Railroads and Industry
The railroads were necessary in the rapid transportation of bulk goods and agricultural products that had to reach Northern markets in a few days after harvesting. The railroad network bolstered an old Florida industry.
Sugar Industry. Hamilton Disston himself started the successful Florida Sugar Manufacturing Company in the Clewiston area. Flagler's railroad allowed for sugar production along Lake Okeechobee.
Florida leads the U.S. in cane sugar production, accounting for 20% of all sugar consumed nationally. The industry contributes over $2 billion to Florida’s economy and supports tens of thousands of jobs, including more than 550 full-time and seasonal positions at the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative alone.
Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, founded in 1960, includes 45 grower-owners farming 70,000 acres in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA).
Each day during the 150-day harvest season, about 500 acres of sugarcane are harvested, producing 3 million tons of sugarcane and 350,000 tons of raw sugar.
Cattle
Florida’s cattle industry is one of the oldest and most unique in the United States, with deep historical roots and a strong modern presence. Cattle were first brought to Florida in 1521 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, making Florida the birthplace of the American cattle industry. By the 1600s, Florida had 34 ranches and around 20,000 head of cattle. These early ranches laid the foundation for a centuries-long tradition of cattle raising.
The cattle kingdom would never be the land of open range and long trail drives, but the development of scientific cattle breeding had arrived by 1900. Prior to experimentation, ninety per cent of Florida's herds were ill-fed, unattended beef herds. The resultant beef products were mainly for local consumption. Natal hay from South Africa and the introduction of foreign livestock like the Indian Brahman began to change the cattle industry.
Florida’s “Cracker” cowboys used whips to herd cattle, giving rise to the term “Cracker,” which is still associated with Florida’s ranching heritage.
In 2025, Florida has about 1.56 million head of cattle, including 865,000 beef cows. The top counties are Okeechobee, Highlands, and Osceola are the leading counties for cattle production. The economic Impact of the cattle industry (cattle and calf) sales generate over $546 million receipts annually.
Phosphate Mining
A more unusual development was popularized by one Albertus Vogt, who became famous when his African-American helper tied his fishing boat to the remains of a fossilized bone and Vogt realized that Florida was rich in high grade phosphate in both the upper Peace River Valley and around Dunnellon.
Vogt became known as the "Duke of Dunnellon", a millionaire when his fields were active and broke when he his investment went dry. He owned thousands of acres and promoted at least four phosphate booms. Once when low on cash, but high on land, he even buried leaking oil cans on his property to sell the useless land to speculators. Phosphate mining provided a reliable product for shipment by railroad or boat along the Gulf Coast.
At a time when young African Americans were leaving the Deep South in record numbers to seek opportunity in the factories of Northern cities, the growth of railroads and other industries in Florida were attracting African Americans from Panhandle Florida, Georgia, and Alabama into Southern Florida. A majority of the phosphate miners were black. Most of the laborers on the large hotels were black. It was necessary to establish residential communities for all the African Americans who serviced the growing number of resorts and projects. New urban black villages grew up along the Florida East Coast.
Agriculture
The belief that Florida land was too sandy or marshy for profitable development had been a common concern in the Deep South for generations. The Florida railroaders showed the entire world the bountiful crops that South Florida could produce. Since South Florida land sold for a fraction of Northern land and less than most farmland in the Deep South, the homesteaders flooded down the rail lines into Florida in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
People across the farm belts of the United States were heard sprouting the railroad promotion slogans, "Below the frost line" and "ten acres and independence". At the turn of the century one thousand dollars gave you a nice piece of Florida acreage and a cottage. Such an investment could yield $3,400 in tomatoes in one year. Despite the need for huge doses of fertilizer and heavy labor, Southern farmers considered Florida an agricultural paradise.