Jacksonville, Florida
Fellsmere resident Zena M. Dreier became the first woman in Florida and the southern United States to cast her vote in a municipal non-school election on this date in 1915. Mrs. Dreier cast her vote five years before the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment to Read More …
James Weldon Johnson, African American author, composer, lawyer, teacher, and civil rights activist, was born in Jacksonville on this date in 1871. In his early years in Jacksonville, Johnson was educated first by his mother, but later graduated from the Edwin M. Stanton School, where Read More …
The Collins Bridge, the first bridge connecting Miami Beach with Miami, opened on this date in 1913. It was built by early south Florida land developer, John S. Collins, and partially financed by Carl G. Fisher. At the time of completion it was the longest Read More …
Henry Morrison Flagler, founder of the Standard Oil Company and the Florida East Coast Railroad and Hotel Company, died at his home in West Palm Beach at the age of eighty-three on this date in 1913. Flagler facilitated and greatly accelerated the development of Florida Read More …
The Florida Keys seceded from the Union and the Conch Republic was born on this date in 1982. On April 18, 1982, the United States Border Patrol set up a roadblock just south of Florida City, on U.S. Highway 1, to catch illegal immigrants traveling Read More …
The first train of Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railroad arrived in Miami on this date in 1896. A year earlier, Henry Flagler and Julia Tuttle, Miami’s founder, had reached a deal which would eventually grant Flagler half of Mrs. Tuttle’s land north of the Read More …
The newly formed Florida Marlins professional baseball team won their first-ever regular season game on this date in 1993. The Marlins faced the Los Angeles Dodgers and won the game 6-3, with Charlie Hough as their starting pitcher. After a rough first few seasons, the Read More …
The British controlled Florida for 20 years (1763-1783)? Moving to Florida today seems like an easy decision – surf, sand, and whole lot more! However, when the British took over in the 18th century, Florida was a much more difficult “sell.” The average Britain knew Read More …
The St. Augustine City Council passed an ordinance on this date in 1832 authorizing the creation of tax-supported free schools in the city. This was one of the earliest such ordinances in the American South and in the nation. St. Augustine is the oldest continuously Read More …
Perry was commanding the U.S. schooner “Shark” and, having received his orders in February, proceeded to visit Key West and erect a flagpole flying the United States flag. The event was witnessed by local residents of the small community. Families had been moving to the Read More …
WTVJ-TV, Miami’s first television station, aired its first broadcast at noon on this date in 1949. It was the first television station in Florida and only the sixteenth in the entire country. The station was originally owned by Wometco Enterprises and carried all four major Read More …
Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, and Spanish minister, Luis de Onís, signed the Adams-Onís Treaty, also known as the Transcontinental Treaty, on this date in 1819, ceding the Floridas to the United States. After the end of the American Revolution, Spain received the Florida Read More …
The South Florida Fair and Gasparilla Carnival opened in Tampa on this date in 1921. In July of 1904 the South Florida Fair Association was formed, and plans for a new exhibition hall, a stadium, a coliseum, and stock stalls were developed. After a few Read More …
John Robert Edward Lee Sr. was born into slavery in Seguin, Texas, on this date in 1864. J. R. E. Lee served as the third president of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University from 1924 to 1944. Prior to his time at Florida A&M, Lee graduated Read More …
The Oversea Railroad, the final link in the Florida East Coast Railway, was completed on this date in 1912. The culmination of the decades-long vision of wealthy investor Henry M. Flagler, the Overseas Railroad stretched over 100 miles out into the open ocean, connecting Key Read More …
Ossian B. Hart, Florida’s first native-born governor, was born in Jacksonville on this date in 1821. His father, Isaiah Hart, was one of the founders of the city of Jacksonville and the family lived on a plantation on the banks of the St. Johns River. Read More …
Clay County, Florida’s thirty-seventh, was created on this date in 1858 by carving out part of Duval County in northeast Florida. Named after American statesman Henry Clay, the U.S. senator from Kentucky and secretary of state under President John Quincy Adams, its county seat is Read More …
The home of John Ringling opened to the public on this date in 1946. Ringling was one of five brothers who owned and operated the Ringling Brothers Circus, known at the time as “The Greatest Show on Earth.” John Ringling became one of the wealthiest Read More …