Golf in the Gilded Age: Robber Barons, Railroads, and Resort Hotels 5: Railroads and Resorts A. Growth of Railroads 1850-1890 B. Vanderbilt's New York Central Railroad C. Long Island: Hamptons and the LIRR D. The Union Pacific Durants and the Adirondacks E. Upper Hudson Valley Saratoga Springs F. Pennsylvania Railroad G. Lehigh Valley RR & Lackawana in the Catskills H. Newport Rhode Island I. The Berkshires -- Lennox, "The Newport of the Mountains" J. Central Pacific Railroad - San Francisco K. Union Pacific Railroad - Midwest and Rockies L. Southern Pacific Railroad - Monterey and San Diego M. Northern Pacific Railroad N. Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad O. Illinois Central Railroad P. Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad Q. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad R. Southern Railroad S. Seaboard Airline Railroad
1. Birth of Golf in America 2. Gilded Age 3. Robber Barons 4. Tycoons and Patronage 5. Railroads & Resorts 6. Early Grand Hotels 7. Carolinas 8. Georgia 9. Jacksonville 10. St Augustine 11. St Aug. (pt 2) 12. Ormond Beach 13. Palm Beach 14. Boca Raton 15. Miami 16. Miami Beach 17. Coral Gables 18. Tampa / St Pete 19. Later Resort Golf 20. Gilded Age Legacy

American golf had its birth in the Gilded Age (1870s-1890s), and by the close of the 19th century the United States had more golf courses than Britain. This start is inextricably intertwined with the dominant Tycoons of the day, and this in turn entangles the foundation of golf in America with the expansion of their railroads and their associated Grand Hotels in exclusive resort locations.

From 1900 to the advent of WWII, golf in America added sinew and muscle on this underlying frame to make the Resort golf experience truly spectacular and widely accessible outside the echelons of elite society. The enduring legacy has been that the popularization of golf in America is indelibly stamped with the watermark of excellence set by these fabulous early Resorts.

RAILROADS AND RESORTS

P. Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad

1883 Eastern US Routes

Flagler's private car, the "Rambler"

The Rambler

Engine 153, Florida East Coast RR

Overseas Extension to Key West

1939

Jacksonville Terminal

Jacksonville Station 1897

Florida East Coast RR Additional References

A Short History of Florida Railroads- Arcadia Publishing.

All Aboard Episodes FEC on PBS.

Henry Flagler- Visionary of the Gilded Age- Books- Sidney Walter Martin

Bramson, Seth, Florida East Coast Railway -128 p. - ill., map ; 24 cm.

Bramson, Seth, Speedway to sunshine - Erin, Ont., Canada - Boston Mills Press, c1984.

FECRS Florida East Coast Railway Society

FECRY.

Florida and the sunny south. [WorldCat.org

Florida East Coast Railway - Florida Rails Online Museum

Florida East Coast Railway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Florida East Coast Railway- Arcadia Publishing

Florida Railroads in the 1920's- Arcadia Publishing

Gallagher, Dan, Florida's Great Ocean Railway - building the Key West extension
- Sarasota, Fla. - Pineapple Press, Inc., 2003

Gallagher, Dan, Pigeon Key and the seven-mile bridge
- Marathon, FL - Pigeon Key Foundation, c1995.

In 1912, a proud Henry Flagler rode the first train into Key West,
marking the completion of the Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway's overseas railroad
connection to Key West and the linkage by railway of the entire east coast of Florida.

Mann, Robert W. Rails 'neath the palms - Burbank, Calif. - Darwin Publications, c1983.

Ormond Beach History - St Johns and Halifax RR 1886, Ormond Hotel 1888,
East Coast RR Amelia Island to Key West.

Parks, Pat. The railroad that died at sea - the Florida East Coast's Key West extension
- Brattleboro, Vt. - S. Greene Press, 1968.

St. Johns and Halifax Railroad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Standiford, Les. Last train to Paradise - Henry Flagler and the spectacular rise and fall
of the railroad that crossed the ocean - New York - Crown Publishers 2002. 1st ed.