THE RAILROAD THAT DIED AT SEA – Post #43, Day 276, February 3, 2015 – On board” Paul, Hank, Jim K
Henry Flagler was a man ahead of his time. Despite quitting school at the age of 14, he went on to co-found Standard Oil, to found Palm Beach, and to be considered the “father of Miami”. But he is best known for opening the east coast of Florida to tourism and development by building a railroad south from Jacksonville to Miami. Before his railroad, the spectacular beaches along the Atlantic were difficult to get to and only sparsely inhabited. Flagler changed all that.
Henry Flagler first visited Florida when his wife became ill and her doctor recommended an extended visit to the warm climate. He stayed at a hotel in St. Augustine, and was so taken by the beaches and the winter climate that he began building luxury hotels along the Florida coast, including the first development in Palm Beach. However, when a hard frost hit Palm Beach but not Miami, he decided to extend his railroad to further south and build a hotel there as well. The rest is history. He had one more goal to accomplish near the end of his life, however, and that goal became an obsession. He decided to extend the railroad to Key West, 156 miles across islands, swamp, and open water, all infested with mosquitos and other insects. The longest open-water segment required a bridge 7 miles long. Concrete was chosen as the structure of the bridge to withstand the power of the sea during harsh winter storms. However, concrete at the time could not withstand the ravages of salt water, so a new salt-resistant concrete had to be developed before construction could begin. The new concrete that Flagler’s team researched and created revolutionized marine construction for many years thereafter. Work began in 1905, but hurricanes in 1906, 1909, and 1910 destroyed much of the railroad that had been built at the time and killed more than 100 workers. Still Flagler pressed on, accelerating the work so it could be completed before he died. Finally, in 1912, seven years after the start of construction, the railroad was completed. Flagler, by then blind, traveled in the first railroad car to make the trip from the mainland to Key West. He told the welcoming crowd: “Now I can die happy. My dream is fulfilled”. The railroad had cost $1.31 billion in today’s dollars, all paid for by Flagler’s personal fortune. It was dubbed the “eighth Wonder of the World”.
In 1935, a massive hurricane destroyed 40 miles of the railroad. By that time, automobile travel was replacing railroad travel, so the State of Florida purchased the bridge. The state converted the old railroad bridges into the Overseas Highway, which opened in 1938, utilizing the undamaged portion of the bridges and building the highway on top of the railway. The bridge was substantially re-built again in its entirety in 1980. Without Flagler, there would be no highway access the Florida Keys today.
At the risk of boring everyone with more pictures of bridges, this is a pretty special one so I couldn’t resist:
One more interesting anecdote about Henry Flagler – his second wife had been institutionalized for mental illness for six years when Flagler used his political influence to persuade the Florida Legislature in 1901 to pass a law that made incurable insanity legal grounds for divorce; he divorced his wife the following year. Flagler was the only person to be divorced under the law he instigated before it was repealed shortly thereafter.
After being spoiled by 7 days of calm, near-perfect weather in a row on our way from Fort Myers Beach to the Keys, we’re now in a pattern of windy weather. After 5 days in Key West, a one day weather window opened up and we ran 85 miles to Islamorada on Upper Matecumbe Key (I can’t pronounce them either). Islamorada consists of a narrow spit of land with commercial strip stores along Route 1 and a series of quaint and charming places to stay and open-air restaurants/tiki bars overlooking the bayside or the ocean side of the island. We stayed at one such place tucked in a small, protected harbor. Music is king here, and there was live music throughout the lunch period, the afternoon, and the evening every day. The highlights of our stay were a day of fishing with a guide and watching the Patriots from an open-air tiki bar win the Super Bowl; here are some pictures:
Our next stop was Key Largo after a run of about 30 miles in sunny, 80 degree weather. We’re back in the Intracoastal Waterway on the Gulf side, which is more protected from east and south winds than the Hawk Channel on the Atlantic side. Here are some images from our stay in Key Largo:
Our next stop will be Miami!