Cover
        Page 1
        Page 2
    Maps
        Page 3
        Page 4
    Title Page
        Page 5
    Frontispiece
        Page 6
    East Coast of Florida
        Page 7
        Page 8
        Page 9
    Florida Keys
        Page 10
        Page 11
        Page 12
        Page 13
    Development of the East Coast
        Page 14
        Page 15
        Page 16
        Page 17
        Page 18
        Page 19
        Page 20
        Page 21
        Page 22
    Actual Work
        Page 23
        Page 24
        Page 25
    Moving Spririt
        Page 26
        Page 27
        Page 28
        Page 29
        Page 30
        Page 31
        Page 32
    L'Envoi
        Page 33
        Page 34
        Page 35
        Page 36
    Hotel After Hotel
        Page 37
        Page 38
    Back Cover
        Page 39
        Page 40

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FLORIDA EAST COAST
RAILWAY
OPENED JANUARY 22'D 1912


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KEY WEST

EXTENSION




























Copyright, 1912, by
FLORIDA EAS'T Co-,r RNILWAY


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THIS VIADUCT ALONE IS A MONUMENT TO A WHOLE LIFLTIE OF CON'TRUCTrIVE SKILL AND
ENTERPRISE


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THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA

is among the romances of human history. It had its
beginning in the twilight of the fifteenth century; it '1
approaches its industrial meridian in the dawn of the twentieth
century. It takes its ever-varying color from the learning of
Italy, the craft of Spain, the courage of France, the prowess of
England, until to-day it comes into the view of the whole world
in the gleam of American achievement, radiant in the results of
American skill and enterprise. Unique in its whole history,
the peninsula to-day challenges world-wide attention and
admiration with a work of art and enterprise which has bridged
4 the most remarkable chain of islands in the world, defied and
conquered the mighty grasp of tropical storm and seething
sea, made a safe pathway through trackless waters, binding
the fringe of the North American continent to its native land
with bonds of steel.
The four centuries of history of the Florida peninsula are too
full of human interest to be included in so brief a story as this
booklet tells. But \ve may look backward for a moment.
Columbus made the year 1492 famous by his first western
voyage. While this voyage neither touched nor sighted the
mainland of the Western Hemisphere it opened the eves of
European mariners to oceans of possibilities. Voyage after
voyage of search and discovery were made. Although no
white man had touched the new continent, its shores were
sailed and charted before the fifteenth century had ended.
At least one map of the new discovered territory had been
made. This map, as John Fiske states, was made in Portugal,
at the order of Alberto Cantino, by some unknown carrog-
rapher. It is still in perfect preservation in the Estense
Library at Modena, Italy. Its clear outlines portray with


~L~a_ E'-- ---- --











startling exactness the westward swerving coastline of the
peninsula and its bordering fringe of islands and islets, which
to-day are in vital touch with the commerce of the world. It
was eleven years later, or in 1513, that the peninsula was
christened with the name it bears to-day. A sunny Easter
Sunday morning saw the caravels of Ponce de Leon making a
new pathway through the summer sea. At about the thirtieth










I







KNIGHTS KEY DOCK -THE SOUTHERN TERMINUS SINCE FEBRUARY, ItOS9
parallel of north latitude De Leon planted the banner of Spain
on the new continent, claiming title to all "those regions and
islands found in the West Ocean Sea," as given to Ferdinand
and Isabella by the bull of Pope Alexander VI., issued May 4,
1493. The planting of the Spanish banner was, however,
far short of conquest and possession, for it was followed by full
fifty years of failure. History reserved for France the founding
of the tirst actual settlement of Florida, when a colony was
established near the mouth of the St. John's River, under the
leadership of Rene de Laudonniere. Whether this French
'[











invasion of what was looked upon as Spanish soil would ever
have succeeded is a matter of grave doubt to the candid
student of history. However, Spain settled the fate of the
French venture in the person of Pedro Menendez d'Avilez, who
landed near the present site of St. Augustine on the 4th of
September, 1565, with a large and well-equipped colony.
Menendez, guided by the missionary enterprise inspired by
the bull of Alexander, proved himself an apostle of completeness
and permanency. The story of the bloody treachery which
wiped out the French colony and changed the name of the
river of the Dolphins to Matanzas ("place of slaughter") is
too well known to be repeated here. The results of one bloody
morning settled the Spaniard in St. Augustine, in 1565, and
since that time the peninsula has been continuously inhabited
by white men. Menendez was as clever as an administrator as
he was keen as a soldier. Nature and his foresight worked
with his cleverness and keenness to the success of Spanish
occupation, so that a few years later, when he returned to
Spain, he left forts and missions at St. Augustine, San lMateo,
Santa Lucia de Canaveral, Carlos, and Tequesta, the site of the
last named having been either on Cape Florida or at the mouth
of the Miami River.
Like many another Spanish sailor, Menendez had lost one of
his sons along that fringe of the continent, the Keys of Florida,
and in search of him he explored the whole system of the Keys
as far as the Tortugas.
Then, as now, the Keys were full of vital interest to the
mariner. Scores of ships had been wrecked on their low-lying
shores and hidden reefs. In the surrounding shark-infested
waters hundreds of sailors had disappeared, until the name of
death, "The Martyrs," had become the synonym for the quiet
islands sleeping in a summer sea, but so often torn and tossed
by storms of tropical violence and hurricane force. Torn
away from the mainland by one of the mighty birth-throes of
Nature," The Martyrs" had laid the grip of summary vengeance


