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Guard Well Your Health

Florida Resorts1.jpg

National advertisers bought ad space in local papers all across the United States.  This ad, from the Florida East Coast Resort beckoned readers to come enjoy the fine weather and great roads this winter.  Note the soldier saluting the reader, as they are asked to guard their own health.

Miami Sounds Better

Flagler ads appeared in just about every print media, very often in the Classified section.  Marketing Florida as a tourist destination was ultimately the key to the success of the State.  I included this example of a little known national advertising campaign, and as an homage.  The Flagler System is named after Henry Morrison Flagler, a founder of Standard Oil, and later a land developer.  His contributions to Florida included the Florida East Coast Railway, several resort destinations such as Palm Beach and the first city developer of Miami.  He was so well liked that the citizens of Miami wanted to name their city Flagler, but he suggested it be named for an old indian name, "mayaimi", which translates to "Big Water".  He had the vision to cross the state with railroad tracks to connect what were small towns through swamp and sand.  In 1912, just before his death, he saw the completion of the Florida East Coast Railway to the furthest destination of Key West, the closest deep water port to the Panama Canal in the U. S. 

Several locations have his name out of respect for his accomplishments in the State.  Flagler County is the largest.  The town of Flagler Beach in Florida and Flagler Colorado are namesaked for him.  Miami's main east-west street which is a shopping destination downtown is called Flagler Street.  Flagler Monument Island in Biscayne Bay, Miami is a tribute to him.  St. Augustine has Flagler College and Flagler Hospital.  The Henry Morrison Flagler Museum also known as Whitehall, and was his palatial estate in Palm Beach he treated as a winter home.  Because of the development of Flagler, Florida went from the least populated State in the South in 1900 of just over half a million to the 3rd most today of 20.6 million citizens.