Floridas first theme park; Cypress Gardens; was the brainchild of Richard Downing Dick" Pope Sr. With his wife; Julie Downing Pope; he transformed a marshy; lakeside property in Winter Haven into a magnificent garden. The parks first visitors in 1936 toured pathways surrounded by lush plants from around the world. Two years later; electric boats meandered through the parks winding; hand-dug canals. Water ski shows commenced in 1942; and the park became the "Water Ski Capital of the World." The Florida-shaped Esther Williams Swimming Pool still graces the shore of Lake Eloise. The park was a set for dozens of short feature films; a stage for beauty pageants; and a site for special television broadcasts. A butterfly garden; zoo; rides; and the small-town Southern Crossroads shopping and dining area remain popular features. Kent Buescher purchased Cypress Gardens in 2004; and todays expanded Cypress Gardens Adventure Park preserves the family-friendly appeal of Dick and Julie Popes magnificent park."
#2505804 in eBooks 2003-10-15 2003-10-15File Name: B009A3EW0W
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Surprisingly Well DoneBy Joshua KoppelAs a Chicago historian and a Hyde Park resident. I had to take a look at this book. In general. I am often disappointed in the Arcadia Press books. They are often little more than a bad picture book. But this is possibly one of the best in the Chicago series.Hyde Park is a community that has just celebrated 150 years (in 2003). For more than 100 of those years it has been part of Chicago.Hyde Park is the home of the University of Chicago. the Museum of Science and Industry and the site of the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition (recent building in the area uncovered the footings for the original Ferris Wheel). As such. the community has had a long and rich history.I do not know who Leslie Hudson is (no biography in the book). but she obviously did her homework and research. The post card images have been captioned with detailed information. The book itself is divided into thematic sections with the cards sorted into a historical order.I was a little disappointed in the sparseness of the Sans Souci material (on of Chicagos first amusement parks) as there are many wonderful post cards from there. There were also some other nuggets I was sorry to see missing (i.e. a hotel that suffered after it was recommended by the ...). but overall I was very pleased by the content and the thoroughness of much of the research.A fine book for fans of Chicago history as well as fans of Hyde Park.
