The Florida Maps Collection contains various types of maps from throughout the state of Florida. Included are tourist, informational, historical, agricural, and commercial maps.
The Harrison "Buzz" Price collection, 1952-2006 is comprised of reports, proposals, research, photographs, and company files related to Price's work career as an economics consultant for theme parks and tourist attractions. The collection primarily documents the business activities of the Harrison Price Company (HPC), but some materials from earlier projects with Economic Research Associates (ERA) are also included. This collection offers insight into the theme park and tourism industry in the U.S. and internationally. It features background research involved in planning attractions, feasibility analysis reports for attraction locations, and notes from collaborative sessions on project ideas. Price was involved in projects for Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Six Flags, Universal Studios, MGM, Cedars Fair, Knott's Berry Farm, and several other entertainment organizations and resorts. The papers are divided into eight series: Reports, Proposals, Speeches, World's Fairs, Images, Subject Research Materials, Project Research Materials, and Price Company Files. Harrison "Buzz" Price was born in Oregon City, Oregon on May 17, 1921. In 1930, his family moved to San Diego, California. In 1942, Price earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. After serving in the Army during World War II, he also earned an M.B.A. from Stanford in 1951. That same year, Price joined the Stanford Research Institute, where he assisted in locating the site for Disneyland in Anaheim, California. He managed the Stanford Research Institute's LA office for several years before founding Economic Research Associates (ERA), a consulting company in economics, in 1958. While at ERA, Price helped to locate the site for Walt Disney World in Central Florida in 1963, wrote a Universal Studios tour feasibility analysis in 1964, and carried out 6,000 consulting studies. In 1969, Price sold ERA to Planning Research Corporation, the world's largest conglomerate of professional service consulting. He became Planning Research Corporation's Chairman of the Board after serving seven years in corporate management. Price went on to start an independent consulting company in 1978, founding the Harrison Price Company. In 1994, Price was the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and was elected to the International Association of Amusement Parks Hall of Fame in 1995. For 37 years and up until his death, Price served, alongside Edie Wasserman, as a trustee of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Price also published a book in 2004 about his work in the themed entertainment and attractions business titled Walt's Revolution! By the Numbers. Harrison "Buzz" Price passed away in Pomona, California on August 15, 2010, at the age of 89.
The Robert H. Brown Tourism Collection, 1900-2013 (bulk 1970-2010), documents tourism in and around Florida during the twentieth century. It chiefly consists of postcards, brochures, and guidebooks relating to the tourism and theme park industries, as well as press kits and other promotional materials. This collection provides insight into the marketing and promotion of tourist attractions in and around Florida. Many of the attractions documented are no longer in existence or are in decline after the opening of the Walt Disney World Resort in 1971, offering a glimpse at the tourist landscape of Florida prior to and immediately after the resort's domination of Central Florida tourism. Robert Hugh Brown grew up in Miami, Florida. He developed a fascination for roadside attractions while touring the state of Florida extensively. In the 1990s, Brown created "Florida's Lost Tourist Attractions," or Lostparks.com, a website dedicated to documenting the many attractions that sprang up and later fell by the wayside following the opening of Walt Disney World. His research for the website led him to collect thousands of brochures, postcards, flyers, and other ephemera detailing Florida tourism. As of 2024, Brown is retired and currently resides in Ocoee, Florida.
This collection contains photographs taken in Florida in the 1890s by professional photographer Charles H. Stokes along the route of the Orange Belt Railway (later the Sanford & St. Petersburg Railway), which became part of the Plant System of Railways. The photos were used by the railway companies to promote tourism and development.
The Winter Haven Tourist Camp entrance photograph, circa 1920s is a photograph of the entrance to a tourist camp and an office building in the Eastwood neighborhood of Winter Haven, Florida. The entrance sign says "Tourist Camp Haven, Approved by the State Board of Health" Businesses using this building include the Florida Housing Corp, Jones Construction Co. Inc, Ridge and Transporation Co. The photograph also features a Ridge Transporation bus and a for sale sign for Eastwood lots. This photograph provides insight into the developing community of Winter Haven in the 1920s, during the Florida land boom. This photo was taken in the 1920s in Winter Haven, Florida and the photographer is unknown. Winter Haven became an incoporated city in 1923 in Polk County. From 1924 to 1926, Florida experienced a land boom, where tens of thousands of people moved to Florida from out of state. Land development occured rabidly during this time.
