Secretary Detzner Announces Recent Designation of Florida Properties in National Register of Historic Places

Tallahassee –

Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced today that several Florida properties were recently listed in the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.

“I am pleased to announce the listing of these historic Florida resources in the National Register of Historic Places,” said Secretary of State Ken Detzner. “The Dunedin Isles Golf Club course represents the significant history of golf in our state, while the Sunshine State Arch compliments the architecture for which Miami is famous.  The Marina Historic District, O’Leno State Park and Arden ‘Doc’ Thomas House all represent the durability and important legacy of Florida’s early 20^th century heritage.”

Florida properties listed during May and June in the National Register of Historic Places include:

The Sunshine State Arch, also known as the Arch of Industry, spans NW 13^th Avenue just south of the Palmetto Expressway in Miami Gardens, Miami-Dade County. Built in 1964, this commemorative 110-foot-tall arch marks the entrance to the Sunshine State International Park, which features Miami Modern (MiMo)-styled manufacturing and warehouse storage buildings. The arch can be seen from as far away as the Palmetto Expressway and the Golden Glades interchange in Miami Gardens.

The Marina Historic District in Delray Beach, Palm Beach County, has maintained its historic character and street layout as the town’sfirst platted residential area. Frame and Masonry Vernacular styles are most common, but other styles include Mediterranean and Mission Revival, Monterey, Minimal Traditional, and Art Moderne.  The district’s period of significance, from 1924 to 1949, defines an area that weathered the Florida real estate market collapse of 1926, the devastating hurricane of 1928, and the tremendous growth from incoming military families during and after World War II.

The Dunedin Isles Golf Club Course is set one-third of a mile inland east of the Gulf of Mexico, in Pinellas County, surrounded by residential development. Designed by noted golf course architect Donald Ross, Dunedin Isles opened in 1927, eventually becoming the headquarters for the Professional Golfers Association in 1944. The course is characterized by sloping fairways that are interspersed with few water hazards. Work undertaken in 2006 by the City of Dunedin restored some elements of the greens to closely match Donald Ross’s original plan. This course is among the historic courses featured on the Florida Historic Golf Trail. A program of the Florida Department of State, the Florida Historic Golf Trail is a collection of historic courses throughout Florida, dating back to the 1890s, that golfers can still play on today.

O’Leno State Park resulted in an agreement between the State Board of Forestry and the federal government in 1936, when 1,410 acres were acquired for the purpose of creating a youth forestry training camp and public park. The construction labor force was made up of local Depression-era workers from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from Gainesville, and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from Olustee and Clay County. Buildings were constructed of locally-found materials, including hand-hewn pine and cypress logs, lumber milled on-site, wood shingles, and stone for chimneys and foundations. These details created the Rustic Style that characterizes many Depression-era parks in the Southeast. By 1940, O’Leno opened as one of Florida’s first state parks.

The Arden ‘Doc’ Thomas House was designed by Miami architect Robert Fitch Smith in 1932. This one-story wood frame home features Rustic Style elements in exterior horizontal and vertical board-and-batten siding, wood shingled roof, and multi-paned windows protected by plank wooden shutters. It reflects native Florida in both materials and architectural style, and was prominently showcased in two national magazines during the 1930s. An avid conservationist, Thomas donated his house and property to the Tropical Audubon Society after his passing in 1975. Carefully preserved over the years, the Society utilizes the property for environmental outreach programs to educate visitors.

For more information about the National Register of Historic Places program administered by the National Parks Service, visit nps.gov/nr.

# # #

About the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is a list maintained by the National Park Service which includes historical or archaeological properties (buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts) that are considered worthy of preservation because of their local, statewide and/or national significance.  Nominations for properties in Florida are submitted to the National Park Service through the Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State.  Florida has over 1,600 listings on the National Register, including 275 historical districts and 170 archaeological sites. To learn more, visit flheritage.com/preservation/nr.

About the Bureau of Historic Preservation

The Bureau of Historic Preservation conducts historic preservation and folklife programs aimed at identifying, evaluating, preserving and interpreting the historic and cultural resources of the state. The Bureau manages a grants-in-aid program to help preserve and maintain Florida’s historic buildings and archaeological sites, and coordinates the State Historic Markers program and the Florida Main Street Program.  Under federal and state laws, the Bureau oversees the National Register of Historic Places program for Florida, maintains an inventory of the state's historical resources in the Florida Master Site File, assists applicants in federal tax benefit and local government ad valorem tax relief programs for historic buildings, and reviews the impact that development projects may have on significant historic resources. The Florida Folklife program identifies and promotes the state's traditional cultures, and coordinates folklife apprenticeship and award programs. For more information, visit flheritage.com/preservation.