February 2012 News And Events

He might have been content to stop his venture in Palm Beach where he built his large home, Whitehall, but bad freezes in 1894 and 1895 changed his mind. Much of the tropical vegetation and citrus in the Palm Beach area was destroyed by the freezes.

Florida lore says that Miami's Julia Tuttle sent Flagler a nice fragrant orange blossom from Miami that had escaped the freezes. He was persuaded by this to extend his railroad to Miami. Miami was not a real seaport back then, so Flagler became fascinated by the idea of extending the railroad all the way to Key West. Key West was the nearest deep water port, and Flagler wanted to do business with Cuba only 90 miles away from Key West.

The Florida Keys were a string of small islands scattered in a line heading southwest from the mainland about 150 miles to Key West. Detractors of his idea called it Flagler's Folly. But Flagler was not a man to be easily discouraged. He and his engineers and contractors began to connect the islands of the keys with bridges and causeways and laid the track all the way to Key West.

It took 7 years before the railroad was finally completed in 1912. It was the first time in history that people had direct connection other than by water to all of the keys. It was called by many the 8th wonder of the world.

Henry Flagler died in 1913, but his companies continued to operate the railroad and hotel properties. The railroad did a brisk business transporting freight and passengers to Key West and on to Cuba and back. In 1935 the huge Labor Day hurricane wiped out most of the railroad and killed more than 400 people, many of them World War One veterans who had been working on various construction projects in the area. After the hurricane, the rails were finally ripped out and the old railroad route and its bridges were rebuilt as a roadway for autos and trucks known as the Overseas Highway.

Next time you're rolling down the highway to Key West listening to Jimmy Buffet on your CD player or Eight Track, remember Henry Flagler and his folly.

Many meals come with your choice of clam chowder or the salad bar, vegetables, baked potato or french fries, or rice pilaf. You can also get hushpuppies for an extra charge but they are worth it. The small salad bar has plenty of fresh items, and there are also entrees for meat lovers such as prime rib and hamburgers, filet mignon and New York strip. The restaurant also has an open bar upstairs called William's Landing with a limited menu and a good river view so you can soak in the Old Florida scenery.

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