Skip to main content
Back to Show
American Experience

Hamilton Disston: Pioneering Everglades Developer

In 1881, Hamilton Disston, a wealthy enterpreneur cut a deal to purchase four million acres of Everglades, hoping to drain the land for selling and promised to drain an additional 12 million acres. But the wet season reclaimed the lands and six years later, the state commission declared his efforts a failure.

Support Provided By
Season
The Polio Crusade
52:01
In the 1950's a Polio outbreak swept the U.S., devastating communities nationwide.
The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer
1:49:38
The man behind the atomic bomb is put on trial for suspected communist ties in 1954.
Victory in the Pacific
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:49:22
The final months of WWII from the vantage points of both the Japanese and the Americans.
The Presidents
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:52:37
Part of the award-winning "The Presidents" collection.
The Presidents: Reagan (Part 2)
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:53:50
Ronald Reagan left the White House one of the most popular presidents of the 20th century.
The Presidents: Reagan (Part 1)
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:50:17
A biography from American Experience's collection of presidential portraits.
The Presidents: FDR (Part 2)
Unlock with PBS Passport
2:16:40
Part of the award-winning The Presidents collection.
The Presidents: FDR (Part 1)
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:44:52
Part of the award-winning The Presidents collection.
The Presidents: LBJ (Part 2)
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:50:24
Follow LBJ from rural Texas to his ascendancy to the presidency after the assassination of JFK.
The Presidents: LBJ (Part 1)
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:50:37
Part of the award-winning The Presidents collection.
The Presidents: Nixon
Unlock with PBS Passport
2:47:05
Part of the award-winning The Presidents collection.
Active loading indicator