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Richard Downing Pope Sr. (April 19, 1900 – January 28, 1988), better known as Dick Pope, was the founder of Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida. He was also known as "Mr. Florida" and "Mr. Water Skiing."
Back when Florida was only known for its oranges and mosquitoes, and decades before Disney dreamed of creating the Happiest Place on Earth, Dick Pope Sr. opened a theme park that would eventually...
Dick Pope Sr., founder of Cypress Gardens + Winter Haven City Commissioner | Photo via Florida Memory. Nestled on the banks of Winter Haven’s Lake Eloise, sat the theme park, founded by Dick and his wife Julie in 1936. The main attraction?
Dick Pope Sr., the father of modern Florida’s tourism and a man hailed as its greatest and most flamboyant salesman, died Thursday at age 87 after a long illness. Pope so established Florida as...
At ImagiNERDing, we’re thrilled to feature a remarkable individual who played a pivotal role in shaping Florida’s tourism landscape— Richard Downing “Dick” Pope, Sr. Known as the “Father of Florida Tourism,” Pope’s vision and tenacity transformed a marshy piece of land into Cypress Gardens, one of Florida’s earliest and most ...
The Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies, at the University of Central Florida, was founded in 1979. Mr. Pope provided some of the start-up funds and contributed money over the...
The Dick Pope Sr. Institute has been involved in a series of public domain studies that have contributed new knowledge about the tourism industry to the local community, the State of Florida, and the U.S.
