The History Press

Name: The Greatest Railroad Story Ever Told: Henry Flagler & the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension
Brand: Seth H. Bramson
SKU: 9781609493998
Price: 16.79 USD
Availability: InStock

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The Greatest Railroad Story Ever Told: Henry Flagler & the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Bull Trains to Deadwood

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

The Egyptian Trail in Illinois

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

New England Shipbuilding

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The New York State Canal System

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

History of Maine Railroads, A

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Butterfield's Byway

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The Wilmington, Brunswick & Southern Railroad

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Highway 25 in the Carolinas

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

History of Georgia Railroads, A

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Richmond Locomotive & Machine Works, The

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

The Lincoln Highway in Iowa

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Brainerd Shop Dogs

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Railroads of the Eastern Shore

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The Merritt Parkway

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Vermont's Woodstock Railroad

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

A History of Transportation in Western North Carolina: Trails, Roads, Rails and Air

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Wyoming Airmail Pioneers

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The Beartooth Highway: A History of America’s Most Beautiful Drive

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

San Angelo and Arthur Stilwell's Dream of Steam

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Battle for the Columbia River

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Stories of the Humboldt Wagon Road

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Cincinnati's Incomplete Subway

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Streetcars of Florida's First Coast

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Taming Big Sky Country:

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The Mount Washington Cog Railway: Climbing the White Mountains of New Hampshire

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Streetcars of Florida's First Coast

$16.99

Ohio Train Disasters

$16.99

The Merritt Parkway: The Road that Shaped a Region

$16.99

The Stagecoach in Northern California: Rough Rides, Gold Camps & Daring Drivers

$16.99

The Lincoln Highway in Iowa

$12.99

Southern Oregon Timber

$16.99

Taming Big Sky Country

$16.99

Michigan's C. Harold Wills

$16.99

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The Greatest Railroad Story Ever Told: Henry Flagler & the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension

9781609493998

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Although several people had considered constructing a railroad to Key West beginning in the early 1800s, it took a bold industrialist with unparalleled vision to make it happen.

In 1902, Henry Flagler made the decision to extend the Florida East Coast Railway to "the nearest deepwater American port." In this book, renowned Florida historian Seth H. Bramson reveals how the Key West Extension of the Flagler-owned FEC became the greatest railroad engineering and construction feat in U.S., and possibly world, history, an accomplishment that would cement Flagler's fame and legend for all time. Join Bramson as he recounts the years of operation of this great railroad, what it did for the Florida Keys and what it meant to the resident conchs.

Bull Trains to Deadwood

9781467144223

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Pandemonium wafted up out of Deadwood Gulch whenever bellowing, muddy oxen teams led wagons rattling into town. For a decade, thousands of bull trains hauled all that miners, settlers and ne'er-do-wells needed to survive in that isolated prairie oasis. The bulls, thousands of them in mile-long, meandering trains, had last known civilization in Fort Pierre, two hundred miles to the east. After weeks on the harsh prairie of the Sioux, the exhausted convoys appeared out of the prairie dust, each team of twenty or more oxen pulling sturdy, white-bonneted wagons filled with provisions. Author Chuck Cecil restores the glory of the near-forgotten yet indispensable symbols of the West that made life possible on the frontier's western fringe.

The Egyptian Trail in Illinois

9781467154802

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Journey down one of the most important roadways in the annals of Illinois transportation history.

Stretching from Chicago to Cairo, the Egyptian Trail was one of the earliest "improved" roadways in Illinois. Dating to 1915, it was the longest road in the state, running four hundred miles through 20 counties and over 60 towns. The project was the brainchild of two Mattoon men, Dr. Iverson Lumpkin and Ernest B. Tucker, who realized the southern reaches of the state should be linked with Chicago along the same path as the Illinois Central Railroad. Though long forgotten today, the trail also served as the basic template for the route of Interstate 57. Author James R. Wright takes a road trip through the fascinating heritage of the Egyptian Trail.

