Railroads Change Florida

Teacher’s Guide for Railroad Maps in Florida

Background Information

The Internal Improvement Act of 1855 granted railroad companies land in exchange for new tracks. The state government supported the railroads because better transportation would help facilitate a stronger economy for Florida. With state support, railroad developers began linking East and West Florida.

Henry Flagler and and Henry Plant built grand hotels to entice vacationers seeking sun and luxury. The railroads connected Florida's developing industrial centers, tourist destinations, agricultural sectors and growing communities.

Florida East Coast Railway

Henry Flagler was the founder of what became the Florida East Coast Railway. During the 1880s and 1890s, Henry Flagler expanded train lines through Jacksonville and down the East coast to Miami. Flagler began the Overseas Extension in 1906 to connect Miami to Key West.

The Plant System

Henry Plant founded of the Plant System of railroads, steamship lines and hotels. Henry Plant had become wealthy running the successful Southern Express during the Civil War. Plant expanded train lines to Tampa and the West coast.

Seaboard Air Line System

The Seaboard Air Line Railway Company bought up smaller railroads connecting the east and west coasts of Florida. The Seaboard Air Line maps include the years 1901, 1912 and 1928. This makes it possible to analize changes over time.

Florida East Coast Railway Map, 1917

Map of the Plant System, ca. 1901

Maps of the Seaboard Air Line System

Some Useful Questions to Ask:

• What role did railroads play in the development of Florida?
• How could you use the railroad to get from one city to another? (Tallahassee to Miami, for example.)

Use to Illustrate:

• Henry Flagler's contributions to Florida.
• Henry Plant's contributions to Florida.
• How railroads changed Florida.
• How to interprete maps.

Sunshine State Standards

• SS.4.A.1.2: Synthesize information related to Florida history through print and electronic media.
• SS.4.G.1.2: Locate and label cultural features on a Florida map.
• SS.4.G.1.4: Interpret political and physical maps using map elements (title, compass rose, cardinal directions, intermediate directions, symbols, legend, scale, longitude, latitude).
• SS.4.A.1.1: Analyze primary and secondary resources to identify significant individuals and events throughout Florida history.
• SS.4.A.6.1: Describe the economic development of Florida's major industries.
  Examples are timber, citrus, cattle, tourism, phosphate, cigar.
• SS.4.A.6.3: Describe the contributions of significant individuals to Florida.
  Examples are John Gorrie, Henry Flagler, Henry Plant, Lue Gim Gong, Vincente Martinez Ybor, Julia Tuttle, Mary McLeod Bethune, Thomas Alva Edison, James Weldon Johnson, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
• SS.5.A.1.1: Use primary and secondary sources to understand history.
• SS.5.A.6.3: Examine 19th century advancements (canals, roads, steamboats, flat boats, overland wagons, Pony Express, railroads) in transportation and communication.
• SS.6.G.1.2: Analyze the purposes of map projections (political, physical, special purpose) and explain the applications of various types of maps.
• SS.6.G.1.5: Use scale, cardinal, and intermediate directions, and estimation of distances between places on current and ancient maps of the world.
• SS.8.A.1.2: Analyze charts, graphs, maps, photographs and timelines; analyze political cartoons; determine cause and effect.
• SS.8.A.1.5: Identify, within both primary and secondary sources, the author, audience, format, and purpose of significant historical documents.
• SS.8.A.4.5: Explain the causes, course, and consequences of the 19th century transportation revolution on the growth of the nation's economy.
  Examples may include, but are not limited to, roads, canals, bridges, steamboats, railroads.
• SS.8.G.6.1: Use appropriate maps and other graphic representations to analyze geographic problems and changes over time throughout American history.
• SS.912.G.1.3: Employ applicable units of measurement and scale to solve simple locational problems using maps and globes.
• SS.912.G.1.4: Analyze geographic information from a variety of sources including primary sources, atlases, computer, and digital sources, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and a broad variety of maps.
• SS.912.G.6.1: Use appropriate maps and other graphic representations to analyze geographic problems and changes over time.
• SS.912.A.1.4: Analyze how images, symbols, objects, cartoons, graphs, charts, maps, and artwork may be used to interpret the significance of time periods and events from the past.
• SS.912.A.3.4: Determine how the development of steel, oil, transportation, communication, and business practices affected the United States economy.
  Examples may include, but are not limited to, railroads, the telegraph, pools, holding companies, trusts, corporations, contributed to westward expansion, expansion of trade and development of new industries, vertical and horizontal integration.
• SS.912.A.3.13: Examine key events and key people in Florida history as they relate to United States history.
  Examples are the railroad industry; bridge construction in the Florida Keys; the cattle industry; the cigar industry; the influence of Cuban, Greek and Italian immigrants; Henry B. Plant; William Chipley; Henry Flagler; George Proctor; Thomas DeSaille Tucker; Hamilton Disston.

Florida Standards

• LAFS.4.RI.1.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• LAFS.4.RI.1.2: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
• LAFS.4.RI.1.3: Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
• LAFS.4.RI.3.9: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
• LAFS.4.RI.1.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• LAFS.K12.R.1.1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
• LAFS.68.RH.1.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
• LAFS.68.RH.1.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
• LAFS.910.RH.1.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
• LAFS.910.RH.1.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
• LAFS.1112.RH.1.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
• LAFS.1112.RH.1.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
• LAFS.1112.RH.3.9: Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.