Les Standiford’s Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean is a definitive history of the railroad told by a fiction writer. This gives the narrative perhaps more color and flow than some boring histories written by historians and political writers. The decision to build a railroad under harsh conditions with no natural staging ground cannot be overstated even today.

Florida’s first city of the 1890’s, Key West lay 150 miles of daunting Everglades, lakes and open ocean away from Miami. Flagler determined he needed to connect his railroad to Key West, but two different and equally daunting routes were the only ones realistically to be considered. Ultimately Flagler decided to connect his railroad via bridging Jewfish Creek and Lake Surprise to Key Largo, rather than the other option which was to plow through the Everglades down to Cape Sable and bridge Florida Bay. We tell the story of Flagler’s trials and tribulations.

The history is pleasurable to read as are the numerous sidebars. The books ends with the tragic 1935 Labor Day Hurricane which ended the railroad project and began the quest to build the Overseas Highway. By the late 1930’s technology had made building a road over the water much easier than when the Railroad project began.

For anyone interested in Henry Flagler or the Overseas Railroad this is worthy read. Also our Florida History Podcast on the same subject is a worthy companion listen.