Flagler doesn't extend his railroad into southern Florida

[acgoldis]

Hi!

How do you think the southern US would have developed if Henry Flagler didn't extend his railroad past Palm Beach to Miami (or didn't even bring all the way down to Palm Beach)? The most likely scenario I can think of would be that southern Florida would be pretty underdeveloped, much like central Florida away from the coast. All the swamps and marshes down in the Everglades won't help much, either. The Keys would likely be unhabited.

Miami would remain a small town, if it survives. One big hurricane could make the few inhabitants decide to leave.

Long term: Florida probably wouldn't become as much of a sunbird state as it is now -- people may go to the Southwest when it opens up. If people do go down south, they'll stay around Amelia Island and places like that. Eventually, Palm Beach (or wherever the end of the line is) may become a big metropolis like Miami is today.

One thing I'm intrigued by is whether refugees from Cuba (if the state goes communist in this time line) will try to sneak over to the US. They may be able to reach Miami or Key West. However, with those two areas more or less deserted and with little infrastructure, they'd probably figure they didn't have a shot to get any further north. Would there be less of a Latino influence down there? Perhaps the Keys become Latino colonies?

Also -- if there isn't as much infrastructure in Florida...what happens to Disneyworld? Would Disney put Disneyworld there if there aren't a lot of sunbirds touting the nice weather and stuff?

ACG