I -L




I-


on human invention and human life and had taken their toll
of ships and men with a relentless eagerness.

THE FLORIDA KEYS
It is highly probable that the system of the Keys came into
being in one of the dramatic periods of the earth's history.
Not long before the age of man the slumbering continent was


KNI(.HTS KEL BRIDGE AND TEMPORARY TRE-.TLE. SHOWING THE TEMPORARY TRACK TO KNIGHTS
KEY DOCK AS RELATED TO THE MAIN LINE OF THE EXTENSION
wakened by the shuddering of mighty forces. The low-lying
mainland, extending from the farthest northwest to Key West,
rocked in the surging arms of Nature. The whole peninsula
of Florida came up from the sea, and away to the westward the
Cordilleras raised their heads to await the crown of the snows
of centuries. A little later, a second upheaval threw the shore
of what is now the Gulf of Mexico to the southward, some-
\here near its present limits. A great ocean current swept out
of the Gulf, cutting away the land between Cape Sable and Key
West, wearing channels for the flood of waters in such fashion


'y












as outlined the system of the Keys. As implied in the story of
their origin, the Keys are composed largely of limestone similar
to that of the mainland. Here and there a coral island "lifts
its fronded palms in air." The soil of all the islands is won-
derfully fertile, and the natives have reaped harvests of tropical
fruits year after year with the minimum of labor and expense.
There is no other winter climate in the world comparable with
that of these islands. Summer sun, summer sea, tempered by
ocean breezes soft with the tonic touch of life, make an environ-
ment unsurpassed and unequaled. The minimum of differ-
ence marks the change from day to night. No cold or cloudy
days ever bring their cheerless aspect to these summer lands,
whose shores are bathed by summer seas, gorgeous by day with
varying color and enchanting by night in the matchless star-
light of the sky and the gleaming phosphorescence of the
waters. The Keys extend from the northeast toward the
southwest, along the edge of the mainland at varying distances
from Soldier Key, near Cape Florida, to the Tortugas in the
Gulf, with the ancient "Caros Huesas," the modern Key West,
as the queen and jewel of the group. Key West, with its large
area, its deep water, its populous and busy modern life, is the








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southernmost port in the United States. Strategically, it is the
key to and the protection of all the ports on the extended
shore line of the Gulf of Mexico. Since the genius of our
Government has made the Panama Canal a fact in the world's
commerce, Key West has assumed new and great importance.
Coupled with this, the spirit of our modern commerce calls for
rapid transit wherever the inventiveness and enterprise of man
can bring it into service. Never before was the adage "time
is money" so true as it is to-day. There are men whose
minutes are worth millions. There are materials, necessary














to feed and clothe the world, whose chief value is in their
transportation, and in that transportation time is of the highest
importance. Quick transportation is not a new craze of our
nervous modern life, it has become a necessity of our existence.
We think in a flash from New York to Yokohama. The
equator is in touch with the poles. The tropics and the tenm-
perate zones, the Occident and Orient exchange food stuffs,
regardless of time, climate, or distance.
As has been intimated, the assurance of the Panama Canal
made the world look at the Keys of Florida and Key West from
a new point of view. The canal opens in a moment tremendous
vistas and pushes our commercial horizon across the seven











seas. Key West is almost three hundred miles nearer the
eastern terminus of the canal than an)y other of our Gulf ports.
At the same time it is the natural base for guarding and pro-
tecting the canal on the east and our great Gulf coast. That
the island should be closer to the mainland had been the dream
of generations. The dream had become a necessity to our
commerce, our national interest, and our national safety.
But could the dream come true, could the necessity be met?
There was but one solution of the problem, but one answer to
the question, a railway must be built from the peninsula over
stretches of treacherous shoal, across channels of rushing seas,
through the chain of islands to Key West. The financiers
considered the project and said, Unthinkable. The railway
managers studied it and said, Impracticable. The engineers
pondered the problems it presented and from all came the one
verdict, Impossible.
The consensus of public opinion called the railway scheme
by many names, all of which reechoed the verdicts of the
experts. But, strange as it may seem, there was a financier
with the courage of Columbus, a railway manager with the
administrative grip of a \lenendez, and an engineer as brave
and as far-seeing as the pilots who brought the caravels of












