Florida

Prolific inventor Thomas Edison and automobile pioneer Henry Ford shaped the modern world like few others in history.

The lives of these close friends intersected at their winter homes in southwest Florida. Edison first visited the tiny cattle-ranching community of Fort Myers in 1885, building a home and laboratory soon after. There, he wintered with his wife, Mina, and their children, Madeleine, Charles, and Theodore. Ford purchased the adjacent estate in 1916, wintering in the area with his wife, Clara, and son, Edsel. Here in southwest Florida, these famous neighbors relaxed and found time to explore new projects.

For more than 50 years, there was no more iconic Florida tourist attraction than Silver Springs.

Its sheer popularity meant that the surrounding area—indeed, the entirety of Marion County—serviced the entertainment, gas, food, and lodging needs of millions of tourists annually. Visitors flocked to places like Ross Allen’s Reptile Institute, Tommy Bartlett’s Deer Ranch, and natural attractions like Rainbow Springs and Ocala Caverns. Sadly, as Florida tourism moved into the theme park era, scores of smaller attractions and their related businesses were abandoned. Author Tim Hollis revisits these once-thriving tourist spots and what happened when those tourists stopped coming.

Maas Brothers opened in 1886, and for more than 100 years it was the commercial and social hub for generations of Tampa Bay shoppers. From its historic downtown Tampa store, to its sleek St. Petersburg location, to branches throughout central and west Florida (in cities like Lakeland, Sarasota, and Clearwater), Maas Brothers was a Florida Suncoast institution. The department store was known and respected for its casual and quality merchandise, fashion shows, popular in-store restaurants that featured its signature cinnamon twists, and countless traditions. A founding unit of the Allied Stores Corporation, Maas Brothers became one of the company's most profitable divisions. For most of its existence, the department store faced little competition throughout its trading area, but Maas Brothers fell victim to department store industry changes in the 1980s. It was combined with Miami's Jordan Marsh division in 1987 but gradually lost its identity. In 1991, the Maas Brothers name, along with many of its downtown locations, became a part of Tampa Bay history.