More than a century ago, it was sights like this that inspired the likes of May Mann Jennings to preserve this land, first as Royal Palm Beach Park and later Edgar Coe and Marjory Stoneman Douglas to argue for the creation of Everglades National Park. In the 1800s, the Florida Legislature declared the Everglades to be of no value and it was to be drained for farms and other uses.
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, scientists began to realize the immense biodiversity the Everglades had to offer and began to argue for its preservation instead. Jennings, whose husband was a former governor and speaker of the Florida House, took up the cause through the Florida Federation of Womens Clubs. In 1916, the land seen in the photo above became part of the newly created Royal Palm State Park, Florida's first state park. The state secured 960 acres for the park, which Mary Lily Kenan Flagler, widow of railroad magnate Henry Flagler, doubled by donating another 960 acres. Royal Palm Beach State Park eventually grew to 4,000 acres.
Ironically, it was May Jennings' husband, William Sherman Jennings, who first proposed draining the Everglades by damming the waters that fed it. We can only imagine the dinnertime conversations at the Jennings household. May Mann Jennings later joined the cause to create Everglades National Park. She died in 1962 at the age of 90. She is a member of Florida's Women's Hall of Fame.
NEXT STOP: Tree Islands: Crucial Habitat
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By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, scientists began to realize the immense biodiversity the Everglades had to offer and began to argue for its preservation instead. Jennings, whose husband was a former governor and speaker of the Florida House, took up the cause through the Florida Federation of Womens Clubs. In 1916, the land seen in the photo above became part of the newly created Royal Palm State Park, Florida's first state park. The state secured 960 acres for the park, which Mary Lily Kenan Flagler, widow of railroad magnate Henry Flagler, doubled by donating another 960 acres. Royal Palm Beach State Park eventually grew to 4,000 acres.
Ironically, it was May Jennings' husband, William Sherman Jennings, who first proposed draining the Everglades by damming the waters that fed it. We can only imagine the dinnertime conversations at the Jennings household. May Mann Jennings later joined the cause to create Everglades National Park. She died in 1962 at the age of 90. She is a member of Florida's Women's Hall of Fame.
NEXT STOP: Tree Islands: Crucial Habitat
RETURN TO THE TOUR PAGE —||— RETURN TO THE MAIN PAGE