O OT'- E ri RD-E -E IN :BUILDING EMB NK N
Ilk0...
ONE OF THE DREDGES USED IN BUILDING EMBANKMENT


__











Spain through miles of unknown and uncharted seas. As
these three considered the problem of the oversea railway,
they had but one conviction it was thinkable, practicable,
possible, it could and would be accomplished. And in the
dawn of the twentieth century the story of Florida's real
development moves toward its climax.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EAST COAST
It is difficult for most people to realize that Florida really
remained a Spanish possession until 1821. It passed through
the usual experience of Spanish colonies, which meant exist-
ence without vitality, possession without progress, the business












WHETHER THEY WERE HOUSED IN BOATS OR BARRACKS, EVERY PRECAUTION %\AS TAKEN TO
ASSURE THEIR HEALTH AND SAFETY
of the colony always managed with a view to the personal
profit of the official class. Not even during the English
ownership, from 1763 to 1783, did a forward venture succeed.
The Civil War called the attention of many Northern men to
the attractions of Florida soil and climate, and many people
began to make winter homes along the slow-flowing streams and
the breezy, sunny shores of the coast. Numbers of people, too,
were compelled by the health of themselves or their families
to find a summer shelter from the wintry North. Others, who
combined leisure with wealth, sought a playground where the
























A LAND CAMP
climate and conditions were conducive to outdoor life. Among
these was Mr. Henry NM. Flagler of New York, who had for
many years been active in some of the largest business enter-
prises of the world. In 1885, Mr. Flagler, moved in part by
sentiment and in part by instinctive love of constructive work,
projected, at St. Augustine, the now world-famous Ponce de
Leon hotel, which was followed by the Alcazar and Cordova
hotels. The successful management of these properties implied
a close touch with the North through rapid transit. A little
narrow-gauge railway connected St. Augustine with South
Jacksonville, where the wide St. John's was crossed by a ferry.
A standard gauge line ran from St. Augustine to East Palatka,
and a narrow gauge connected Daytona with the St. John's
River. In 1886, Mr. Flagler purchased the narrow-gauge road
from South Jacksonville to St. Augustine, following this by
the purchase of the Daytona narrow gauge in '87, and the
St. Augustine-Palatka line in '88. The gauge of the St.
Augustine-Jacksonville line was changed to standard in
1888 and of the Daytona line in 1889. The same year the St.
John's River bridge was built and through service established
between Jacksonville and Daytona. This, however, was but
the beginning of MNr. Flagler's enterprise, and by the second of
April, 1894, through service was established to West Palm


I











Beach, 300 miles south of Jacksonville. At Palm Beach, the
Royal Poinciana and Breakers hotels were completed, and the
Ormond, at Ormond, purchased, altered, and enlarged.
From Palm Beach to the mouth of the Miami River Mr.
Flagler made the journey overland in a spring wagon, and was
so attracted by the climate and country that within two years,













HEATER B4RGF
or on April 16, 1896, regular train service to Miami was estab-
lished and the Royal Palm hotel completed. Still from farther
south came stories of the attractive climate and fertile soil, and
twenty-eight more miles of standard construction carried the
Flagler system to Homestead. It was never the intention,
after 1902, to end the line at this point. Miami to Key West
was the thought in MIr. Flagler's mind. During the building
of the MNiami-Homestead Line the scouts and surveyors
were away to the southward making preliminary surveys,
studying channels and watercourses, observing wind and wave
and storm, and quietly mapping the route along which the
financiers and engineers were sure no enterprise or courage
would ever venture with a railway line. True enough, the
problems were complex, the labor colossal, the dangers great,
the estimated cost tremendous. Entirely new phases in con-
struction and management had to be met. Meteorologic











