New Book Releases

The Maitland Art Center, historically known as the Research Studio, is one of the most intact examples of Mayan Revival architecture in the United States. With over 2,500 hand-carved reliefs and sculptures, the winding stucco and concrete compound was founded in 1937 as a winter artist’s retreat and for over 80 years has continuously provided artists with a sanctuary for artistic exploration. At the heart of this living historical site is a story, and at the heart of this story is one man: the site’s founder, Jules André Smith, whose singular artistic vision led to the creation of one of the most ambitious artistic communities in the nation. This pictorial retrospective of the history of the Research Studio introduces readers to Smith’s early years as a Cornell-trained architect, his later exploration of surrealist expressions that would inspire the center’s fantasy design, and the golden years of the Research Studio, in which Smith welcomed over 60 nationally acclaimed artists to live and work at the site.

With the arrival of the twentieth century, Americans continued in the pioneering spirit of their forebears and looked upon the automobile as a new way to explore the unknown. Thousands of Americans packed their tents in the backs of their cars and set out to enjoy the back roads of the United States. Carrying extra gasoline in five-gallon cans, plenty of canned food, and extra tires strapped to the fenders, these intrepid souls began an exploration of the North American continent with a thoroughness that put Lewis and Clark to shame. These tourists became the symbol of another "New Generation" of Americans, restless, adventuresome, and filled with boundless curiosity. These were the "Tin Can" tourists.
In 1919, the official organization of Tin Can Tourists of the World was formed in Tampa, and the group held two meetings annually until disbanding in 1977. Early on, residents of Florida recognized the potential economic impact of the Tin Canners on the state, and the movement to improve roads and provide accommodations and amusements to these seasonal travelers flourished. By 1930, Florida had built more than 3,000 miles of paved roads, and campsites, roadside motels, and exotic animal parks could be found along most major thoroughfares.

The Ormond Beach area's earliest known inhabitants were the Timucua Indians, whose primitive, blunt-nosed canoes skimmed the waters of the Halifax and Tomoka Rivers in northeast Volusia County.

Soon, hardy settlers also made their way to the area--brothers John Andrew and Charles Bostrom were attracted by the mighty oaks and sparkling spring water in 1868 and were soon followed by other rugged visionaries. As the town grew, entrepreneurs began their work, and one of the most famous area landmarks, the Hotel Ormond, was opened in 1888. At the turn of the century, the hard-packed white sands of the nearby beach became a natural proving ground for gas- and steam-driven horseless carriages--the original ""birthplace of speed."" The region was blessed with abundant resources, a mild and inviting climate, and natural beauty, all of which served to entice John D. Rockefeller, perhaps Ormond Beach's most famous resident, to spend his winters in the area. His three-story home now serves the community as a cultural center and museum.

Prior to its incorporation in 1855, Tampa Town--as it was then known--was a desolate place to live, and disease and isolation kept many from settling in the area.

But as the century progressed, a new and exciting mode of transportation began to open up America's remaining frontiers, including the untamed Gulf Coast of Florida. When the railroad came to Tampa, thousands of adventure-seekers, tourists, and new residents came with it, all ready to soak up the balmy breezes and tropical pleasures of the city of Tampa.Tampa began to resemble a modern industrialized city by the turn of the century, due mainly to the grand vision and plans of one man. Henry B. Plant encouraged Tampa's growth by bringing the railroad to town and constructing the elaborate Tampa Bay Hotel, and he, along with other entrepreneurs, brought an economic boom to the region with new industries, such as cigars and citrus, and the promotion of tourism.

For the past 50 years, Cuban refugees and Central American immigrants have moved to an old quarter of Miami known as Little Havana. This internationally known community is famous for its sizzle, its heated ethnic politics, its entrepreneurial zest, and its colorful street life and celebrations. Before it became Little Havana, the area was home to a vast array of people, including white and black Bahamians, Jews, people from parts of the Middle East, and folks with Deep South pedigrees. The quarter's most famous neighborhoods then were Riverside and Shenandoah. Riverside emerged from the piney woods at the start of the 19th century and hosted some of the earliest city institutions, as well as picturesque homes and tree-shaded streets. Shenandoah was farmland as late as the 1920s, before a real estate boom transformed it into a neighborhood of gorgeous Mediterranean Revival-style homes. Southwest Eighth Street, the famed Calle Ocho, once divided the two neighborhoods, but the vast influx of Hispanics erased that division as the thoroughfare developed its own identity.

