefeller Partner and Florida Baron
was published by Kent State University Press in 1988.

Each deftly places a summary of the work on the Extension within the greater context of Flagler’s life, and those interested in the whole will take great pleasure in those volumes.

For an overview of FEC history (as well for his cautionary advice on undertaking this project to begin with), I am indebted to Seth Bramson and his exhaustive compilation,
Speedway to Sunshine: The Story of the Florida East Coast Railway,
published by Boston Mills Press in 1984. I would also like to thank Jerry Wilkinson, president of the Historical Society of the Upper Keys, and Tom Hambright, Monroe County historian, for all their help in ferreting out valuable materials pertaining to this story.

For an overview of Florida Keys history, topography, customs, and quirks, no one has been more helpful than Joy Williams, whose so-called guidebook,
The Florida Keys: From Key Largo to Key West,
goes well beyond the definition. If Joy Williams’s book is a “guide,” then Julia Child is into “food prep.”

Finally, thanks should go to Pat Parks, whose forty-four-page booklet,
The Railroad That Died at Sea
(Brattleboro, Vt.: Stephen Green Press, 1968; reprint Key West: Langley Press, 1996) so aptly and concisely summarizes Flagler’s undertaking, the first to do so for the modern reader.

There are many other writers whose articles and books and stories have shed light on various aspects of the material herein. Because this book does not present itself as a work of traditional historical scholarship, however, and in order to lessen the burden on the general reader, I have not employed footnotes and have attempted to make appropriate reference to these writers and works in the context of this story. I have also appended a bibliography that details these sources and that may be of use to those interested in pursuing further research.

Index

African Queen, The
(film)

Akin, Edward N.

Alger, Horatio

Alicia
(yacht)

Alton
(rescue ship)

American Frontier, closing of

Anderson, Andrew

Andrews (chemist)

Andros Island

Aristotle

Ashley, Elizabeth

Astor, John Jacob

Astor, William B.

Audubon, John James

Bacall, Lauren

Bahamas Islands

Bahia Honda Bridge

Bahia Honda Channel

Bahia Honda Key

Bailey, J. C.

Barghini, Sandra

Barnes, Jay

barometer, invention of

Bat Tower

Beardsley, William H.

Beckwith, J. P.

Belén College observatory

Bell, Jack

Big Coppit

Big Pine Key

Big Torch Key

Biloxi, Mississippi

Bingham, Robert

Binghams of Louisville, The
(Chandler)

Birds of America, The
(Audubon)

Biscayne
(steamer)

Biscayne Bay Company

Boca Chica

Bogart, Humphrey

Bolívar, Simon

“bonus army”

Boot Key

Bow Channel

Branch, G. R.

Breakers Hotel, Palm Beach

British Cayman Islands

Brooke, J. R.

Brown, J. H.

Brown, Kevin

Browne, Jefferson, writings of

Bryan, William Jennings

bubonic plague

Bush, George H. W.

buttonwood trees

Cape Sable

Card Sound Bridge

Caribbean, U.S. business interests in

Carrere, John

Carta Blanca observatory

Carter, Oberlin M.

Casa Marina Hotel, Key West

Cayman Islands, laborers from

Census, U.S.

Chandler, David Leon

Chandler, Mary Voelz

Chapin, George M.

charcoal kilns

Civil War, U.S.

Clark, Frank

Clemens, Roger

Cleveland, Flagler’s business interests in

Cleveland Indians

Coe, Clarence S.

and construction

fallen overboard

and hurricanes

responsibilities of

Coe, Priscilla.
See
Pyfrom, Priscilla Coe

“Conch,” use of term

Conch Key

“Conch Republic”

Coral Gables

Corliss, Carlton

Crawl Key

Crill, E. C.

Cuba:

cigar business in

Flagler’s business interest in

Florida’s proximity to

freight from

gunrunners from

hurricanes in

and Spanish-American War

U.S. business interests in

See also
Havana, Cuba

Cudjoe Key

Curry, Kingman

Cutler Ridge

Darwin, Charles

Daytona Beach, Florida

Deep Bay (Bahia Honda) Key

Dewey, Adm. George

Disney, Walt

dive spots

Dos Passos, John

Duane, J. E.

