Florida Guide > Florida History
Florida Timeline: from 1861
We are now into part 3 of our Florida history timeline and we will start at the time of The American Civil War
1861 The American Civil War lead to the secession of Florida for the Union and they joined with other southern States to form The Confederate States of America.
1865 The American Civil War ends and Federal Troops occupy Tallahassee.
1880 The population of Florida now stands at 270000 and farming, cattle raising and industry are booming.
1880 Henry Flagler and Henry Plant start building the railroads that transform Florida and open up so many opportunities. The City now known as Miami wanted to call itself after Flagler but for some unrecorded reason he refused. People and goods can now move right across Florida freely.
1898 The start of The Spanish/ American War. Tampa has an important part to play in this war as it is the main port for troops heading for Cuba.
1920 This is when Florida first became a big tourist destination. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were 2 of the people who liked to take their holidays here. Swamps were drained to reclaim land and indeed real estate starts to become a valuable commodity. The population is now counted at somewhere around one million.
1926 saw 2 years of devastating hurricanes that decimated crops and damaged the economy.
1929 The Depression starts to bite in a State already hit hard by the depression.
1941 America joined in World War Two (which had started in 1941) and Florida became an important training facility for the troops.
1945 The war is over and the population now stands at 2 million having doubled in 21 years. And now the tourist outnumbers the resident population and there are 3 tourists for every 2 local.
1947 The wonderful natural area known as The Everglades is dedicated by the incumbent president Harry S Truman.
1969 Apollo is launched from The Kennedy Space Center and lands on the moon.
1971 Disneyworld opens and is an immediate success.
1998 this is the year that 40 million people vacationed in Florida and it is the number one family destination tn the World. The visitors now out weigh the resident by two and a half times. This means that more and more people are wanting to experience The Sunshine State.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading this potted Florida history as much as I have enjoyed researching it.
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