conditions of an absolutely unique character had to be antici-
pated and conquered. In a word, no graver situation ever pre-
sented itself than that in this suggested railway which would defy
the Atlantic and the Gulf, the rush of current and the sweep of
storm. Mr. Flagler at that date, and until April 9, rog9, was
president of the Florida East Coast Railway, since which time
he has been chairman of the board, and his president, then
vice-president and general manager, Mr. Joseph R. Parrott,
considered carefully all the difficulties involved, weighed all
the vexed questions, faced all the dangers, and gave due study
to all the adverse opinions as to the feasibility of the project.
On the 18th of November, 1903, the republics of the United
States and Panama signed that convention which determined
the completion of the Panama Canal. The winter following,
MIr. Flagler and MIr. Parrott studied preliminary surveys and
engineers' reports in a new light. At the end of the winter,
MIr. Flagler closed a conference with Mr. Parrott with the
question, "Are you sure this railway can be built?" Mr.
Parrott answered, "I am sure." "Very well," said the capi-
talist, with the courage of Columbus, "go ahead." Thus
simply and earnestly, the great project had its beginning which
was full of the promise of its completion.


ON THE GRADE


3;~C~3~~""gc~Pl~p;.



























MARATHON, THE PUrY (C. AFTER OF kLL WORK Fol'TH TOWARD KEY W\F'T. TRANSFERRING
GIRDERS FROM CARS TO EBRGES
Naturally, the first requisite to the successful prosecution of
the work was an engineer with sufficient courage to undertake
it at all, and sufficient skill to meet its many difficulties. This
engineer was found in the person of Joseph Carroll Meredith,
who was at that time engaged in construction work on the
great docks in the harbor of Tampico, Mexico. Having con-
sidered the project of the oversea railway as outlined to him,
Mr. Meredith was appointed Chief Constructing Engineer
and entered on his duty the 22d of July, 1904. From the
moment he began his work, Mr. Meredith displayed a modest
spirit, an unwavering determination, and a superior skill,
facing every danger, meeting every difficulty.
His plans were laid months in advance of the work and
practically every detail for the final completion of the work
had been put on paper at the time of his death. This untimely
event occurred suddenly, the 20th of April, 1909, bringing the
sincerest sorrow and the deepest regret to both his superiors and
his subordinates. His body was laid to rest in the cemetery
at Nliami, within sound of the sea whose waters he had bridged.













Over his grave rises a splendid unhewn granite monolith with
a bronze tablet bearing the inscription:
"IN MEMORY OF JOSEPH CARROLL MEREDITH.
CHIEF ENGINEER IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
THE KEY WEST EXTENSION OF THE FLORID.A
EAST COAST RAILWAY, WHO DIED AT HIS PO(iT
OF DUTY, APRIL zo, 1909. THIS MEMORIAL IS
ERECTED BY THE RAILWAY COMPANY IN APPRE-
CIATION OF HIS SKILL, FIDELITY, AND DEVO-
TION IN THIS LAST AND GREATEST WORK OF'
HIS LIFE."

















KNIGHTS KEY BRIDGE AS IT LEAPS OVER PI(I.ON KEY
It is impossible here to enter into the details which had to
be dealt with by these master minds-details of men, materials,
forces, and conditions entirely new to railway engineering
experience. The human element alone, in such a project, is
of incalculable importance. Building a railway of any length
through a comparatively settled country, where labor, food,
and water are at hand or easily accessible, is no small under-
taking. But, to build over land and over sea in a torrid sun,
across channels whose horse power measures into thousands,
with only open land and open sea, required an organization in
which the human element was of the first importance. Men







































CVn2 CV)


. -














.-


JOSEPH R. PaRROTT


WILLIAM J. KROME


JOSEPH C. MEREDITH


' il- .. I


~I











of almost every nation on earth had to be summoned to the
service and the whole welded into one vital, thinking mechan-
ism, responsive to the master's orders. Material must be
gathered from the world's ends to meet untried conditions, and
assembled in such quantities and at such points as would best
facilitate the work. Methods of construction new to experi-
ence and as varied as the changing aspects of the work had to
be studied and decided on. Nature's resistance had to be


J NII
D- '4
:HIInAtH rWT uM SILI LC


reckoned with; the known factors of her force computed and
the unknown factors provided against. Wave growths over
miles of sea had to be measured; wind force generating in the
seething area of the Antilles and the Tropic of Cancer had to
be considered. In a word, a hundred factors, known and
unknown, regarding which no data had been furnished by any
previous experience, claimed calm consideration, wise judg-
ment, and an executive ability and fortitude equal to the sum
of the whole colossal problem.











