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Discover the history of these beautiful islands on the Gulf Coast and how they became the eminent destination for shell seekers worldwide.

Sanibel Island was opened to homesteading in 1888, four years after the Sanibel Island Light Station was completed, and boats ranging from steamers to schooners were drawn to the islands. The islands' prairie-like savannahs, where the threat of freeze was rare, were perfect for farming. Inns and hotels appeared to service newcomers who came to stake a homesteading claim, fish for silver king tarpon, or explore the tropical frontier. Others came seeking seashells, as Sanibel and Captiva Islands were legendary among shell collectors everywhere.

A fascinating journey through the history of Jacksonville, Florida with postcard images and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

Jacksonville's Consolidation of 1967marked the end of individual towns in Duval County, but it established Jacksonville, all 840 square miles of it, as the largest city in the continental United States.

Collectors and authors Andrew Bachmann and Maria E. Mediavilla, with the help of the historical society's Emily Lisska and local historian Dr. Wayne Wood, share their personal postcard collections and take readers on a captivating journey through Jacksonville's history. Featured are postcards that show the 1920s real estate boom and transportation across the St. Johns River. View postcards that document the ever-changing Hemming Plaza, a metamorphosis that continues even today. This second volume of vintage postcard images will give readers a deeper insight into Jacksonville's past and the great importance of historic preservation.

Jacksonville Revisitedis a visual and written documentation of how the city has grown and developed since the introduction of postcard communication. The changes in commerce and landscape are illustrated and preserved through postcards.

Though little more than an afterthought these days, from the 1890s through the 1920s, postcards were by far the most popular means of communication.

Many of the postcards produced during this "golden age'? can be considered works of art, when postcard photographers traveled the nation coast to coast snapping photographs of busy street scenes, documenting local landmarks, and taking photographic portraits of locals only too happy to pose for the camera. These images, printed as postcards and sold in general stores across the country, helped drive the Florida land boom of the early 20th century, with people all over the country seeing the sandy beaches and palm trees in the sun, and these surviving postcards can teach us important aspects of yesteryear that we may not find in history books.

Nestled between the St. Johns Riverand the Atlantic Ocean, Deland, Florida has a history all its own. Perfect for fans of Florida history.

When Henry A. DeLand sat down to plan a town in the summer of 1876, he envisioned a place that would become a religious, educational, business, and social center--the Athens of Florida.

Deland made his dream a reality by investing his livelihood in the town that would be named for him. He donated the land for the first municipal building that doubled as a church and school and funded the school that would become Stetson University. Ever since, the city of DeLand has had an interesting and rich history. Much of this unique history has been captured and preserved in postcards published throughout the past hundred-plus years.

Author L. Thomas "Tom'? Roberts is a past president and historian of the year of the West Volusia Historical Society. The majority of the imagery used for this book comes courtesy of Jim Cara, owner of the most complete collection of DeLand postcards in existence.

View images of the early century in Daytona Beach.

From the 1890s through the 1920s, the postcard was an extraordinarily popular means of communication, and many of the postcards produced during this ""golden age"" can today be considered works of art. Postcard photographers traveled the length and breadth of the nation snapping photographs of busy street scenes, documenting local landmarks, and assembling crowds of friends and neighbors only too happy to pose for a picture. These images, printed as postcards and sold in general stores across the country, survive as telling reminders of an important era in America's history.

The 1920s was a time of unprecedented growth in the nation's oldest city.

Fueled by a land boom that began in South Florida, St. Augustine was inundated with land speculators and new subdivisions, many only supported by a wing and a prayer. The city floated a million-dollar bond issue to construct the Bridge of Lions, and D.P. Davis filled in an entire marshland to build his magnificent subdivision of Davis Shores. When a new coastal highway linked the town with beached to the north and south and opened up St. Augustine's beautiful shoreline for development, tourists began flocking to the city in droves. All of this activity halted, however, when the land boom collapsed in the late 1920s, along with rest of the U.S. economy at that time.St. Augustine in the Roaring Twentiesdetails the roller-coaster events of the city in this exciting decade.