Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway

This item is a digital copy of the official program and souvenir for the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway. The completion of the extension, also known as the Over-Sea Railroad, would link almost the entire east coast of Florida by rail from Jacksonville to Key West. The final link of the railway was completed on January 22, 1912. Constructing the Over-Sea Railroad would require engineering innovations, monetary resources and seven years of challenging labor. 

The founder of the railroad, American industrialist Henry Flagler, is known for investing in the development and infrastructure of Florida's east coast. Flagler first visited Florida in 1878, upon recognizing potential for growth in the state he returned in 1885 and started to develop areas around St. Augustine. Flagler would go on to purchase independent railway systems  along Florida's east coast. With converting these existing independent railway tracks into a railroad that used the same size gauge of train tracks, Flagler created a single railway system in Florida. Incorporated as the Florida East Coast Railway Company in September of 1895, it would help establish tourism and agriculture within the state as populated areas and new towns would be more accessible.