New England Shipbuilding

9781467147088

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

For more than four hundred years, New England shipyards have contributed significantly to America's maritime and naval supremacy. This compelling story is presented through the histories of seventy ships built from the colonial era down to modern times. Well-known vessels like the Constitution, the Nautilus, the Flying Cloud and the infamous whaleship Essex are included, but so, too, are lesser-known ships, including the ill-fated Wyoming and the far-ranging voyager Union. Every type of vessel is covered--their building or voyages making nautical news, often in exciting fashion, and their exploits filled with adventure, danger, tragedy and survival. Historian and author Glenn A. Knoblock explores the construction, life and demise of these ships and details their contribution to our nation's maritime heritage.

The Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad

9781467143462

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad is a perfect example of rail lines in the mid-nineteenth century. Chartered in 1852, the line ran from Paris, Tennessee, to the Kentucky state line and connected with two other routes to create a seamless link between Memphis and Louisville. It shortened the travel time between major economic cities, but its ability to make money didn't match its founders' aspirations. Its detractors ridiculed the route as "beginning in the woods and ending in a hollow tree." Following the Civil War, the railroad revitalized the line, only to run out of money and largely fade away. Author Todd DeFeo recounts the fascinating story of a historic line.

The New York State Canal System

9781467154178

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

New York's unique and majestic canals stretch over 524 miles from Albany to Buffalo and between the southern tier counties of Tompkins and Schuyler to the Quebec border. While much has been written on the nation building Erie Canal of the nineteenth century, much less has covered the third iteration of the waterway, the New York State Barge Canal. Deemed a historic corridor by the Federal Parks system in 2000, the Empire State's canal system has been in continuous operation since 1825, longer than any other man made transportation system in North America. Author Susan P. Gateley reveals the history, beauty and present day state of New York State's grand canal system.

History of Maine Railroads, A

9781467145299

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Maine is populated with intriguing characters who set in motion a fascinating, compelling story of railroads and the unique communities they helped to build. One of the first states to build railroads and trolleys in the United States, Maine at one point had more than ninety communities with trolleys. Standard-gauge and "two-footers'? crossed the state, including the St. Lawrence & Atlantic and the Bangor & Aroostook. From an international electric trolley to the attempted World War I dynamiting of a railroad bridge between the United States and Canada, the state is home to a rich rail heritage. Join Bill Kenny as he takes you on a journey from the first tracks made of wood to today's high-speed Downeaster Amtrak train.

Butterfield's Byway

9781626194878

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

John Butterfield's mail service connected the East and West Coasts in one of the great entrepreneurial and pioneering stories of the American West. Until 1858, California's gold fields were reached only by horseback, wagon or ship around Cape Horn. Congress decided a 2,800-mile, twenty-five-day stagecoach line would roll from St. Louis to San Francisco. Former Utica, New York mayor Butterfield hired one thousand men and bought 1,200 horses, 600 mules and 250 wagons. Surveying the wilderness, he built roads and two hundred way stations, graded river fords and dug one hundred wells. Join author Melody Groves on a cross-country trip from Missouri to California, and all points in between, as she recounts the Butterfield Stage Line's amazing odyssey.

The Wilmington, Brunswick & Southern Railroad

9781467150378

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

At the turn of the twentieth century, railroads meant progress, growth and development.

In the 1890s Southport, North Carolina became the target destination for a major coaling terminal for ships sailing the Atlantic coast. A new terminal would require a railroad to bring in coal and other supplies. More than twenty companies were formed to pursue this idea over the years, with a few actual accomplishments, but most were purely speculative. Wearying the expectant town for more than twenty-five years, the vision for a great port was whittled down until local entrepreneurs finally built a 30-mile rail line to connect the town to Wilmington.

Local author and railroad historian Mark Koenig chronicles the short life of a short line and the long process of making it a reality.