THE ACTUAL WORK
The actual work of construction south of Homestead began
in April, 1905, under the immediate charge of MIr. Meredith
until his death, the 20th of April, 1909. Mr. Meredith was
succeeded by his first assistant, Mr. W. J. Krome, who took
up his work with the courage of his predecessor, to which he
added his own enthusiasm and determination. Notwithstand-
ing the plans which Mr. Meredith had laid for the completing
of the work, there were constant emergencies and unexpected
contingencies arising. All these MIr. Krome met with alert
intelligence and ready skill. Throughout his work he has
been ably assisted by Messrs. P. L. Wilson, C. S. Coe, G. R.
Smiley, and Ernest Cotton, as Division Engineers; Mr. R. W.
Carter, as Bridge Engineer; Mr. E. H. Sheeran, as General
Foreman; and MIr. B. A. Deal, as Auditor of Construction.
During all this time "the grade" has been a teeming hive of
industry. MIen of almost every nation and every shade of
color were gathered for the labor. There were hardy North-
men from Sweden and Norway, mainly filling positions as
foremen and overseers. There were Spaniards in great num-
bers, coming to the work, by way of Cuba, from the northern
provinces of Spain. There were American negroes, and
negroes from the Bahamas and the Lesser Antilles. Men from
Grand Cayman were there, all negroid, though some were
black and some almost white. There were divers from Greece,
and a horde of nondescripts, many of whom had known and
loved "The Bowery" all their lives.
It is doubtful whether ever before in similar work the same
care and attention were given to the labor element. Whether
they were housed in boats or barracks, every precaution was
taken to assure their health and safety. Food of only the
best quality was provided in abundance, and everything
needful for comfort and recreation was supplied. Ample
provision was made for illness or injury "on the grade," and
the railway hospital at 1Miami was especially equipped to meet











the exigencies of the service. Many of the men who labored
on the work were better housed and fed, cared for and paid,
than they had ever been in all their lives. Loss of life was
met with, to be sure, but it is doubtful whether any similar
work, in such conditions, could be carried to completion with
so much content among the men employed and so little loss
of human life. No better proof could be needed of the care
the men received and the healthfulness of the climate than is
















DRAWBRIDGE ACROSS MOSER CHANNEL
found in the fact that in seven years with thousands of men,
some of them none too well when they came to the work, there
has been no epidemic and indeed no prevailing sickness. In
fact, the percentage of sickness has been much lower than
that in the regular army of the United States.
Material of every sort known to construction work was, of
course, necessary, and new materials were introduced as new
conditions required. Thousands of tons of cement, countless
miles of reinforcing iron and steel were used. Indeed, the
foundation for one pier required a mixture of sand, gravel,
and cement equal in bulk to the cargo of a five-masted schooner.











But it is impossible in this space to enter upon any adequate
attempt to describe the detail of the work and materials.
Every class of construction, from the simplest piling and rock
filling to the matchless reinforced concrete viaduct at Long Key,
was used, and again and again new emergencies and new
requirements called for the use of entirely new materials and
methods. When one considers that "The Extension" "grade"
covered vast stretches of water, as well as miles of land, it is
not at all difficult to realize that a huge fleet of all kinds of
craft had to be brought into service, from the diminutive motor-
driven launch to the huge unwieldy dredge. The care and
protection of this fleet was in itself a work of vast proportion.
As the work approaches completion, to one who was familiar
with the territory covered by "The Extension," the finished work,
though real as life itself, seems like the structure of a dream.
That it is accomplished seems incredible to one who sailed
that stretch of sweeping sea now dominated and beautified by
the matchless lines and mighty proportions of the Long Key
Viaduct. This viaduct alone is a monument to a whole life-
time of constructive skill and enterprise. It will endure
throughout the ages. Its sweeping arches will gleam in the
sunshine of centuries. Its mighty bulwarks will welcome the
beating protests of the hurricane and, like the faith of the man
whose genius for building inspired it, it will stand firm, un-
shaken, indestructible.
Naturally, the foundation of a work as great as this had to
be laid on sound financial lines, the supervision of this part of
the undertaking during the whole period being in the hands
of Mr. W. H. Beardsley, Vice-President and Treasurer.
The industrial phases of the work, with reference to the
future settlement of the area to be opened, were in charge of
Mr. J. E. Ingraham, Vice-President.
During the progress of the work on this "Extension" the lines
of the Florida East Coast Railway north of Homestead were
in constant operation. The cooperation of these lines was

























SEEMS LIKE THE STRUCTURE OF A DREAM
vital to the progress of the construction work, and this coopera-
tion was assured always through the efforts of Mr. R. T. Goff,
until 1909 General Superintendent, and all through the work
by Mr. j. P. Beckwith, at first as Traffic Manager, now Vice-
President, in charge of traffic and transportation; MIr. W. H.
Chambers, Comptroller; Mr. E. Ben Carter, Superintendent of
Maintenance of Way; and Mr. G. A. Miller, Superintendent
of Motive Power and Machinery. Indeed, the work of "The
Extension" evoked such interest that every man along the line
gave it his unqualified support.

