Gary R. Mormino “Land Of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern
Florida,” Univ. Press Florida,
2005, 370 pp.
At the outset of the 20th century, Florida
had 500,000 residents; by the 21st century it had 16 million. At the time of Pearl Harbor, Florida was the
smallest southern state, now it is the fourth largest in the U.S., and we are
there, even though I did not read the biblical passage Acts 8:26, ‘Arise and go
toward the south,’ until after our arrival.
Now, Linda & I have just treated ourselves to a continuous 12 month
summer. This book basically describes how
Florida replaced the state bird (mosquito) with the early-bird-special. It is a must read for anyone who wants to
know more about Florida's history.
My Notes:
Pg. 18: In
2000, fully one I six Floridians was born abroad; almost 2.5 million state
residents spoke Spanish at home; Florida’s Hispanic population (2.7 million)
outnumbered the state’s African Americans (2.3 million).
Pg. 45:
Florida’s first great land boom occurred from 1782 to 1784, when
Loyalist British families fled the Patriot army and settled in St. Augustine
and along the upper St. Johns River, boosting the population of British East
Florida from about 6,000 to 17,000.
The second boom from 1920 to 1925, resulted in a
dramatic shifting of the state’s population centers. As late as the 1880s, most residents still
resided in Middle Florida. As late as
1920, Florida’s population stood at 968,470, during the 1920s a half million
new inhabitants were added, an increase of 51.6 percent. The 1920s boom involved furious speculation
and investment in property, especially in South and Central Florida. Miami and Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg and
Sarasota came of age in the 1920s.
The third Florida boom coordinated with technology,
such as AC, and affluence of senior citizen retirees.
Pg. 56: Marco
Island is six miles long and four miles wide, it was the largest jewel of the
Ten Thousand Islands. In the 1950s, the
Collier family had offered the land to the State of Florida for $1 million, but
officials showed little interest.
Instead of becoming a nature reserve, Marco was ‘improved,’ divided into
11,000 home sites, carved into 91 miles of canals, and dredged and diked for
mosquito control and landfill.
Construction began in 1964.
Pg. 66: Florida
is known as the ‘Deadbeat State.’
Florida bankruptcy law reinforced this image as well as its
constitutional amendments prohibiting a state income tax and allowing for a
homestead exemption. The laws allow
creditors to shield expensive houses and all wages, annuities, pension plans,
and property owned jointly with a spouse.
Pg. 71: In
1950, Naples (founded in the 1880s) was a modest town of 1,465 residents. In 1960 hurricane Donna wiped away many of the
older homes. Yet, by 1970, Naples was
the fastest growing city in the fastest growing county in America’s
fastest-growing state. The city has been
compared to Long Island’s Southampton, home to two five-star Ritz-Carltons, the
Naples Philharmonic Center and the Naples Museum of Art. In 2000, Naples became America’s
highest-ranked metropolitan area in per-capita income (over $43,000), in spite
of the fact that only 40 percent of its residents work for weekly wages. Collier and Lee counties claim more than 140
eighteen-hole courses,
Pg. 104: In
2000 Disney World parks drew almost 43 million tourists. Five of America’s to seven mega-theme parks
are located in Orlando, annually bringing crowds who purchase nearly 50 million
tickets and spend $17 billion.
Pg. 213: At the
end of the twentieth century, the Everglades is about half the size it was at
the beginning of the century.
Pg. 215: In
1950, Florida’s highest land point was neither Hernando County’s Chinsegut Hill
(280 feet) nor Walton County’s Lakewood (345 feet) but rather a phosphate dump
heap atop Sand Mountain in Polk County, rising to 350 feet.
Pg. 281: Gaming
revenues have lifted the Seminoles out of poverty: in 1983, each Seminole
received $3000 each month.
Pg. 291:
Caucasians are only 21.7% of the population in Miami-Dade County as of
2000; Hispanic and Latino total 56% and African Americans 19%. In no county in Florida was Hispanic growth
in the 1990s less than 30 percent. The
total Florida Hispanic population in 2000 was 1,291,737, 16.8% of the state’s
total. However, Asians are beginning to
comprise a significant number in the state: over 200,000 Asians (principally
Filipinos, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Koreans) resided in Florida in 2000. In 2003 Florida’s minority students became a
majority. Hispanic, African American,
Asian, and multiracial students outnumbered whites.
Pg. 329:
Residents of Sanibel revolted against unbridled development in 1974 and
voted to incorporate Sanibel Island and exert home rule and drastically limit
development. Protected wetlands and a
wildlife preserve now occupy more than half of the island and the permanent
population rests at about 6,000.
Pg. 359:
Florida was whiplashed by four powerful hurricanes in 2004 in a span of
44 days.
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