In the late 1800s Northeast Florida
was a major winter destination for visitors from the northern states. Henry Flagler’s railroad was pushing
southward and with it came hotels and tourists.
The folks from “up north” wanted to experience Florida’s warm climate and exotic
environs. All of these people needed to
be entertained. Of course, they wanted
to see those strange prehistoric creatures that they had heard about –
alligators. Local entrepreneurs were
happy to oblige by establishing amusement parks and alligator attractions. For good measure, ostrich shows – featuring a
species not native to Florida
– were added to the mix. After all,
exotic animals are exotic animals.
It all began on Anastasia
Island, just outside of St. Augustine, in the 1890s. A tram had recently been installed to ferry
people from the City of St. Augustine to the
beaches of Anastasia
Island. A
St. Augustine resident set up a small exhibit at
the end of the tram line called Burning Springs to entertain visitors as they
waited for the train back to the city.
Burning Springs was a pond that its proprietor claimed had
flammable properties. A newspaper ad at
the time read “The water of this
Wonderful Spring contains Iron, Magnesia, Sulphurated Hydrogen, Sodium and
other minerals…with the peculiar quality of being inflammable, as it will
ignite and burn like Alcohol simply by touching a lighted match to the water.” In fact, just before show times the owner
would spread gasoline over the water so that it would erupt in flames when he
dramatically put a match to it.
Around the same time two friends, George Reddington and
Felix Fire, began capturing and collecting alligators. Just why they did this, no one knows. However, at some point they decided to
capitalize on the tourism craze and open a small attraction where people could
get up close to the beasts. They
purchased Burning Springs and there, on May 20, 1893, they opened the South
Beach Alligator Farm and Museum
of Marine Curiosities. It quickly became a must see for visitors to
the area.
Meanwhile, in Jacksonville,
an attraction featuring Ostriches was established a short distance northeast of
downtown. Ostrich feathers had become a trend in women’s fashion and were in
high demand. The price for the coveted
plumes was skyrocketing. According to
one newspaper account a hat adorned with just three feathers could fetch up to
fifty dollars – a staggering amount at that time. Their lean meat could also be sold, as could
their skins.
The Southern California Ostrich Farm was the largest ostrich
operation in the United States,
and regularly imported the animals from Africa. They purchased fifty ostriches with a plan to
bring them by ship to Florida and then by rail
to California. Only eighteen of the birds survived the
Atlantic crossing and they were sold to H.J. Tiffin who wanted to establish an
ostrich farm in Brevard
County. Apparently Mr. Tiffin underestimated the
effort that it takes to raise the large birds and soon offered to sell them
back to the California Company.
Rather than incur the expense of shipping the ostriches to California, the company decided to establish a new farm
in Jacksonville. Moving the animals was a major undertaking
and quite a spectacle for the townspeople.
After herding them through town they were loaded onto a steamer bound
for Titusville. There they were transferred onto a train that
carried them to Jacksonville
and then onto wagons for the final leg of the journey. Curious onlookers gathered at each transfer
point. They were delighted to watch as a
County Commissioner comically tried to wrangle
one that escaped after being unloaded from the steamer.
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The huge birds eventually made it to the farm, located on Talleyrand Avenue. Charles D. Fraser was hired to manage the
newly named Florida Ostrich Farm. In
addition to raising the ostriches for feathers and meat, Fraser charged
admission allowing visitors to view the animals close up. He added attractions that included rides in
ostrich-drawn wagons and ostrich racing.
Of course they also sold all kinds of Ostrich related souvenirs. Many visitors left with colorful hats adorned
with feathers. The Florida Ostrich Farm was an instant success.
Tragedy struck Jacksonville
in 1901. While workers were at lunch the
Cleveland Fiber Factory caught fire when a spark landed in a pile of Spanish moss. The fire quickly spread through downtown Jacksonville, burning 146
city blocks and destroying more than two thousand buildings. Luckily the Ostrich Farm was out of reach of
the fire and, while it was not damaged, it did suffer from the drop in tourism.
In a testament to the city’s resilience Jacksonville was completely rebuilt during
the following years. By the middle of
the decade the city was back and was one of the more modern cities in the
country. The grand new structures
attracted more tourists. New industries
like silent film studios moved to the area creating more jobs. Jacksonville
was prosperous.
All of these people needed to be entertained and on March 9,
1907, Dixieland Park,
billed as the Coney Island of the South,
opened on the South Bank, just across the river from downtown. Admission was ten cents. Two ferry boats carried visitors across the
river making continuous runs every day to the thirty acre park. The park featured a 160 foot high roller
coaster, a huge merry-go-round, and a giant slide called the “Dew Drop.” Like The Florida Ostrich Farm, Dixieland Park was a huge success.
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| Entrance to Dixieland Park |
Then, just one month after Dixieland
Park opened, Jacksonville was hit by the worst hailstorm
in its history. The park was nearly
destroyed. The roller coaster
collapsed. The merry-go-round was ripped
from its base. The Dew Drop slide
toppled. The entire park flooded. The park’s owners were determined to keep going
and quickly rebuilt, making it bigger and better. In addition to restoring the attractions they
added a swimming pool, a baseball park and a concert venue. The crowds returned, lured by a baseball game
featuring Babe Ruth and a concert by John Philip Sousa.
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| Babe Ruth at the Dixieland Park Ball Field |
The Florida Ostrich Farm and
Dixieland Park
competed for ticket sales. They each
added attractions like sky divers and hot air balloon rides. The Florida Ostrich Farm quickly outgrew its
space and relocated in 1912 to a fifty acre site near
Evergreen Cemetery. It was renamed The New Ostrich Farm,
Amusement Park, and Zoo. New rides were
constructed and new animals were added.
