Byrd Spilman Dewey served as its first columnist, writing "The Sitting Room" column under the pen name "Aunt Judith."

It also documents the growth of tourism, the presence of malaria in Florida prior to World War II, and other issues related to the struggles of the developers of south Florida's Atlantic coast.

Miami and Dade County saw an increase in tourists after 1906 when Henry Flagler's railroad opened service to Key West.

Before this date, tourist traffic to Key West would have involved travel by city.

The location of The Tropical Sun's offices in Juno, Florida, "set back from the (railroad) track some thirty feet and from the wharf about fifty yards"[1] is telling of both the newspaper's and south Florida's relationship with and their reliance on tourism.