THE MOVING SPIRIT
No review of the completion of the Key West Extension
would be complete without a word regarding Henry \I. Flagler,
who inspired and financed this colossal enterprise. Mr.
Flagler is a living proof of the fact that the fourth score of the
years of a man's lifetime may be the most productive period
in his career. Born near Canandaigua, New York, on the
2d of January, 1830, the son of a Presbyterian minister, MIr.
Flagler has passed his eighty-second birthday.
Impelled by the spirit which has marked his whole life-the
spirit of effort and achievement he left the quiet life and


___











shelter of "the manse" when only fourteen years of age. His
first journey to Bellvue, Ohio, was made by canal to Buffalo
and across Lake Erie. Railroading was in its infancy then, and
the wildest fancy of man could hardly have dreamed of "The
Extension." Mr. Flagler's earliest business ventures were in the
salt, lumber, and grain interests at Saginaw, Michigan, Bellvue,
and Cleveland, Ohio, the chief result of which was experience.
With the foresight which has marked his business life, Mr.
Flagler was quick to estimate the enormous probabilities of
the petroleum industry in the early sixties, and he became a
member of the firm of Rockefeller, Flagler & Andrews. To
the new conditions of the greatest industrial development the
world has ever known, according to the testimony of his
associates, Mr. Flagler applied his remarkable constructive
ability and followed the lines indicated by his wonderful fore-
sight. The application of scientific economies to a business
Which was being conducted along most wasteful lines, naturally
and of necessity produced the results which have now become
historic. When the great industry he had fostered from its
infancy had extended its enlightening forces to the world's
ends, and trained specialists cared for and watched over its
details, at sixty Mr. Flagler might have settled into a life of


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m,


WITH ONLY O)PEN LAND AND OPEN SEA















-.- -. -i. -


SUMMER LANDS WHOSE SHORES ARE BATHED BY SUMMER SEAS
luxury and "well-earned rest" had it not been for that love of
building and creating which was his natural endowment and
inspiration. Already this little story has narrated how link
by link the Florida East Coast Railway made its way over
hundreds of miles of undeveloped coast, stirring the land of
the silent pines and the sleeping prairies to wonder how man
could be so bold. Hotel after hotel, some of world-famed
beauty, some of mammoth size, rose under his hand. Fol-
lowing in his wake came hundreds to new homes and new and
easier conditions of life. The invaded wilderness, supplied
with transportation, was quickly peopled by men and women
of intelligence and earnestness. Many of them had left purely
intellectual occupations on account of poor health and in
search of a genial climate, seeking homes in the great outdoors
where a fair living might be earned without excessive toil and
the rigors of winter. To such people schools and churches
were necessary, and Mr. Flagler has seen to it that they have
been supplied. Mile by mile his enterprise has laid the path-
way of progress and civilization through an unknown and
undeveloped country. To-day, it offers a winter playground
to the world. To-day, its ever-increasing horticultural enter-
prises contribute to the need, the luxury, the comfort of the











world, and that very contribution, in turn, brings back to the
multitude providing it the means of livelihood.
Needless to say, the man who has led in all this work is of
unique character and unusual personality. As has been said
already, his chief quality is in his rare constructive faculty;
his ability to see the finished product in the projected plan.
Add to this an indomitable perseverance, a determined and con-
sistent regard for good and permanent work, a wise and well-
guarded disregard of cost, and one ceases to wonder that in
1\r. Flagler's case achievement has been the product of activity.
Add to this the fact that Mr. Flagler has, to an unusual degree,
the ability to draw and bind men to himself and to inspire them
with faith, devotion, and loyalty. Simple in his own life,
genial and gentle in his disposition, easily approachable,
courteous and kindly to the humblest employee or settler, he
has always had that ready loyal service which, given the real
leader, is the assurance of success.













WHERE FISH ABOUND AND THE CLIMATE IS ALWAYS PERFECT
In the light of this, though the Key West Extension amazes
and astonishes us, we see the underlying secret of its successful
completion. To this crowning work of his life Mr. Flagler
has given an unflinching faith, an unswerving determination,
the enthusiasm of his wisest years, and a princely fortune.










