Magnetic Attractions
A 1930s wave of splashy new destinations lured tourists to Florida.
By James C. Clark
NOTE: Jim Clark passed away on Monday, October 27, 2025. In tribute, we are sharing his final article from our Fall 2025 issue of FORUM magazine.
Agriculture had long ruled Florida’s economy, but as the 1920s boom turned into the 1930s bust, the state needed a new plan. During the 1880s, Florida had established the Bureau of Immigration to attract permanent residents, primarily farmers. In the 1930s, its mission shifted to promoting tourism. In 1930, officials saw their chance when Chicago invited Florida to participate in the World’s Fair. At first, the state planned to highlight agriculture, government and history, but in a matter of months they decided to instead use the fair to promote “our unequaled climate.”
Wonder House
When Conrad Schuck moved to Bartow in 1926, building materials were limited by the real estate boom. To build his home, he became a scavenger, acquiring steel rails from the railroad and digging up stones. His house grew to four stories, and in 1934 he began charging tourists a dime to walk through. It remained an attraction until 1963, and tours can still be arranged.
Nearly 30 million people attended the fair, which ran from 1933 to 1934, and the Florida exhibition was a favorite. Guests absorbed the message that Florida was not just a winter playground for the wealthy but a place for everyone all year round.
Still, something new and exciting was needed to ensure that Northeners planning vacations would decide to make the trek to Florida. The state had good weather, beaches and hundreds of small roadside stops where travelers could get gas, a cold drink, purchase oranges and see an alligator or exotic bird. Miami had Indian villages, while Silver Springs and St. Augustine’s Alligator Farm began drawing tourists in the 1800s. But Florida lacked “destination attractions” that people would yearn to visit and enthuse about to their friends when they returned.
Fueled by new and improved roads that made travel easier, larger attractions opened throughout the decade, many with exotic garden and animal themes. Among them were McKee Jungle Gardens in Vero Beach (1932), Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg (1936), Jungle Gardens in Sarasota (1939), Bok Tower in Lakes Wales (1936) and Marineland of Florida near St. Augustine (1938).
In 1936, a new kind of American attraction was born—the theme park. Cypress Gardens, which billed itself as the first theme park in the country, was the dazzling dream of Dick Pope, who turned a remote area near Winter Haven into a magnificent, nearly 200-acre garden complete with Southern belles dressed in period costumes and water ski shows. Within a few years, it became one of the top attractions in the country. As late as the 1960s, Cypress Gardens drew a million tourists a year. The gardens and the Grand Canyon were rated the leading tourist attractions in the United States.
In 1939, Florida built the largest state pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. With 110,000 square feet, a Seminole Village, a diorama of Hialeah Park’s racetrack and alligator wrestling, it was located on a lake and reached only by boat.
By the 1940s, the transition was complete. The Florida State Planning Board reported, “The tourist industry is Florida’s greatest source of revenue… greater than the total net income from agriculture and industry combined.
Jungle Gardens
Sarasota newspaper owner David Lindsay purchased 10 acres in a swampy banana grove and created one of the state’s most beautiful gardens. He opened it to tourists in 1936 and added parrots, reptiles, and plants from around the world. Today the attraction features bird and reptile shows, and free-roaming flamingos can be fed by visitors.
Marineland
In 1938, three Hollywood businessmen opened Marineland, then called Marine Studios, as a studio near St. Augustine where they could film underwater. Thirty thousand guests attended its opening. Filmmakers shot underwater scenes for movies such as “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Later, it opened to tourists and at its height attracted 500,000 visitors annually. In 2011, the Georgia Aquarium acquired the facility, now named Marineland Dolphin Adventure.
Florida House, 1933 World’s Fair
After the 1920s land bust, Florida began actively promoting tourism, beginning with a major presence at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.
Cypress Gardens
Inspired by a Charleston garden that opened to visitors and turned a profit, Dick Pope created Cypress Gardens near Winter Haven in 1936. Across the nation, people began to plan their vacations around a trip to the lavish gardens. Ski shows were added during World War II, and attendance soared. Although Pope thought Disney World would boost his attraction, it turned out to be the beginning of the end. The gardens closed in 2009.
Hialeah Park
The Great Depression left Florida desperate for money to fund state programs. In 1931, the Legislature approved betting on horse and dog racing, and four years later it legalized jai alai betting. The tax on gambling helped the state weather the Depression. The crown jewel of horse racing was Hialeah Park, which reopened with betting in early 1932, featuring flamingos in the infield.
McKee Jungle Gardens
In 1932, Arthur McKee opened his 80-acre garden to the public. He added elephants, monkeys and other animals. The Vero Beach location proved to be the perfect spot for drivers traveling between Jacksonville and Miami, and he soon attracted 100,000 visitors a year. The gardens closed in 1976, and the land was about to be developed when residents raised $1.7 million to save the gardens.
Bok Tower
Immigrant Edward Bok became wealthy as editor of The Ladies Home Journal. To show his gratitude, he built Bok Tower in Lake Wales. He started with a bird sanctuary, then added gardens with 10,000 azaleas. In 1925, he began work on a 205- foot tower, importing a 60-bell carillon from England. In 1929, President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the tower.
Ross Allen Reptile Museum
In 1929, herpetologist Ross Allen, who had worked with snakes, crocodiles, alligators, and turtles at Silver Springs, opened his own attraction. He became a stand-in for Johnny Weissmuller in Tarzan movies as his fame spread. For a dollar, visitors could purchase a snake. By selling baby alligators to New Yorkers, he created the enduring myth that alligators inhabit the city’s sewers.
Sunken Gardens
Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg began as a nursery in 1903. Owner George Turner drained a small lake and used the lake bed to plant flowers and trees. In the 1930s, Turner put up a fence and charged visitors 5 cents to see his six acres of flowers. In 1999, the city took over the gardens and it continues to maintain them. They attract some 150,000 people a year.
Parrot Jungle
In 1936, Austrian immigrant Franz Scherr purchased 20 acres in South Florida and charged 25 cents to see exotic and rare birds in a setting where they could “fly free.” It was an immediate success—Winston Churchill was a fan—and after a name change to Jungle Island, and a move, it still thrives. Other animals have joined the birds, and visitors watch animal shows and view exhibits.
Key West
The Great Depression hit Key West harder than any other part of the state, and the city declared bankruptcy in 1934. The state, under a New Deal program, appointed Julius F. Stone Jr. to run the island. He decided to turn Key West into a tourist attraction rivaling the Bahamas. Working with hundreds of volunteers, he cleaned up the island, planted flowers and trees, and painted shabby buildings. It worked, and today Key West is a tourist mecca.
Jim Clark, a senior lecturer and Florida Studies coordinator at the University of Central Florida, is the author of Florida’s Lost Atttractions and a Florida Humanities Florida Talks speaker.