Located on Florida's Atlantic Coast midway between Palm Beach and Miami, Pompano Beach marks the northern boundary of the Florida reef at the outlet from the Intracoastal Waterway to the ocean. Incorporated in 1908, the city is now home to more than 82,000 residents, who consider their community, with its historic buildings, pristine beaches, and comfortable lifestyle, the "Gem of the Gold Coast."
The completion of the Pompano Canal in 1890 and the arrival of the Flagler Florida East Coast Railway in 1896 provided the basis for the early development around Lettuce Lake, now Lake Santa Barbara, and Pompano Beach's rich farmland attracted the area's first settlers. These stalwart men and women faced with determination the challenges of natural disasters and economic uncertainty and carved their prosperous community out of the harsh Florida landscape. Prominent people, such as the McNab brothers, George L. Blount, the Garner family, George and Mary Butler, Blanche Ely, the Rolle family, and others, took part in the developing tale of Pompano Beach, while local landmarks and events, such as the Kester Cottages, the State Farmers' Market, Pompano Harness Park, Goodyear Blimp, the Holiday Boat Parade, the Broward County Fair, and Pioneer Days, helped to shape the area's rich heritage. Featuring over 200 vintage photographs of such people and places, this pictorial retrospective captures, in word and image, the scenes of Pompano Beach's unique history.

*Best Nonfiction Book about Florida Award for 2015 from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association*  Key Biscayne is an island paradise umbilically connected to Miami by a three-and-a-half-mile-long causeway. Its recorded history is one of the longest in North America, starting five centuries ago with Juan Ponce de León's arrival, the second official landing of Europeans in North America after Columbus. For centuries, Key Biscayne was an important landmark for Gulf Stream mariners, and the Cape Florida Lighthouse, built in 1825, is the oldest remaining structure in the region. The key was the site of an infamous Indian attack, a Second Seminole War military base, scientific expeditions, a Civil War raid, a tropical plantation, and finally a residential village and county, state, and national parks. When the key served as Richard Nixon's vacation White House, its worldwide fame grew. Key Biscayne now hosts a multinational community and hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.

Tarpon Springs, the South's Mediterranean port city named for the abundant fish found off its coast, is hailed as the "Sponge Capital of the World." The oldest town in Pinellas County, Tarpon is located along the Anclote River where the river flows into the Gulf of Mexico. History in this coastal community dates back to the 1800s with the arrival of the first settlers. The advent of the railroad and the building of the Anclote Key Lighthouse brought many positive changes to the area; wealthy Northerners flocked here creating a winter haven while numerous fishing vessels plied city waters. Enterprising entrepreneurs boosted the city's economy and reputation with the harvesting of sponges. The Greek immigrants who came to the area to continue their traditional trade of sponge diving forever enriched the city's cultural makeup with their families and customs. Today, the progressive community continues to be a shining example of historic preservation and cultural variety. Images of America: Tarpon Springs celebrates the fascinating history of "the Venice of the South" and invites readers to experience this breathtaking locale through words and vintage photographs. Rare images, including scenes of the early sponge divers, businesses, residents, festivals, and celebrations, abound in this unique volume. Natives, visitors, and history buffs alike will delight in this visual tour of a picturesque and historically interesting community.

In 1908, Robert Parsell Davie, a developer from Colorado, purchased 28,000 acres of reclaimed land in the Everglades. He started a 10-acre experimental farm--the "Davie Tract"--to demonstrate the possibilities of farming in the Everglades and promote the land to prospective buyers. Some of these early pioneers came from the Panama Canal Zone and called this place "Zona." They lived in tar paper houses or canvas tents, while others built permanent homes that remain today, including community buildings like the 1918 Davie School. The name Davie was officially chosen in 1914, and the town incorporated for the first time in 1925--electing well-known horticulturalist Frank Stirling as the first mayor. Davie became renowned for its successful citrus groves and, later, the rodeo. As the population rapidly grew between 1960 and 1980, Davie cultivated a Western theme to hold on to its unique rural legacy.

