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Florida Keys Overseas Railway manuscript and photographs, 1902-2006.
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0.25 cubic ft.
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Biographical/Historical:
Warren Zeiller (1929-2008) was a prolific Florida author and expert in tropical marine biology. Born in Weehawken, New Jersey, Zeiller graduated from Colorado State University and Michigan State University before serving in the United States Navy during the Korean War. Beginning in 1960, he worked as a diver for the Miami Seaquarium before working up to vice president and then general manager. After his retirement in 1985, Zeiller worked for the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau as Director of the Tropical Everglades Visitor Association from 1987 to 1997.
Over the course of his career, Zeiller authored several books, including Tropical Marine Invertebrates of Southern Florida and the Bahama Islands (1974), Tropical Marine Fishes of Southern Florida and the Bahama Islands (1975), Introducing the Manatee (1992), and A Prehistory of South Florida (2005). He also published several articles and appeared often on television, including Jacques Cousteau specials as well as the children's show, Arthur & Company. In May 2006, Zeiller published The Florida Keys Overseas Railway, which details the extension of the Florida East Coast Railway from the Florida mainland to Key West. Zeiller based the book primarily upon the photographs of engineer William Asa Glass and the reminiscences of Glass' daughter Jo Willis Mahoney, who gave her father's photographs to Zeiller.
William Asa Glass (1884-1965) was born in Edwardsville, Illinois. He worked as a construction engineer for the Florida East Coast Railway extension project into Key West during the early 1900s. The Key West Extension was a length of railroad from Homestead to Key West built and owned by the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC), a company created by land developer Henry Flagler between 1885 and 1895. In 1902, the FEC began surveying areas for the construction of an extension of the railway to Key West. The Overseas Extension took seven years to build and employed over 4,000 men. The 127-mile railway opened in 1912 and was abandoned in 1935 after a hurricane badly damaged the rail.
Summary:
This collection consists of Warren Zeiller's original 136-page manuscript for his book, The Florida Keys Overseas Railway. The manuscript contains more than 160 photographic prints, including copies of 129 of William Asa Glass's railway construction photographs, and 24 color images of remnants of the railway taken by Zeiller in 2006. All of the images are also available in digital format on a compact disk.
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Folder listing available. 0
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The original William Asa Glass photographs are housed at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida in Miami, Florida.
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Subject Access Fields:
Flagler, Henry Morrison, 1830-1913 Glass, William Asa, 1884-1965. Zeiller, Warren, 1929-
Florida East Coast Railway.
Authors Florida. Railroads Design and construction Florida Railroads Track
Manuscripts. aat Photographs. aat
Key West (Fla.) Key West Extension (Fla. : Railroad)
for detailed listing.