Overview

For centuries, men dreamed of cutting a canal across the Florida peninsula. Intended to reduce shipping times, it was championed in the early twentieth century as a way to make the mostly rural state a center of national commerce and trade. Rejected by the Army Corps of Engineers as """"not worthy,"""" the project received continued support from Florida legislators. Federal funding was eventually allocated and work began in the 1930s, but the canal quickly became a lightning rod for controversy. Steven Noll and David Tegeder trace the twists and turns of the project through the years, drawing on a wealth of archival and primary sources. Far from being a simplistic morality tale of good environmentalists versus evil canal developers, the story of the Cross Florida Barge Canal is a complex one of competing interests amid the changing political landscape of modern Florida. Thanks to the unprecedented success of environmental citizen activists, construction was halted in 1971, though it took another twenty years for the project to be canceled. Though the land intended for the canal was deeded to the state and converted into the Cross Florida Greenway, certain aspects of the dispute - including the fate of Rodman Reservoir - have yet to be resolved.

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9780813061733

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Reviews

A compelling narrative of the competing visions for Florida's future, offering subtle insights into the contemporary politics of land use, federalism, pork-barrel politics, and the evolution of environmentalism. --Enterprise and Society Touches every era and most great figures of Florida politics. --Daytona Beach News-Journal Noll and Tegeder do an excellent job of placing the canal within the context of local, state, and national politics. --Journal of Southern History Reads like an epic, a tale spanning centuries and filled with avarice, courage, determination, hubris, and a heroine out of central casting. Steven Noll and David Tegeder leave no stone unturned in their outstanding rendering of this most peculiar episode of Florida's often-shameful environmental history. --Tampa Bay History Reveals as much about modern-day Florida as it does the state's past--particularly when it comes to competing visions of progress, growth, preservation, and the use of political power to achieve those goals. --Florida Trend Tells the story of the transformation of twentieth-century American liberalism, the fracturing of the New Deal coalition, and the birth of the environmental movement. --New Books in American Studies Highly recommended. --Choice Noll and Tegeder do an excellent job of placing the canal within the context of local, state, and national politics. Journal of Southern History Tells the story of the transformation of twentieth-century American liberalism, the fracturing of the New Deal coalition, and the birth of the environmental movement. New Books in American Studies Reads like an epic, a tale spanning centuries and filled with avarice, courage, determination, hubris, and a heroine out of central casting. Steven Noll and David Tegeder leave no stone unturned in their outstanding rendering of this most peculiar episode of Florida s often-shameful environmental history. Tampa Bay History Reveals as much about modern-day Florida as it does the state s past particularly when it comes to competing visions of progress, growth, preservation, and the use of political power to achieve those goals. Florida Trend Touches every era and most great figures of Florida politics. Daytona Beach News-Journal Highly recommended. Choice A compelling narrative of the competing visions for Florida s future, offering subtle insights into the contemporary politics of land use, federalism, pork-barrel politics, and the evolution of environmentalism. Enterprise and Society

Noll and Tegeder do an excellent job of placing the canal within the context of local, state, and national politics. Journal of Southern History

A compelling narrative of the competing visions for Florida's future, offering subtle insights into the contemporary politics of land use, federalism, pork-barrel politics, and the evolution of environmentalism. --Enterprise and Society Highly recommended. --Choice Noll and Tegeder do an excellent job of placing the canal within the context of local, state, and national politics. --Journal of Southern History Reads like an epic, a tale spanning centuries and filled with avarice, courage, determination, hubris, and a heroine out of central casting. Steven Noll and David Tegeder leave no stone unturned in their outstanding rendering of this most peculiar episode of Florida's often-shameful environmental history. --Tampa Bay History Reveals as much about modern-day Florida as it does the state's past--particularly when it comes to competing visions of progress, growth, preservation, and the use of political power to achieve those goals. --Florida Trend Tells the story of the transformation of twentieth-century American liberalism, the fracturing of the New Deal coalition, and the birth of the environmental movement. --New Books in American Studies Touches every era and most great figures of Florida politics. --Daytona Beach News-Journal

Author Information

Steven Noll is senior lecturer in history at the University of Florida, USA. David Tegeder is associate professor of history at Santa Fe College, USA.

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