Duval, H. S.

Egan, Squire

Endangered Species Act

Engineering Record

Estrada Palma
(ferry)

Everglades

Everybody’s
(magazine)

“Fat Albert”

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

Fitchett, Lloyd

Flagler, Carrie

Flagler, Harry

Flagler, Henry Morrison:

accident to

aging of

attention to detail by

authority delegated by

business interests of

business tactics of

Car 91 of

career shift of

death of

debts of

desire to ride “iron” before death of

diary of

divorce of

early years of

failure unacceptable to

grain business of

health problems of

at Key West celebration

and laborers’ welfare

land holdings of

legacy of

legal fees of

personality and physical appearance of

railway projects of

salt business of

and Senate antitrust committee

and Standard Oil.
See
Standard Oil Company

vision of

wealth of

and wife Mary’s death

will of

Flagler, Ida Alice Shrouds

Flagler, Jennie Louise

Flagler, Mary

Flagler, Mary Lily Kenan

“Flagler’s Folly”

Flagler Museum, Palm Beach

Flamingo, Florida

Florida:

divorce laws in

environmental issues in

fishing industry in

freeze in

hardwood outcroppings in

“man who built”

paradise in

railroads in

real-estate speculation in

wintering in

Florida East Coast Railway (FEC):

accomplishments of

as American Frontier

bonds issued for

bridge construction of

business network of

dredging operations of

equipment for work on

financial losses of

as “Flagler’s Folly”

formation of

freight shipments on

government investigations into

hurricane damage to.
See
hurricanes

initial idea for

inspection tours of

Key West Extension of.
See
Key West Extension

laborers for

options of

over open water

passenger service on

photographic images of

railroad bed for

rescue train of

right-of-way acquisitions for

salt spray’s effects on

staging process of

steamship connection with

strike against

supplies for

trademark of

train ferries of

workers’ camps

Florida Internal Improvement Fund Trustees

Florida Keys.
See
Keys

Florida’s Hurricane History
(Barnes)

Florida Straits

Fort Dallas (now Miami)

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

“Four Hundred”

Frank, Neil

Franklin, G. C.

Gallagher, Dan

Gamble, J. F.

gentleman pirates

Ghent, F. B.

Gilchrist, Albert

“Gilded Age”

Godspeed
(schooner)

Gordon, Gen. John B.

Grassy Key

Great Crash of

Grey, Zane

Grinwell, Benjamin

Gulf Stream, displacement of

Harkness, Dan

Harrison, Mrs. Benjamin

Hartridge, Earle

Havana, Cuba:

bubonic plague in

freight service to

passenger service to

USS
Maine
sunk at

See also
Cuba

Hawkins, W. R.

Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty

Haycraft, J. J.

Hemingway, Ernest

Henry M. Flagler
(ferry)

Hersey, John

Hills, Rust

Homestead, Florida:

Air Force Base in

establishment of

fresh water for

hurricanes in

railroad beyond

swampland in

US 1 and

workers in

Hoover, Herbert

Hope, John

Housman (pirate)

hurricanes:

1900 (Galveston)

1960 (Donna)

1969 (Camille)

1992 (Andrew)

Category 1 storms

Category 4 storms

Category 5 storm

characteristics of

damage inflicted by

energy of

forecasting of

and ground lightning

in Gulf of Mexico

lessons learned from

living one’s life around

“loop,”

odds against recurrence of

preparation against

return to work after

survivor stories of

and tidal waves

and water depth

wind gauges for

Indian Key

Ingraham, James E.

International Ocean Telegraph

Intracoastal Waterway

Ireland, laborers from

Islamorada, Florida

island fever

Jackson, J. M.

