The History of Water in Florida

Tourism in Florida
Teacher's Guide for Tourism in Florida

Background Information

Since its earliest years as a colony and U.S. territory, Florida attracted travelers. The climate, swaths of rich soil, thick forests and abundance of water offered the promise of health and prosperity, even while the wildness of the land, months of heat, seeming susceptibility to tropical disease, and potential for catastrophic weather proved daunting challenges to be overcome.

Doctors and resorts promoted sea bathing in Florida as a tonic for "consumptive invalids, for the nervous and debilitated, and for valetudinarians of all degrees."

While the earliest popular resorts were along the course of the St. Johns River, the rapid expansion of railway travel and development opened up the Florida coasts. Tourist destinations began aggressively promoting the beauty of the Florida landscape and the opportunities for sport fishing.

By the 1960s, Florida was a tourist’s playground. Swimming, boating and fishing – favorite Florida pastimes – continue to draw tourists from all over the country and the world. 

 

Health Resorts (1885)

Young women enjoying a day at Miami Beach (1925)

Louise Keen at the Fountain of Youth attraction (1946)

Young adults jumping at Daytona Beach

Woman drinking a Coke underwater (1950)

Beach-goers by the bath house at Butler Beach (1950s)

Brochure for Paradise Park, a segregated African-American tourist attraction

Paradise Park (video)

Beauty in the Deep (video)

Ross Allen Reptile Institute (video)

Woman at Gulf Beach, Florida

Florida hot air balloon at the beach

Some Useful Questions to Ask

• Who do you think made the videos in this set, and why do you think were they made?
• How did promoters of Florida water tourism in the 1800s and the 1900s differ in their characterization of Florida and its value as a place to visit?

Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

• SS.4.A.1.1: Analyze primary and secondary resources to identify significant individuals and events throughout Florida history.
• SS.4.A.8.4: Explain how tourism affects Florida's economy and growth.
• SS.8.A.1.7: View historic events through the eyes of those who were there as shown in their art, writings, music, and artifacts.
• SS.912.A.6.15: Examine key events and peoples in Florida history as they relate to United States history.
  Examples are Mosquito Fleet, "Double V Campaign," construction of military bases and WWII training centers, 1959 Cuban coup and its impact on Florida, development of the space program and NASA.
• SS.912.A.7.17: Examine key events and key people in Florida history as they relate to United States history.
  Examples are selection of Central Florida as a location for Disney, growth of the citrus and cigar industries, construction of Interstates, Harry T. Moore, Pork Chop Gang, Claude Pepper, changes in the space program, use of DEET, Hurricane Andrew, the Election of 2000, migration and immigration, Sunbelt state.
  

Florida Standards

• LAFS.4.RI.1.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• LAFS.4.RI.1.2: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
• LAFS.4.RI.1.3: Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
• LAFS.4.RI.1.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• LAFS.68.RH.1.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
• LAFS.68.RH.1.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
• LAFS.68.RH.2.6: Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
• LAFS.68.RH.3.7: Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
• LAFS.910.RH.1.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
• LAFS.910.RH.1.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
• LAFS.1112.RH.1.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
• LAFS.1112.RH.1.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.