Hubbard L. Hart

Hubbard L. Hart was an American entrepreneur who ran the most prominent steamboat line in Florida. He augmented his business with hotels, orange groves and lumber mills, and is noted for helping the state develop as a tourist destination.

Hart was born in Guilford, Vermont. He was married to Mary Adams of Cavendish, Vermont until her death in 1880. He then married Cecilia Thompson of Boston, Massachusetts in 1884. At the age of 21, he moved to Savannah, Georgia, and then later Darien, Georgia. He finally moved to Palatka, Florida in 1855. In July of that year, he got a contract as a mail carrier for a route from Ocala to Tampa, even though there was danger of Seminole Indian attacks. This mail route took him by the emerging village at Silver Springs, and this gave him an ideahe recognized the regions natural beauty and climate as a vacation draw for northerners, weary of cold, bleak winters.

Source: Wikipedia