In 1915, the road system in south Florida had changed little since before the Civil War. Travelling from Miami to Ft. Myers meant going through Orlando, 250 miles north of Miami. Within 15 years, three highways were dredged and blasted through the Everglades: Ingraham Highway from Homestead, 25 miles south of Miami, to Flamingo on the tip of the peninsula; Tamiami Trail from Miami to Tampa; and Conners Highway from West Palm Beach to Okeechobee City. In 1916, Florida's road commission spent $967. In 1928 it spent $6.8 million. Tamiami Trail, originally projected to cost $500,000, eventually required $11 million. These roads were made possible by the 1920s Florida land boom, the advent of gasoline and diesel-powered equipment to replace animal and steam-powered implements, and the creation of a highway funding system based on fuel taxes. This book tells the story of the finance and technology of the first modern highways in the South.

Accompanied by "Florida highways official detour bulletin, " Feb. 1942-

This important book from a Pulitzer Prize finalist follows the brutal journey a group of men take to cross the Mexican border: "the single most compelling, lucid, and lyrical contemporary account of the absurdity of U.S. border policy" (The Atlantic). In May 2001, a group of men attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona, through the deadliest region of the continent, the "Devil's Highway." Three years later, Luis Alberto Urrea wrote about what happened to them. The result was a national bestseller, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a "book of the year" in multiple newspapers, and a work proclaimed as a modern American classic.

The Search for Old Kings Road A first route into Florida British engineers built it before the American Revolution. This remarkable road ran from the Florida border at the St. Mary's river south to what would become the settlement of New Smyrna. It was intended to bring settlers into then almost unpopulated Florida. From 1774 it became the main route into Florida. It existed right up into the 20th century. Here were the battles, the famous men, refugees, the rich plantation economy, a huge slave revolt, and one of our country's worst wars, one that lasted seven years. Florida's Old King's road was important in its rich early history. The early highway has vanished, its stories untold, it is blocked by new construction often now existing in name only. This is William (Bill) Ryan's search for the history of this old highway and some it's stories. They resulted in four other books that tell of events along Old Kings, once called “An American Engineering Treasure.” Some small pieces of the original roadway still exist. They are vanishing unmarked into the Florida brush. By connection of the dots he found on old maps and early accounts a story evolves of this early American roadway along which much of Florida's history occurred. Author William P. (Bill) Ryan is a director of the Flagler County Historical Society. He retired to Florida from a career in high technology photographic equipment, was internet webmaster for Flagler County Public Library's Florida memories group, and is a frequent speaker to Florida history groups. His first person writing style brings history alive. Five Old Kings Road series books include: The Search for Old Kings Road I am Grey Eyes a story of old Florida Osceola His Capture and Seminole Legends Bulow Gold Florida's Door to Time In museums, book stores and Amazon.com

In the 1930s, the Federal Writers' Project paid Stetson Kennedy and Zora Neale Hurston, along with other lesser-known writers, to create driving tours of Florida. The FWP and the State of Florida jointly published the results as Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State. In Backroads of Paradise, Cathy Salustri retraces the routes these writers traveled, bringing a modern eye to the historic tours.

Dixie Highway: Road Building and the Making of the Modern South, 1900-1930