persuade him to relieve the debt. During the visit, Disston tentatively agreed to
purchase four million acres (16,000 km²) of Internal Improvement Fund land for 25 cents per acre, an agreement which became a formal contract on June 1, 1881. Disston signed the contract on June 14 and the transaction was considered the largest purchase of land ever made by a single person in the world. It made Hamilton Disston the largest landowner in the United States.
Within four years from the time Mr. Disston investment in Florida became known, many millions of dollars from the North and from Europe were invested in Florida properties.
A year after Disston's investment, Henry
B. Plant began building the railroads
throughout the state of Florida. He also
connected Florida's railways to Georgia,
opening the way for interstate trading
and travel. He constructed many hotels
along the railways. His most famous
hotel was the Tampa Bay Hotel, which
was built at a cost of nearly 3 million
dollars. It was the most modern hotel
in Florida at the time with 500 rooms
and electric lights. Plant also owned and operated many steamboats and he continued building in Florida throughout the late 1800's.
An entrepreneur by the name of William Chipley built railroads that linked the Panhandle region with the rest of Florida. This enabled the goods being shipped to the Pensacola ports to be sent to the rest of the state by rail.
Henry M. Flagler settled in the east coast town of St. Augustine. He built its first big hotel, the Ponce de León, which was the most luxurious of its time. To encourage people to visit, he built railroads to help connect St. Augustine and Daytona Beach to railways that could bring guests all the way from New York. Flagler also developed the resort town of Palm Beach and connected it, of course, by railroads.
Population increased rapidly. Taxable property doubled in value. Large areas of swamp and overflowed lands were being drained and made ready for cultivation. Agriculture and fruit culture advanced hand in hand with the railroads as they opened up the wilderness.
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