Hollywood-Florida's Diamond of the Gold Coast-was founded in the early 1920s by Joseph Wesley Young, a developer who envisioned a "city for everyone-from the opulent at the top of the industrial and social ladder to the most humble of working people." The city began as a town hoping to lure wealthy Northerners to the balmy climes of South Florida. Timing, unfortunately, was not in the city's interest. Just 10 months after incorporating, the area was devastated by a hurricane that very nearly destroyed the city before it could firmly establish itself as a destination of choice. That setback aside, Hollywood continued a slow, perceptible growth to eventually become Florida's ninth-largest city. Images preserved at the City's Records and Archives Division are displayed in this comprehensive photo journal for history buffs, residents, and tourists alike to celebrate for years to come. Included are unique photos of a Hollywood few people remember: the gracious elegance of the Hollywood Beach Hotel, the fledgling business district along Harrison Street and Hollywood Boulevard, the Riverside Military Academy, the retractable roof of the Country Club, an undeveloped beach, the widest boulevard in all of Florida, and a population determined to enjoy itself in semi-tropical splendor.

The Jacksonville architecture of the 1920s was a marvel as it dotted the glowing skyline—which could easily be seen across the St. Johns River at that time. Jacksonville in the 1920s shows a drastically different city compared to how it looks in the 2020s. Most of the early buildings have been demolished, although a few survive, including the Barnett, the Carling, and the Florida Theatre. Beyond the urban core of Jacksonville are the neighborhoods of Springfield, Riverside Avondale, San Marco, and San Jose, which all underwent drastic changes in the 1920s. The nearby beaches are intertwined with the city in that they not only represent the beauty of that metropolis, complete with its exuberant citizens, but one of those beaches, Pablo Beach, was renamed Jacksonville Beach in the 1920s. This was also the time of the Harlem Renaissance, which impacted the local Black community.

Westshore is a community on the western fringes of Tampa that has served as a hub of commerce and entertainment for many decades. Growing from agricultural lands near the northeastern shores of Old Tampa Bay in the late 19th century, Westshore has seen a multitude of transformations over the past century that helped put the Tampa Bay area on the map, including the development of a small airstrip that later became Tampa International Airport and the construction of a football stadium that lured the National Football League to award Tampa its own franchise--the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Since the 1960s, the community has also seen an outstanding concentration of commercial space that collectively earned Westshore bragging rights as the largest office market in Florida. Yet Westshore is more than a nine-to-five nerve center of commerce. With two regional malls, hundreds of shops and restaurants, and more than 15,000 residents, Westshore has grown into one of the most vivacious regions of Tampa.

Once known as Gasparilla Island, Boca Grande has become one of the best places to vacation and live.

Life on Gasparilla Island once had a very different rhythm. With a past intimately tied to Charlotte Harbor and the rich fishing grounds it provided, Gasparilla Island was, in its early history, the site of a small fishing village and a commercial fishery. The discovery of phosphate deposits in the region and the introduction of the railroad soon increased the pace of life, and a thriving port was built on the island's south end. As the twentieth century dawned and the Florida boom loomed on the horizon, the town of Boca Grande began to hum with the activity of a rapidly growing population. Though much has changed through the years--the little fishing village has vanished, the estimable Boca Grande Hotel is gone, and the once bustling port is now a state park--much of the region's unique history continues to inform the modern landscape. The venerable lighthouse, constructed in 1890, now serves as a museum of local history, and the grand Gasparilla Inn still stands firmly upon its original 1911 site. Those who now call Boca Grande home cherish it for the same island magic that fishermen and railroad officials recognized long ago: its unspoiled natural beauty, inviting climate, world-class fishing, and welcoming community.

People from Puerto Rico have been traveling to Miami for more than a century. The island became a US territory in 1898, and islanders became US citizens in 1917; throughout the 20th century, Puerto Ricans have established communities across Miami-Dade County. They have come as farm workers, garment workers, bankers and investors, or as US service members. By the 1950s, the Puerto Rican community in Miami was strong and diverse. Boricuas in the Magic City: Puerto Ricans in Miami is a photographic voyage through Miami. "Boricua" is a term of endearment that Puerto Ricans call themselves that identifies them with the precolonial period when the native Tainos referred to the island as Boriken.

Do you know... WHY the Tampa area is especially attractive to so many birds? (Hint: Think "best nursery!) WHAT claim to fame makes Bayshore Boulevard so famous? (Hint: It goes beyond the beautiful views!) Find these answers and more in Cool Stuff Every Kid Should Know--an interesting little book about a very special place on the planet!



Arcadia Kids is a new series of fun, colorful, easy-to-read books for children ages 7-11 featuring attention-grabbing cover art, inviting conversational style content, and vivid full-color images of landmarks and geography. Parents, grandparents, and savvy shoppers will appreciate the feel good factor of purchasing books that are both fun AND educational.