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The Board of Parks and Historic Memorials, commonly known as the Florida Park Service, was originally created in 1935 (Chapter 17025, Laws of Florida) and was administered within the Board of Forestry. The park service's first eight parks were designed and built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1949, the park service became an independent agency, the Board of Parks and Historic Memorials (Ch. 25353, Laws). Its purpose was to administer and control the operation and development of the state parks and historic sites of Florida. In 1969, the Board was merged with the Outdoor Recreational Development Council (Ch. 63-36, Laws) to form the Division of Recreation and Parks (Ch. 69-106, Laws), under the Department of Natural Resources. The Division eventually moved to the newly created Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in 1993 (Ch. 93-213, Laws). Between 1957 and 1960, the Florida Park Service's administrative staff consisted of a Board comprised of five governor-appointed citizens, a director, assistant director, fiscal agent, publicity chief, and various stenographers. The first director was Charles H. Schaeffer, who served in that position from 1935 to 1937. He was followed by H.J. Malsberger (1937-1940) and Lewis Scoggin (1940-1952). After Emmet Hill's tenure (1953-1960), the board saw two more directors -- Walter Coldwell (1960-1963) and N.E. "Bill" Miller (1963-1969) -- before merging into the Division of Recreation and Parks in 1969.
Summary:
This series contains the public relations and historical files maintained by the Office of the Director of the Florida Park Service in the 1950s and early 1960s for use as reference in answering the public's questions, requests, and concerns on park operation, policy, and history. The records were created by three separate directors and by the Chief of Education and Information office. Many of the historical files were originally active director's office files created in the 1930s when the Florida Park Service (FPS) was working alongside the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). In the 1950s, these files were re-labeled "history files" and placed in this series. There is also a box of records for the Highlands Hammock Association, a citizens advisory group that established and helped administer Highlands Hammock State Park. Information in this series includes FPS history and expansion, complaints about visitor service, park facilities, fees charged, and rules enforced, the formation of policy on pets, camping, fees, and other services, as well as FPS publicity and interpretation. These records also provide a sense of 1950s-era tourism, including who visited parks, their activities within the parks, and popular opinions of how parks should be operated.
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Folder listing available. 0
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Series S1945, Chief of Information and Education C.H. Schaeffer Files, contains related reference and publicity materials. Series S1352, State Park Project Files; series S1611, Plans for Florida Caverns and Other State Parks; and series S1919, CCC Oral History Videos, allcontain more information on the CCC and the FPS.
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Subject Access Fields:
Hill, Emmet, 1902- Scoggin, Lewis, 1899- Schaeffer, Charles H.
Florida Park Service. Parks and Historic Memorials, Board of. Civilian Conservation Corps (U.S.) United States. National Park Service. National Park Service (U.S.)
Parks Florida Outdoor recreation Florida Tourism Florida. Public relations Florida
Clippings. aat Photographs. aat
Little Talbot Island State Park (Fla.) Torreya State Park (Fla.) Fort Clinch State Park (Fla.) Fort Pickens (Fla.) Myakka River State Park (Fla.) Gold Head Branch State Park (Fla.) Highlands Hammock State Park (Fla.) Florida Caverns State Park (Fla.) Fort George Island (Fla.) Hillsborough River State Park (Fla.) Suwannee River (Ga. and Fla.) Santa Rosa Island (Fla.)
for detailed listing.