1918 Miami River

An aerial view of the Miami River in 1918. (Photo: Florida State Archives)

1940s WWII soldiers in Gas Masks

World War II recruits, wearing gas masks, are shown undergoing training exercises on Miami Beach during the war.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1943 Fort Myers Beach

A postcard showing bathers on Fort Myers Beach in 1943.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1944 Tampa skyline

The downtown Tampa skyline is shown on this 1944 postcard.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1944 Downtown Orlando

An aerial view of downtown Orlando on this 1944 postcard. (Photo: Florida State Archives)

1945 Downtown Orlando

An evening view of downtown Orlando on this 1945 postcard.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1948 Spraying DDT

James Heidt, an entomologist, is shown in 1948 spraying DDT to kill mosquitoes in the Miami area.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1949 Postcard lures folks to Florida

A post-World War II postcard, sent in 1949, portrays Florida as a destination for fun in the sun, a marketing strategy that lured millions of Americans from the cold North. (Photo: Florida State Archives)

1950 Postcard lures folks to Florida

Florida is depicted as a place where “you’ll never get the blues” in this 1950 postcard featuring a verse by William Lee Popham, the evangelist/poet who tried to develop St. George Island and promote the Apalachicola area in the 1920s.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1950 Postcard from Fort Lauderdale

Young women pose in an orange grove on this 1950 postcard from Fort Lauderdale. (Photo: Florida State Archives)

1950 1st launch at Cape Canaveral

The first missile launch at Cape Canaveral was in 1950—a 62-foot-long, two-stage Bumper missile. As the space program expanded in the succeeding years, so did the population on what became known as the “Space Coast.”
(Photo courtesy NASA)

1953 Retired couple pick oranges

R. W. Ferris, retired blacksmith from Olean, N.Y., and his wife pick oranges from trees in their yard in Clermont, west of Orlando, in 1953.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

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1958 Space Coast Shopping Center

An aerial view of a shopping center and housing development on the Space Coast in 1958.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1959 Everglades Drainage Canal

A 1959 aerial view of the Everglades drainage canal, part of efforts to create more land for development in South Florida.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1959 Seniors at Bradenton Kresge

Retirees in the Bradenton area attend the opening of a new Kresge store in 1959. (Photo: Florida State Archives)

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1959 Housing Development in Fort Walton Beach

An aerial view of a housing development in Fort Walton Beach in 1959.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1959 Destin on NW Florida Coast

Destin in 1959, on Florida’s Northwest Coast.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1950s-1960s Early Development

A housing development on Punta Gorda Isles is shown in this aerial photograph published in about 1960.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

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1960 I-95 Under Construction

An aerial view of Interstate-95 under construction in Miami in 1960.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1960s Postcard sent from Florida

A postcard sent from Florida during the 1960s population boom.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1985 Development in Surfside

The development of Surfside’s central area, shown in 1985.

(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1960 Sit-In at Woolworth

A sit-in at a Woolworth lunch counter in Tallahassee during a civil rights demonstration 1960.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1961 Young Cuban Refugee Arrives

A young Cuban refugee brings her dolls to Miami in 1961.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1963 Tampa’s Malfunction Junction

Tampa’s infamous “malfunction junction” of I-4 and I-275, in 1963.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1964 Racial Confrontation on St. Augustine Beach

A confrontation of black demonstrators and white segregationists at a white-only beach in St. Augustine.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1970s Scene of Cuban men playing dominoes

The Latin-American tradition of men playing dominoes continues among these Cuban men playing at “Domino Park” in Miami’s Little Havana in the 1970s.
(Photo: Florida State Archives)

1970s Fruit Stand in Miami

A Cuban street vendor sells fruit in Little Havana in the 1970s. (Photo: Florida State Archives)