Florida history is filled with important dates including 1513 when Juan Ponce de Leon’s European expedition landed in La Florida. More than three centuries later in 1845 Florida officially became a state. Henry Flagler completed construction of his railroad to the Florida Keys in 1912 only to die the following year. For the state’s hoop fans, a year of renewed hope occurred in 2010 when the Miami Heat signed 25-year-old LeBron James. A memorable year for residents of the central section of the state was 1971 when Mickey and Minnie Mouse arrived. The opening of Walt Disney World near Orlando brought major changes to Central Florida, and for many Floridians, not necessarily for the better.
We departed Florida for graduate school in 1970, returning two years later to a state on steroids with economic and population growth that continues more than 50 years later. The metropolitan area of Orlando, a sleepy town with a population under 300,000 when we departed in 1970, is now home to over 2 million people. Orange and grapefruit groves have been replaced with housing developments, malls, service stations, warehouses and parking lots. Pleasurable two-lane roads of the 60s have morphed into multiple-lane white-knuckle racetracks.
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David and Kay Scott are authors of “Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges” Globe Pequot. Visit them a blog.valdosta.edu/dlscott