Talk:Battle of Lipany and Overseas Railroad: Difference between pages

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[[Image:Rc19458.jpg|275px|right|thumb|[[Henry Flagler]]'s train with his private car "Rambler" returning from [[Key West, Florida]] on the Overseas Railroad, completed in [[1912]]. ''photo from Florida Photographic Collection'']]

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'''Overseas Railroad''' (also known as '''Florida Overseas Railroad''') was the extension of the [[Florida East Coast Railway]] to [[Key West]], a city of almost 20,000 inhabitants located 128 miles beyond the end of the [[Florida]] [[peninsula]].

==Henry Flagler: Florida's east coast==

During the [[Gilded Age]] in the [[United States]], [[Henry M. Flagler|Henry Morrison Flagler]] (1830-1913), a principal in [[Standard Oil]], was the builder and developer of resort [[hotel]]s and [[railroad]]s along the east coast of Florida. Beginning with [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]], he moved progressively south, and helped develop [[Ormond Beach, Florida|Ormond Beach]], [[Daytona Beach, Florida|Daytona Beach]], [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]], and became known as the father of [[Miami, Florida|Miami]]. His rail network became known as the [[Florida East Coast Railway]] (FEC). By [[1904]], the FEC had reached [[Homestead, Florida|Homestead]], south of Miami.

==Key West Extension==

After the United States announced in [[1905]] the construction of the [[Panama Canal]], Flagler became particularly interested in linking [[Key West, Florida|Key West]] to the mainland. Key West, the United States' closest deep-water port to the Canal, could not only take advantage of [[Cuba]]n and [[Latin America]] trade, but the opening of the Canal would allow significant trade possibilities with the west.

The construction of the overseas railway required many engineering innovations as well as vast amounts of labor and monetary resources. At one time during construction, four thousand men were employed. During the seven year construction, five [[hurricane]]s threatened to halt the project. Despite the hardships, the final link of the Florida East Coast Railway was completed in [[1912]]. In that year, a proud Henry Flagler rode the first train into Key West aboard his private car "Rambler", marking the completion of the railroad's overseas connection to Key West and the linkage by railway of the entire east coast of Florida. It was known as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

==Demise==

The Overseas Railroad was heavily damaged and partially destroyed in the [[Labor Day Hurricane of 1935]]. The Florida East Coast Railway was financially unable to rebuild the destroyed sections, so the roadbed and remaining bridges were sold to the State of Florida, which built the [[Overseas Highway]] to Key West, using much of the remaining railway infrastructure. Rebuilt in the 1980s, following Flagler's dream, the [[Overseas Highway]] ([[U.S. Highway 1]]) continues to provide a highway link to Key West, ending at the [[southernmost point in the continental United States]].

==See also==

*[[Henry M. Flagler]]

*[[Overseas Highway]]

==External links==

*[http://overseasrailroad.railfan.net/home.html Overseas Railroad at railfan.net]

[[Category:Transportation in Florida|Overseas Railroad]]

[[Category:Defunct railroads|Overseas Railroad]]

[[Category:Florida East Coast Railway|Overseas Railroad]]