He augmented his business with hotels, orange groves and lumber mills, and is noted for helping the state develop as a tourist destination.

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.

[2] This mail route took him by the emerging village at Silver Springs, and this gave him an idea—he recognized the region's natural beauty and climate as a vacation draw for northerners, weary of cold, bleak winters.

He helped with blockade running, which was done by transporting supplies up the center of the state through a series of land and river routes.

Near the end of the war, the Confederates saw the strategic value of the Ocklawaha River and hired Hart to clear it of all debris and navigation hazards for a price of CSA$4500.

Freight business had been absorbed by railroads, leaving the competing steamboat lines dependent on tourists for revenue.

[14] He suffered a setback when his hotel, the Putnam House, burned down in the Palatka Fire of 1884, after being open only a short time.

[15] In 1895, Hubbard Hart died as a result of a fall from a trolley car in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was attending a business meeting.