Highway 25 in the Carolinas

9781467148092

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Discover the history of an ancient road. Traveling US 25 through the Carolinas today is a much more pleasant experience than it was in the 1700s. Then, the road from the Tennessee Cherokee Towns to Augusta, Georgia, was a Cherokee trading path that followed a bison trace to the navigable port on the Savannah River. Drovers came from as far as Kentucky herding hogs, turkeys and mules. Lowcountry South Carolinians traveled by stagecoach and wagon to the foothills and mountains, staying for months. The Augusta Road, Saluda Gap and Buncombe Turnpike became the Dixie Highway Carolina Division and then the US Route 25 by 1931. Author Anne Peden travels the trading path and concrete highway to explore this fascinating history.

History of Georgia Railroads, A

9781467137775

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Railroads are central in the history of Georgia. Explore 200 years of railroad expansion and consolidation in this must-read for railroad and Georgia history fans.

Before the start of the Civil War, Georgia had ten railroads, five of which figured significantly in General William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign and March to the Sea.

The number of rail lines in the state ballooned after the war. Many were founded by individual entrepreneurs like Henry Plant and Thomas Clyde, while the biggest railroad of them all (Southern Railway) was created out of whole cloth by New York financier J.P. Morgan. At the close of the nineteenth century, consolidation was already in process, and by the end of the next century, only three significant railroads remained in Georgia.

Author and historian Robert C. Jones examines Georgia's rail history over the past two centuries and today.

Richmond Locomotive & Machine Works, The

9781467151795

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Experience the thriving industry and commerce of Richmond during the Gilded Age. The Richmond Locomotive Works was born out of the ashes of the evacuation fires at the end of the Civil War. The company grew, despite numerous financial and personnel difficulties, to become one of the city's single-largest employers, an industrial behemoth that provided livelihoods to thousands upon thousands of men over the course of its existence. Over a span of sixty years, the facility produced a myriad of industrial products, including thousands of steam locomotives that traversed rails throughout the United States and across the world. Historian Nathan Vernon Madison provides, for the first time since its closure in 1927, a thorough and complete history of this Richmond institution.

The Lincoln Highway in Iowa

9781467149808

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Iowa's Great Highway

Before there was Route 66, there was the iconic Lincoln Highway. A symbol of limitless potential, America's first coast-to-coast highway spanned Iowa from the Mississippi River to the Missouri River. When you travel U.S. 30 across Iowa today, you're never far from the historic Lincoln Highway, if not right on top of it. Learn the history of an Iowa landmark.

Brainerd Shop Dogs

9781467150590

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

An amazing piece of Brainerd's proud past For over eighty years, the Northern Pacific Railroad Shops was the largest employer in the Brainerd area. After the Depression, the NP provided steady jobs for Brainerd railroad workers, whose paychecks contributed to the growth of Brainerd. The NP Shops built freight cars and conducted maintenance and disassembly of the NP's rolling stock. The workforce of several trades called themselves "shop dogs." Shop dogs built a workplace culture with its own jokes, stories, ethics, and nicknames - an unintended circumstance could result in a nickname, such as Scoop Swanson or the Soo Line Bull, that stuck to a shop dog for the rest of his life. After shop dogs retired and the NP shops closed, their nicknames and stories live on. Author Bob Roscoe gathers the stories from this vital piece of Brainerd history.

Railroads of the Eastern Shore

9781467147026

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The history of the Delmarva Peninsula is inextricably entwined with the story of its railroads. The earliest railroads were short, locally funded lines. The dream to connect Norfolk directly to Eastern Seaboard cities farther north was first realized by the New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk Railroad in the 1880s. The line ran north-south along the peninsula to Cape Charles City, Virginia, where freight cars were loaded onto barges for the trip across the Chesapeake Bay. This line was eventually absorbed by the giant Pennsylvania Railroad, and the ferry service was eclipsed when the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was completed in 1964. For more than a century, though, railroads played a critical role in the development of the Eastern Shore. Regional historian Lorett Treese tells this story.

The Merritt Parkway

9781626196353

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Decorated with a breathtaking landscape and a treasured collection of diversely styled bridges, the Merritt Parkway runs thirty-seven and a half miles through Fairfield County.

