1900 Rand Avery Map of the Florida East Coast Railway

This is a 1900 Rand Avery map of Florida's East Coast, its railway network, and its resort hotels. Depicting from Jacksonville south to Puerto Rico and Jamaica, red overprinting highlights the Florida East Coast Railway and the connected Florida East Coast Steamship Company. Major stops along the railway, including Jacksonville, St. Augustine, New Smyrna, Palm Beach, and Miami, are labeled in red. Ports of Call for the steamship company are identified in the same manner, including Key West, Nassau, and Havana. Smaller stops along the railway are identified in black, along with coastal inlets, bays, lakes, and other sites. A narrative recounting high points in cities from Jacksonville to Miami occupies the left half of the map.

The Florida East Coast Railway

The Florida East Coast Railway was a major force in the development of Eastern Florida in the late 19th and early 20th century. Spearheaded by the industrialist Henry Flagler, the Florida East Coast Railway fulfilled a vision dating back at least to the 1870s. Before Flagler, Florida south of Jacksonville was serviced by only a few rickety old railroads unconnected to one another. Most access to Florida cities was limited to ferry and steamer services. Flagler bought up most of the failing existing railroads, upgraded them, and connected them with new lines, formally consolidating the network first as the Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Indian River Railway, and then, on September 9, of 1895, as the Florida East Coast Railway.

The railroad reached New Smyrna in 1892, Cocoa in 1893, Palm Beach in 1894, and Miami in 1896. Flagler constructed sumptuous resorts and founded cities all along the route, among them the Ormond, the Royal Palm, the Royal Poinciana, the Continental, and more. Combined with his railroads, and the Peninsular and Occidental Steamship Company (P. and O. S.S.), Flagler commanded a resort empire spanning the entire east coast of the Florida peninsula.

The extension to Key West, possibly the greatest Railroad achievement of the era, was planned from about 1895, but not completed until 1912. It operated for little more than 20 years, heralding a golden age for the Florida Keys and Key West in general. Business magnates, presidents, and dignitaries rode the rails to Miami or Key West before embarking on Flagler’s Peninsular and Occidental Steamship Company to Havana, Cuba, and the Bahamas. Long after Flagler’s death, the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 destroyed some of the railroad bridges leading to Key West (the remains of which can still be seen) and the FEC, then insolvent, was unable to finance the repairs. The tracks were donated to the state, who used the infrastructure to construct the Overseas Highway (U.S. 1).

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by the Rand Avery Supply Company in 1900 as part of a promotional booklet for the Florida East Coast Hotel Company. We know of no other examples.