The Birth of the City of Miami 7


east coast of Florida, beginning in St.
Augustine in 1885, either through new
construction or through the purchase of
existing hotels and railroads, which were
then upgraded. Every few years, Flagler
extended his railroad farther south.
 Flagler became associated with the
Florida Coast Line Canal & Transporta-
tion Company (FCLCTC) in 1893 be-
cause of the advantages it held for his
railroad.9 The canal company, chartered
in 1881, had as its objective the con-
struction of a series of canals connect-
ing existing lakes and rivers in order to
provide a navigable inland waterway be- HenryM.Flagler
tween St. Augustine and Lake Worth. (HASF1981-116-2)
This would allow for safe transportation
as many ships were being lost off the Florida coast to dangerous
underwater coral reefs and sudden violent squalls.10
 FCLCTC's charter was amended in 1882 to extend the water-
way from Lake Worth to Biscayne Bay and from St. Augustine to
the St. Johns River. The company would dig the canals fifty feet
wide and to a depth of five feet and dredge the existing rivers and
lakes to that depth in order to accommodate steam-powered vessels.
In return for opening the area to agriculture and development, the
company received from the state of Florida a grant of 3,840 acres


 Jacksionilc. St. Augustinc & Indian River Railway

 A0-ie1 fo F LDE WORTrH








Advertisement for Flagler's East Coast Line, c. 1893. (Florida State Archives)