Henry Morrison Flagler, son of an impoverished Presbyterian minister in upstate New York, organized Standard Oil Co., left John D. Rockefeller to run it and retired to Florida in 1883 with ever mounting millions in profits. These he proceeded to invest in building Florida hotels (one with 13 miles of corridors), towns, railroads. One of his dreams was to connect Key West with the mainland. He declared he would die in peace once his railroad stretched over the 140 miles of coral reefs to the most southerly U. S. city. Seven years,...
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