Again and again the elemental forces of the tropics have
struck at his work with the vibrating anger of the hurricane,
with threatened ruin in its wake. Again and again the man
with the silent resolution to succeed has gone on outwitting
Nature, mastering men, marshaling world force against world
force. To-day, the majestic triumph of man over matter, of

















way which binds the islands of the sea to their native mainland
and brings our southernmost port, Key West, into such vital
relation with our country's forces that a newv line of peaceful
defense has been added to our country's safety and prosperity.
Mr. Flagler has often said that the greatest satisfaction he
has derived from these undertakings in Florida is in the fact
that he has made it possible for thousands of people to live,
with comparative comfort, in a genial climate and earn a fair
living with but moderate toil and labor. Now that "The
Extension" is completed, both he and all Americans must
realize wi this railway is, as has been said, a new line of
defense for our country. Key West, the guardian port of the
Gulf for the protection of our whole southern coast line, and
within the shortest striking distance of the Panama Canal, is


__











now within forty hours of Washington. A fleet of torpedo
boats and destroyers will be enough to guard this oversea
railway, while along its path provisions, fuel, and all supplies
can be carried in safety to the fleet.
To the pleasure of the philanthropist Mr. Flagler may add
Sthe pride of the patriot. As the years go by and our great
country extends its paths of peace and progress, his work will
remain an evidence of his faith and courage and public spirit,
and all men will admit that even this wise and brave Master
Builder "builded better than he knew."
Any attempt to describe the route of "The Extension" and its
beauties is beset with the inability to put into words scenes
which Nature has made inexpressible, and mere geography is
rarely of interest. While the Key West Extension really begins
at Miami, the railway that brings the Keys and the southern
terminus, Key West, into vital touch with the continent leaves
- the mainland at Everglade station, where Manatee Creek,
creeping through miles of open prairie, brings to the line the
flood of fresh water which has been the main source of supply.
Crossing by Lake Surprise, over Jewfish, the line emerges
on Key Largo, the name indicating the largest Key in the series.
Largo has been inhabited and cultivated for years. Crossing
the famous Tavernier Pass, where many a pirate found refuge
from a threatening enemy, Plantation Key and the two Mate-
cumbes are quickly covered, and off to the eastward one sights
Indian Key, a giant emerald set in a gleaming opal sea. Lower
Matecumbe is joined to the now well-known Long Key.
Here, amidst countless cocoanut trees, Long Key Camp,
where fish abound and the climate is always perfect, offers a
winter home for those who love an ever-changing but ever-
charming sea. Here, too, Long Key is linked to Grassy Key
by the marvelous Long Key Viaduct, two and a quarter miles
in length, which has already been referred to. South of
Grassy, Fat Deer and Key Vaca come in quick succession as
stepping stones to Knights Key Dock. Key Vaca, with











Marathon as its station, has been the busy center of all work
south toward Key West. Since the 5th of February, 1908,
Knights Key Dock has been the southern terminus of "The


GIANT PIERS OF CONCRETE BREAST AND DEFY TIDE AND CURRENT, WIND AND STORM
Extension" and the point of arrival and departure for the ships
to Key West and Havana. And here, now that the work is
done, we meet one of the splendid surprises and successes of
"The Extension." It is overseaa" indeed that the series of
viaducts leap going south, beginning with Knights Key Bridge.
For a distance of approximately twenty miles from Vaca to
West Summerland, a succession of deep and varying "passes"
lead from the Gulf into the Atlantic. These are Knights Key
Channel, Moser Channel, Pacet, and Bahia Honda channels.
Some of these are spanned by piers and steel and some by


$',-b










concrete arches. Giant piers of concrete breast and defy tide
and current, wind and storm. From pier to pier stretch
mighty lacings of steel to carry the traffic of men and things to
the southward. To the westward lies the Gulf of Mexico,
clear to the setting sun; to the eastward rolls the broad ocean
that tempted Columbus, where one must sail and sail and never
cry "Land Ho" until he sights Cape Blanco on the coast of
Africa, and it is nearly five thousand miles, straight to the east,
from the desert sea of the South bridged by man's inventive-
ness to the heart of the Desert of Sahara.
South of these channels and Keys, the larger Keys, Summer-
land, Big Pine, Cudjoe, Big Coppitt, and Boca Chica furnish
the foundation for the highway to the Queen of the Keys-Key
West. Here will be the southern terminus and docks of the
Florida East Coast Railway, and Key WNest, already important
as a naval station, will be one of the nerve-centers of our South
American traffic. Fifteen years ago a satirical correspondent
of a New York newspaper wrote: "There must be a brilliant
future in store for Key West, as it has no past and very little
present." The satirist was a prophet. Key West has a very
vital present now, and that a "brilliant future" is in store there
can be no doubt. The new artery of life which throbs the
whole length of our coast line on the east of the United States
will give Key West a place of such importance in the commerce
of the world as will make the island in a fewv years the queen of
of the southern seas.
L'ENVOI
Now that the work of the Key West Extension is completed
and the most unique railway in the world in actual operation,
a nevw wreath has been won by modern enterprise and skill.
The world wondered at tunnels which pierced mountains and
passed under rivers; at spiral findings which top the passes
of the Sierras; at miles of track which carry life across and
into deserts. And now a new wonder is added, to which the
world may come \with praise and admiration, not only for the

















