By: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/florida
Florida attained statehood in 1845, yet not until a pair of railroad barons built lines down the Atlantic and Gulf coasts in the late 1800s and early 1900s, did the state take off, spurring the phenomenal growth of what’s now the third-most populous state.
Henry Flagler arrived aboard the first train to Key West, southernmost point of the U.S., in 1912, marking completion of his Florida East Coast Railway linking the East Coast from north to south. In his path, he left grand hotels – the Hotel Ponce de Leon in St. Augustine, and the Breakers and Royal Poinciana in what became known as Palm Beach. Henry Plant pushed rail lines down the West Coast.