Cook’s Tours to the Winter Resorts of Florida and the Tropics

Gilded Age tour guide of Florida.

This uncommon promotion pamphlet was published by the Thomas Cook & Son Tourist Agency in the mid-1880s as a helpful guide for visitors to Florida. According to the lengthy title page, the routes embrace “every point of interest in the state, by steamer and rail, including St. Augustine, Palatka, Magnolia, Green Cove Springs, Sanford, The Ocklawaha River, Lake Eustis, the Indian River, etc. etc. with extensions via the new U.S. Mail Route to Tavia Tampa to Key West and Havana.”

Sixteen pages of text describe numerous recommended itineraries and their corresponding rates, ranging from short trips (around $1) to a grand circular tour from Jacksonville to New York via Havana and Mexico City ($204.24). A foldout map helps potential customers to visualize their trip across the Sunshine State. It shows a fascinating early overview of the railroad network, preceding Henry Flagler’s influential Florida East Coast Railway.

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