Henry Flagler. As founder of the Florida East Coast Railway, industrialist Henry Flagler played a major role in the development of the state. We visit St. Augustine, Palm Beach, and Key West to discuss his impact on Florida.
The Seminole (along with the Miccosukee) are the indigenous people of Florida. Seminole history and culture is preserved at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum on the Big Cypress Reservation.
Cassadaga. Established in 1894, Cassadaga is one of Florida's most unique historic communities. Known around the world as a center for Spiritualism, the residents of Cassadaga believe that life continues after physical death, and that mediums can be used to communicate with the Spirit World.
Fort Christmas was built on December 25, 1837, during the Second Seminole War. A replica of the fort is at Fort Christmas Historical Park in east Orange County, along with a collection of pioneer homes and buildings.
Plantations in Florida were part of an agrarian society that depended upon the labor of enslaved people. Remnants of Florida's plantation culture can still be seen today at places including Goodwood Museum and Gardens and the Grove Museum in Tallahassee, the Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island in Duval County, and at Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park in Flagler County.
Discovering A.S.J. Allen. In 1904, the African American community leader A.S.J. Allen was killed by a white neighbor over a property border dispute. Allen's great-grandson Alonzo Felder has researched his productive life and tragic death.
Memories of Palatka. By the mid-1800s, the historic town of Palatka was a transportation hub for steamboat traffic. In the early 20th century, it became a battleground against the Ku Klux Klan. In 1933, Ravine Gardens State Park became a WPA project. Beginning in the 1970s, The Florida School of the Arts provided performers for "Cross and Sword," the official state play of Florida.
The Edison and Ford Winter Estates. Inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison first came to Florida in 1885, where he built a winter residence and laboratory. In 1916, Edison’s friend and collaborator, automobile manufacturer Henry Ford, bought his own Fort Myers estate, right next door to Edison’s.