Jacksonville, Florida:

Flagler family in

port facilities in

rail service in

Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax River Line

Jarrell, Melton

Jenny
(rescue ship)

Jewfish Creek

drawbridge

hurricane in

open water of

Jones, Alex

Joseph R. Parrott
(ferry)

Juno, Florida

Key Largo

hurricane damage in

port facilities in

railroad extension to

size of

Keys:

connection for

effects of railroad on

evacuation of

forest fire on

formation of

fresh water lacking in

highest point in

and highway

hurricanes in.
See
hurricanes

real estate speculation in

supplies for

topography of

US 1 and

Keys deer

Keys Indians

Key Vaca

Key West

alternative routes to

America’s southernmost point

appeal of

celebration in

cigar business in

economy of

as largest key

naval station in

pirates and wreckers from

port facilities in

railroad extended to.
See
Key West Extension

survival of

as tourist destination

US 1 and

Key West: The Old and the New
(Browne)

Key West Extension

anticipation of

commitment to

completion of

continuity of

cost estimates for

hurricanes and

initial idea for

laborers for

Panama Canal and

passenger service on

public eye on

right-of-way for

Key West Tales
(Hersey)

Klingener, Nancy

Knight’s Key

passenger service to

port facilities of

and Seven Mile Bridge

Knight’s Key Trestle

Knight’s Key Viaduct

Krome, William J.

and Bahia Honda Bridge

death of

at Flagler’s funeral

and forest fires

and hurricanes

and labor relations

mapping expeditions of

as project manager

and Seven Mile Bridge

Lake Erie

Lake Surprise

Lake Worth

Lefevre, Edwin

Lignumvitae Key

Little Duck Key

Little Torch Key

Lofton, Scott

Long Island (Plantation)

Long Key

bridge connection to

hurricane on

railroad beyond

staging area on

Long Key Dock

Long Key Fishing Camp

Long Key Viaduct

Lower Keys:

bridges of

forest fire on

and hurricanes

limestone formation of

railroad extension to

stockpiled supplies on

uncertainty in

Lower Matecumbe Key

“Ma Bell,” dissolution of

McKinley, William

Mackovtich, Nicholas

Maine,
USS, sinking of

malaria

Mallory, Stephen S.

manchineel trees

mangroves

Manifest Destiny

Man-of-War Harbor

Marathon, Florida:

executive airstrip in

hurricanes in

laborers in

name of

paint laboratory research in

railroad extension to

Matecumbe Keys

Memorial Presbyterian Church, St. Augustine

Meredith, Joseph C.

and hurricanes

illness and death of

and labor-management practices

Merrick, George

Mexico, Yucatán Peninsula

Miami

Biscayne Bay in

development of

Flagler’s interest in

hurricane in

railroad in

Royal Palm Hotel in

telegraph wires from

tourism and trade in

train travel to Keys from

troops garrisoned in

yellow fever epidemic in

Miami: The Magic City
(Moore)

Miami River

Miccosukee tribe

Middle Keys

Missouri Key

MMs (mile markers)

Moore, Arva Parks

Morgan, J. P.

Morton, Mrs. Levi

Moser Channel Bridge

mosquitoes

Mount Trashmore

National Geographic

National Hurricane Center

Navy, U.S.

New Orleans, steamers to

New York and Florida Special

New York City:

labor recruitment in

passenger service to

real-estate speculation and

Standard Oil’s move to

Nicaragua (Panama) Canal

Niles Channel

Ohio Key

Oliver, Robert Shaw

Olsen, Ivan

Ormond Beach, Florida

Overseas Highway

Overseas Railroad;
See also
Florida East Coast Railway; Key West Extension

“Ozymandias” (Shelley)

Pacet Channel Viaduct

padrones

Paine, Ralph

Palm Beach, Florida

Panama Canal

Parker, Fay Marie

Parks, Pat

Parlin, Bert

Parrott, Joseph R.

death of

and feasibility

at Flagler’s funeral

and labor relations

and port facility

responsibilities of

Patriarch, The
(Tifft and Jones)

Peninsular and Occidental Steamship Company

Pennekamp Coral Reef

Perkins, Maxwell

Perky, R. C.

Pigeon Key

Pigeon Key Trestle

“Pineapple Day”

pirates

Plant, Henry

Plantation Key

Ponce de Leon Hotel, St. Augustine

Post Office, U.S.

Promontory Point, Utah

Pyfrom, Priscilla Coe

quartersboats

Railroad That Died at Sea, The
(Parks)