During the Roaring Twenties, millions of Americans moved to the Sunshine State seeking quick riches in real estate. Many made fortunes; others returned home penniless. Within a few years thousands of residential subdivisions, palatial estates, inviting apartment buildings and impressive commercial complexes were built. Opulent theaters and imposing churches opened, along with hundreds of municipal projects. A unique architectural theme emerged, today known as Mediterranean Revival. Railways and highways saw a renaissance. New cities—Boca Raton, Hollywood-by-the-Sea, Venice—were built from scratch and dozens of existing communities like St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando were forever transformed by the speculative fever.
Florida has experienced numerous land booms but none more sweeping than that of the 1920s. This illuminating account details how one of the greatest migration and development episodes in American history began, reached dizzying heights, then rapidly collapsed.

Award-winning author Gregg M. Turner is on the faculty of Southern Technical College in historic Fort Myers, Florida, where he resides.

Gregg M. Turner
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 192
Bibliographic Info: 70 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9919-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2062-6
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Preface  1
Introduction  3
1. Those Effortless Riches  11
2. Communities of Note  21
(Miami—Miami Beach—Hialeah—Country Club Estates—Opa-locka)
3. Marketing the Frenzy  41
4. More Communities of Note  60
(Coral Gables—Miami Shores—Hollywood-by-the-Sea—Boca Raton—Sebring)
5. Railways and Highways  90
6. More Communities of Note  114
(Venice—Sarasota—St. Petersburg—Davis Islands and Davis Shores)
7. Down Comes the Curtain  155
Chapter Notes  167
Bibliography  173
Index  179

“Turner’s book about the boom in paradise is well-researched and well-written. Anyone interested in the history of Florida will want to add this book to their collection”—The Florida Historical Quarterly.