From its complicated beginnings to the present, authors Laurie Heiss and Jill Smyth navigate the hard-fought yet picturesque path of this beloved road. Meet the bridge artist, the landscapers, the politicians and the activists whose involvement in the Merritt transformed Fairfield County from farms and country estates to one of the wealthiest counties in the nation. With the dedication of preservationists and conservationists, the Merritt Parkway today remains both functional and beautiful, holding a unique place in the heart of Connecticut's drivers.

Vermont's Woodstock Railroad

9781467147668

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

During America's golden age of railroading, it was the smaller branch lines that were the most beloved by the people they served. Such was the case of Vermont's Woodstock Railroad, which faithfully served the daily needs of the local populace--farmers, mill owners, carpenters and general store proprietors. From 1875 to 1933, the line provided a vital link between the communities of White River Junction, Quechee and Woodstock. Local families such as the Deweys, Billingses and Williamses led the development of the railroad and contributed greatly to the local economy. Local author and historian Frank J. Barrett Jr. recounts the story of that proud line, its construction, daily operations, growth, triumphs and eventual demise.

A History of Transportation in Western North Carolina: Trails, Roads, Rails and Air

9781467137065

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Traveling across the treacherous and diverse landscape of western North Carolina is a challenge historically met with human ingenuity. Mountain traces of Native Americans, dusty stagecoach routes and vital railroads lined the region. Asheville installed the state's first electric streetcars. Intrepid young men and women continued North Carolina's aviation legacy. The Buncombe Turnpike helped tame the Blue Ridge Mountains, allowing livestock drives to reach markets in South Carolina. Author Terry Ruscin reveals the visionaries and risk-takers who paved the way to the "Land of the Sky" in a wondrous examination of western North Carolina transportation history.

Wyoming Airmail Pioneers

9781625858641

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The story of the United States Transcontinental Air Mail Service, the first of its kind in the world, is one of romanticism and danger. Through calm or storm, in light or dark, a contingent of courageous couriers relayed the public mail across three thousand miles in less than a day and a half--faster than ever before. Though the U.S. Air Mail Service began on the East Coast, some of the frontier tales of the route through the Rocky Mountains were lost. The western leg of the airmail service from Chicago to San Francisco included the Mountain Division, headquartered in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The route through Wyoming, considered the most treacherous, provided harrowing tales of the pilots who risked their lives. Authors Starley Talbott and Michael Kassel lionize these folk heroes, aviation legends and icons of western history.

The Beartooth Highway: A History of America’s Most Beautiful Drive

9781467135795

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Traversing the spectacular Beartooth Highway in Montana and Wyoming is an unforgettable experience. The unspoiled mountain scenery along the highway inspired famed news correspondent Charles Kuralt to label it "America's most beautiful drive," yet the story behind this engineering marvel is largely unknown. It is an epic account of man versus nature to construct a road through unforgiving wilderness. Built during the height of the Great Depression and rising 10,947 feet above sea level, the Beartooth Highway sparked an economic boom in Red Lodge, Cooke City and Yellowstone National Park. Understandably, it continues to leave a profound impression on people privileged to drive it. Historian Jon Axline tells the exciting and colorful narrative behind the origins and construction of the Beartooth Highway.

San Angelo and Arthur Stilwell's Dream of Steam

9781467153492

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

The Story of the Railroad Visionary Who Put San Angelo on the Map. Over 100 years ago, Arthur Stilwell built 2,300 miles of railroad, founded 40 cities, and added $1 billion to the US economy. He was a visionary. He was controversial. He picked San Angelo for a main depot on his Kansas City, Mexico and Orient railway line. But he hadn't counted on the Mexican Revolution and challenging characters like the revolutionista general, Pancho Villa. Meanwhile, San Angelo wrestled with neighboring Texas town Sweetwater for the right to host the depot. Dr. Linda Thorsen Bond sorted through scores of sources to piece together the fascinating fragments of Stilwell's dream of steam.