One advertisement boasted
“The
Driving Ostrich, seen in action morning and evening” and
“Performing Lions and Educated Sea
Lions.” They even staged an actual
marriage in a lion’s den.
With an eye towards competition from St. Augustine, alligators were added to the
mix. One of the Ostrich Farm’s brochures
read, “Here are to be seen thousands of
Alligators of all sizes, from little babies hardly the size of a Lizard up to
huge monsters, 800 years old or more.
The Nests, the Eggs, Incubating in the Machines, all to be seen in a
beautiful Park and Miniature Lakes, especially adapted for the raising of these
Saurians; also Crocodiles, Snakes, Turtles and other Curiosities.” The text was accompanied by a photo of a
young child being pulled in a wagon by an alligator.
Meanwhile the South Beach Alligator Farm was
flourishing. It had been continuing to
increase its stock of alligators and added other reptiles and snakes. The farm
changed its name to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. Through savvy advertising and public
relations it became known as the world’s largest alligator farm.
In1920 a fire broke out in South Beach
that caused severe damage to the farm. A
few months later another fire completed the job. If that wasn’t enough a storm washed what
remained of the farm into the ocean along with the tracks for the tram from the
city. The farm was relocated to a
location closer to the hotels and tourist attractions of St. Augustine.
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Back in Jacksonville,
the Ostrich Farm and Dixieland continued to battle for visitors. They each added attractions such as lion
wrestling, acrobats and vaudeville acts.
But the mood of the country was changing in the days leading up to America’s entry
into World War I. A major economic
depression led to the “Panic of 1907” during which the stock exchange fell by
more than fifty percent and there was a run on banks. Europe was at war and German submarines were
aggressively patrolling the Atlantic,
sometimes targeting merchant ships.
With a slumping economy and war at hand Jacksonville simply could not support two
major tourist attractions. Dixieland Park closed in 1916. The Florida Ostrich Farm survived the war
years and in the1920s moved to Dixieland’s old location on the South Bank. It would operate there under various names
for the next two decades until it closed in 1937. Its alligators were purchased by the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. What happened to the remaining ostriches is
unclear, but they were most likely sold to ostrich farmers in other parts of
the state.
In the 1940s another entrepreneur decided to give the
alligator/ostrich combination a try.
James Casper was an alligator hunter and dealer in alligator hides. He founded Casper’s
Alligator Farm in 1946 on highway US-1 about two miles north of St. Augustine as a
commercial alligator farm, raising the animals for meat and hides. Noting the success of the St. Augustine
Alligator Farm he soon added ostriches, reptiles, flamingos and other animals
to the mix and opened to the public as Casper’s
Alligator Jungle. A 1947 advertisement
in Jacksonville’s Southern Jewish Weekly
newspaper read: “You are invited to visit Casper’s
Alligator Jungle – International attraction, open to tourists the year
around. Thousands of alligators on
display. Amazing collection of
crocodiles, ostriches, rare birds and reptiles.”
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| Gatorland Brochure |
Casper also opened a retail
store at 7 King Street
in St. Augustine
where he sold alligator related goods – as well as live alligators. When he added ostriches to the farm he made
ostrich souvenirs available for purchase, too.
If ostrich plumes did not quite satisfy you, you could bring home a baby
ostrich for under $300. Not to worry if
you couldn’t get the beast home, Casper’s
Alligator Jungle was glad to ship the merchandise anywhere in the United States.
He later changed the name of the farm to Casper’s
Gatorland (not to be confused with the Gatorland in Orlando, which operates to this day.) At its peak, Casper’s Gatorland was home to dozens of ostriches
and over eight-hundred alligators along with an assortment of birds and other reptiles,
including a twenty foot long python. Standing
proudly outside of its gate was a twenty-two foot tall, sixteen ton concrete
alligator holding a cigar in one hand and a walking stick in the other.
The main attraction was ostrich racing, in which ostriches
would pull a cart and rider around the park’s 1/8 mile track. To the delight of spectators, the ornery
ostriches would often veer off the track and into the crowd leading their
handlers on a comical chase, or simply squat down and refuse to move. The races featured a beautiful young woman,
Betty Herman, billed as “Betty the Beauty” and touted as “the only woman in the
world trained to drive ostriches.”
By the early 1980s business at Gatorland was falling
off. Travel by car was much easier than
it had been in the past and other attractions in Florida,
including Walt Disney World in Orlando, were
luring visitors away from Northeast Florida. In 1982, Gatorland was bought by its
competitor, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, which closed it shortly
thereafter.
The owners of the St. Augustine Alligator Farm offered to
donate the massive alligator statue to the City of Jacksonville with the caveat that it be
installed at the entrance to the Gator Bowl (now Everbank Stadium.) The city found the statue a bit too gaudy for
that location but a compromise was reached placing it in Metro Park,
just a short distance away.
The St. Augustine Alligator Farm
Zoological Park
still operates today, the sole survivor of the heyday of exotic animal
attractions in Northeast Florida. It received accreditation by the Association
of Zoos & Aquariums in 1989 and was added to the National Register of
Historic Places in 1992. In 2022 it
established the Alligator Farm Foundation a non-profit entity dedicated to
animal research and conservation. The
St. Augustine Alligator Farm has been operating continuously for over 130 years
and today welcomes over 200,000 guests annually from around the world.
Official Website of St. Augustine Alligator Farm
