This is the train station that Lakeland founder Abraham Munn had built in Downtown Lakeland in the 1880s. This photo is from ‘The Plant System’ by Gregg Turner and Seth Bramson, page 53. You can purchase this wonderful book that[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Archive for Swampy’s Florida History
In the 1880s Downtown Fort Myers was made up of only a handful of blocks of structures. Lew Stuart was one who set up shop in one of those wooden structures. It’s believed he cut Thomas Edison’s hair. This photo[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
This locomotive served the workers of Flagler’s overseas railroad construction. Prior to that it led the Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Halifax Railroad. This photo is from ‘Born of the Sun: The Official Florida Bicentennial Commemorative Book’ , page 120. You can[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
TV host Mike Douglas rolls up in a orange draped vehicle to Cypress Gardens in 1968. This is from ‘Cypress Gardens’ by Lu Vickers. You can purchase a copy by clicking here or below. https://amzn.to/3bQAS8J This book is part of[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Here is the train station in Archer, in Alachua county, in the late 1800s. The photo is from the Archer Historical Society : http://www.archerhistoricalsociety.org/ . Found this photograph on the internet with a great story attached. Unfortunately, this is still[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Here’s the South Florida Railroad Station in 1883. . . . . . . . . . . . . #Florida #Sebring #Trains #ACL #Transportation #Travel #FloridaTravel #FloridaTransportation #RR #Railroad
One had to be a careful driver on early 1900s sand roads along Pinellas County beaches. This photograph is from ‘Tampa Bay’s Gulf Beaches’ by R. Wayne Ayers. You can get your own copy of this Arcada photo & history[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
This is the Atlantic Coastline depot in Sebring in 1917, the same year it opened. The station closed in the 1960s and became a storage facility. This photo is from ‘Sebring – Circle on the Circle’ by Stephen A Olausen.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
This photo is from Florida Memory of an Atlantic Coast Line train by the Silver Springs depot. Docked on the other side of the depot is the ‘Hiawatha’ steamboat of the Hart Line. The date attributed to this photo is[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Swampy’s #Florida Cool Signs: Eat-A-Bite, Lakeland
Lakeland is full of cool signs. We took this photo about 15 years ago. The ‘Eat-A-Bite’ was a local diner mostly frequented by Publix employees from the vast corporate offices all around it. It was Publix that demolished the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Here’s the Hotel Soreno that majestically stood in St. Petersburg. This is the same angle as was seen in the after credits scene in the 1992 film, ‘Lethal Weapon 3’. The closing scene has the building imploding and crashing to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Here’s a 1907 photo of visitors to The Breakers in Palm Beach. On the left is a Vanderbilt, William K. Jr.Notice the “alligator” in Vanderbilt’s arms. This photo is from ‘The Breakers Palm Beach – A Century of Grand Traditions’[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…