About this item
During the Roaring Twenties, millions of Americans moved to the Sunshine State seeking quick riches in real estate. Many made fortunes others returned home penniless. Within a few years thousands of residential subdivisions, palatial estates, inviting apartment buildings and impressive commercial complexes were built. Opulent theaters and imposing churches opened, along with hundreds of municipal projects. A unique architectural theme emerged, today known as Mediterranean Revival. Railways and highways saw a renaissance. New cities--Boca Raton, Hollywood-by-the-Sea, Venice--were built from scratch and dozens of existing communities like St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando were forever transformed by the speculative fever. Florida has experienced numerous land booms but none more sweeping than that of the 1920s.
About the Author
GREGG M. TURNER (b. New London, Connecticut USA) was educated at Mitchell College, Eastern Connecticut State University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a faculty member and Program Manager of Business Studies at Southern Technical College in Fort Myers, Florida.
The author of a dozen books, Turner's 'Connecticut Railroads, an Illustrated History" received a United States Congressional Certificate of Merit while his 'Journey into Florida Railroad History' won a Florida Book-of-the-Year award for non-fiction. His other railway titles include: 'Railroads of Southwest Florida'; 'A Milestone Celebration: The Seaboard Railway to Naples and Miami'; 'A Short History of Florida Railroads'; and 'Florida Railroads in the 1920s.' A former director of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society at Harvard Business School, Turner has also written a definitive biography of southern transportation tycoon (and Connecticut native) Henry Bradley Plant, entitled 'The Plant System of Railroads, Steamships and Hotels.'
Gregg Turner has additionally written two books about historic Fort Myers, Florida (winter home of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford) and another about the creation of Venice, Florida in the Roaring Twenties.
His newest work, 'The Florida Land Boom of the 1920s,' explores one of the greatest building and migration episodes in American history, one that forever defined modern Florida.
"Turner's book about the boom in paradise is well-researched and well-written. Anyone interested in the history of Florida will want to add this book to their collection"--The Florida Historical Quarterly.
E-mail: greggturner@msn.com
