Florida, state, United States: Land Booms

In 1881 Florida sold 4,000,000 acres (1,618,800 hectares) of land to real-estate promoters. Northern capitalists such as Henry M. Flagler built railroads and hotels, and Florida began to develop. The drainage of the N Everglades, begun in 1906, precipitated one of the state's periodic land booms. Because of environmental degradation due to farming these drained lands, areas are now being restored to their natural state. The most famous of Florida's land booms started after World War I and reached its peak in 1925 when land values achieved fantastic heights, only to collapse completely the following year.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• The Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries
• Relations with Latin America and the Caribbean
• From Depression to Postwar Growth
• Land Booms
• Statehood, Civil War, and Reconstruction
• U.S. Occupation
• English Colonization
• Early Spanish and French Exploration
• Government, Politics, and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures

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