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.CRO'' TH F MORE SH-\LL0J%% r X1R ')PENINGS, AND L'i)% *'%. ~ E


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work done but for the faith and courage which dared to under-
take it. Land and sea are both laid under tribute; wind and
storm have both been beaten; "The Martyrs" have been bound
and chained by man at last, and man's enterprise and skill have
brought the throb of life, the thrill of human commerce to
these islands, which slept like lazy lizards through the summers
of uncounted centuries, as they hear the voice of progress
repeat the cry of Peter Martyr:
"To the South, To the South."

"CONSTRUCTION DATA"
Surveys south of Homestead with Key West as an objective
point were begun in January, 1904. The first construction
work was commenced in April, 1905, and the line was opened
to traffic as far south as Knights Key Dock in February, 19o8.
The total distance from Homestead to Key West Terminal
is 128.4 miles. With the completion of the work there will be
17.2 miles of permanent bridge work, including I1.1 miles of
concrete arch viaducts and 6.1 miles of steel bridging resting


E d











Son concrete piers. The longest bridge is between Knights Key
Sand Little Duck Key, which, with approaches, is over 7 miles
Sin length. Other long bridges are located at Bahia Honda,
where through steel trusses up to 243 feet spans are used; and
at Long Key Viaduct, a structure of reinforced concrete arches;
Sthe remainder of the water spaces, probably 20 miles or more,
will be embankment work protected by marl slopes.
The greatest depth of water encountered was at Bahia Honda
Harbor, where the foundations of some of the piers are 30 feet
below tide level.
Across the more shallow water openings and low, swampy
Keys, the roadbed was built by dredges and traveling excavators,










.7.



THE ROADBED ON THE KEYS li OF SUFFICIENT HEIGHT TO RE 4ROVF THE HURRICANE TIDES,
THE. TRACK 4T LEFT OF CONCRETE. WORK WA- TEMPORARY FOR CONSTRLLTI-.iN PIRPO'ES
which dug the material from alongside and constructed the em-
bankments ahead of them. A great deal of this type of work
necessitated the blasting of the limestone under water, in order to
secure the material required to build the embankments. A total
distance of 49 miles of this line w\as constructed by these methods.
The roadbed, along the portions of the line which are exposed
to the destructive action of the sea during storms, is being pro-
tected by the application of a heavy laver of marine marl.
This material is dug by dredges from deep deposits near the


















S. A -.. .-





TO THE EASTWARD RPILLS THE PERIOD OCE4N THAT TEMPTED COLUMlBUST
line and is loaded into trains of steel dump cars which operate
on long trestles built out into the marl beds.
It is hauled to the points \-here needed and when dumped from
the cars flows out to a very Hat slope. This marl hardens after
exposure to the air and forms a solid protective coating,which has
been proven capable of withstanding the heaviest hurricane seas,
when the largest rock rip-rap was entirely washed away.
The roadbed on the Kevs is built of the native limestone
blasted from along the right of way and is of sufficient height
to be above hurricane tides. With the deeper waterways
spanned by concrete and steel bridges, the embankments
across the shallow openings protected by marl slopes, and the
roadbed on the Keys secured from damage by the dense jungle
intervening between the open water, the line when completed
will be of practically storm-proof construction.
At Key West, an area of 134 acres of land has been built, by
tilling, with hydraulic dredges, the shallow front adjoining the
island on the north. This \vill be used for terminals, and a con-
crete pier 1,700 feet in length and 134 feet in width is being built
to deep water in Man-of-War Harbor. VWide slips are being
dredged through solid rock for the full length of this pier, which
will permit the berthing of an)' vessel that can enter the port.







j


"HOTEL AFTER HOTEL

SOME OF WORLD-FAMED BEAUTY,
SOME OF MAMMOTH SIZE,
ROSE UNDER HIS HAND"


PONCE [E LLEN. ST. AULGUSTINE
%LCA1ZR. sr. ALUGl'jTINE
ORMOND, ORMOND-ON-THE-HALIFAX
ROIAL POINCIANA. PALM BACH


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STHE BREAKERS. PALM BEACH
6 ROYAL PALM, MIAMI
7 COLONIAL, NASSAL. BAHAMA ISLANDS
CONTINENTAL. ATLANTI( REACH


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