Battle for the Columbia River

9781467154086

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

A war over riches on the Columbia River. While the Civil War raged, a group of captains, merchants, bankers and gamblers in the Pacific Northwest formed the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. The first capitalistic enterprise in the new state, they aimed to develop the richest and most powerful transportation operation in the region, dominating hundreds of miles of river traffic from the Pacific Coast to Montana. Achieving such status was anything but easy. They battled competitors, lawyers, the river herself, and defectors within their management team. In the unregulated business environment of the nineteenth century, men like John Ainsworth made their own rules, often deploying frontier justice against their enemies. Join author Mychal Ostler as he recounts the battle for power that shaped an industry.

Stories of the Humboldt Wagon Road

9781467145268

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Before the completion of the transcontinental railroad, there was the Chico and Humboldt Wagon Road, meant to connect California with the burgeoning mining industries of Nevada and Idaho. The ambitious plan to make Chico a major Northern California transportation hub was spearheaded by John Bidwell and began in earnest in 1864. The road opened new areas to mining and logging and provided opportunities for less scrupulous characters. Stagecoach robberies, murders and shootouts were just some of the misfortunes that occurred on the road, along with the dangers nature provided--snowstorms, perilous terrain and grizzly bears. Author Andy Mark offers a glimpse of what it was like for nineteenth-century travelers and settlers on the route of the Humboldt Wagon Road.

Cincinnati's Incomplete Subway

9781596298958

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Local author Jacob R. Mecklenborg reveals a fresh, thought-provoking, full examination of the Cincinnati subway's demise and what its future might hold.

What of those ghostly catacombs that lie dormant below city streets? Those subway tunnels, never finished, never filled with the screeches of trains and the busy commotion of commuters. Just there. Dead. You've heard of the subway's demise. The tunnels were too narrow. The city was too broke. A grand miscalculation. Well, most of what you've heard is, sorry to say, untrue. The popular story of the subway's demise is myth-laden and as incomplete as the original plan. The full story, long buried in mounds of public records dispersed in libraries, is now exposed.

Streetcars of Florida's First Coast

9781626197077

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

In the late 1800s, a new method to power streetcars ushered Florida's First Coast cities into the modern era. Earlier travelers moved around town on hay burners, but after the very first electric-powered trolley cruised up Jacksonville's Main Street in 1893, railways cropped up throughout the region. When the new railroad terminal opened in 1919, it handled millions of passengers, becoming the hub of the streetcar system and the largest railroad station in the South. With almost sixty miles of track, the Jacksonville Traction Company was the largest streetcar system in Florida. Award-winning author and historian Robert W. Mann chronicles the story behind Florida's bygone streetcar epoch and the dramatic history of city builders, financiers, organized labor, civil rights, fire, fever, nabobs and railway men.

Taming Big Sky Country:

9781626198524

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Drives this breathtaking did not come easy. Cruising down Montana's scenic highways, it's easy to forget that traveling from here to there once was a genuine adventure. The state's major routes evolved from ancient Native American trails into four-lane expressways in a little over a century. That story is one of difficult, groundbreaking and sometimes poor engineering decisions, as well as a desire to make a journey faster, safer and more comfortable. It all started in 1860, when John Mullan hacked a wagon road over the formidable Rocky Mountains to Fort Benton. It continued until the last section of interstate highway opened to traffic in 1988. Montana Department of Transportation historian Jon Axline charts a road trip through the colorful and inspiring history of trails, roads and superhighways in Big Sky Country.

The Mount Washington Cog Railway: Climbing the White Mountains of New Hampshire

9781609491963

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

The surpsing story of the Cog Railway on Mount Washington, and how one eccentric man's dream paved the way.

On July 3, 1869, the three-and-one-third-mile track leading to the summit of picturesque Mount Washington opened for public use. Once, only those daring enough to scale the 6,288 feet could enjoy the splendor of the scenery, but now everyone could journey to the summit using the invention of retired businessman Sylvester Marsh, who dreamed of this mountainous mode of transportation. Created at the height of the age of rail, the Cog Railway continues to chug up the mountain and into the hearts of tourists each year. Local historian Bruce D. Heald ties the history of its construction together with the grand romance of the railway as they triumphantly converge at the top of Mount Washington.