Hillsborough River Bridge at Fort Foster

In Letters from the Frontier, Major General George A. McCall wrote of his experience as a young officer working to open a military road from Tampa Bay to what is today Ocala in Marion County. This was the Fort King Road, traces of which can still be seen through central Florida's palmetto and pine forests.


















In a 1828 letter to his brother, McCall recounted a story about building a bridge over the Hillsborough River

"...I was with my men one morning before breakfast; two of the three trestles upon which the bridge was to rest being set erect and pinned together temporaily, simply by boards tacked on to them and to a log upon the bank to keep them in position until the third trestle was raised, which the men with ropes were at that moment bringing to its upright position; I observered our most worthy and esteemed Surgeon seated on the trestle nearest to me. I had just thought of walking up the steep board leading from the river-bank to the trestle where the Surgeon sat, in order to have a little pleasnat chat with him before breakfast, when the third trestle, which the men were in the act of raising, and which our chief carpenter Plew, stanking on the middle trestle, was preparing to fasten to the one on which he stood -- lo and behold! trestle No. 3 swings beyond its perpendicular, through the over-strain upon the rope in the hands of the men on the opposite bank, who were raising it. It throws the men who hold the guy, by a sudden jerk, into the river, and striking with its great weight the middle trestle, drives that against No. 1 with sufficient force to send it with double velocity against the bank. The Doctor, who, as I have said, sat upon the last trestle, described the arc of the circle, still seated and with perfect composure, until the trestle rudely strikes upon the bank, when he is precipitated backwards into the water six or eight feet deep. As he rises again to the surface, I, with one of the men, spring to the spor, and we draw him out unharmed, though thoroughly chilled and minus his gold spectacles. Plew, who was on the highest trestle, at least twelve feet from the water, boldly jumped clear of the debris and swam to shore. The odd fellow, a private of company C, was lifted up the bank by some of the men, when the first words he uttered, as he shook himself like a great Newfoundland dog, were: "Chalk and all gone!" it having so happened that his chalk and line, which were lying on the trestle, were swept down the current, and could not be replaced short of Fort Brooke. The Doctor's spectacles were afterwards found by an Indian at the river-ford below, to which point they had been carried by the swiftness of the current and there stranded. I should add, that my excellent friend, the Surgeon, experienced no serious inconvenience from the accident; and, except that occassioned by the loss of his glasses, looked upon the thing as a fair subject for a good hearty laugh."

Since the bridge facilitated troop movement along the Fort King Road, it had strategic value during the Second Seminole War. It was rebuilt, but continued to be threatened by the Seminoles. On Christmas morning 1835, Major Dade was delayed on his journey from Fort Brooke to Fort King when his troops discovered that the bridge had been burned. The men managed to cross the river, only to meet their deaths near Bushnell on December 28. The Army built a wooden fort at the bridge, Fort Foster, to protect the river crossing.




















Today Fort Foster and the wooden bridge are part of the Hillsborough River State Park; both have been recreated and are open to the public. Timbers from the 1835 bridge over the river are on display at the park. On February 14 and 15, 2009, re-enactors will stage a battle between the U.S. soldiers and the Seminoles at the bridge -- for more information, please visit the Fort Foster website.

Sunshine Skyway

Here we are, heading south again, over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.















This is the world's longest cable stayed concrete bridge, built in 1987. The cables are painted yellow and lit at night, but right now they are in the middle of a repainting project.

Going up . . .































. . . and down.

















This bridge replaced the original 1950s Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which was hit by a freighter during a 1980 storm. A section of the bridge fell into the water, killing 35 people. The new bridge design incorporated features to prevent that from happening again. Still, it's not entirely comforting to look out the window and see parts of the original span that have been turned into fishing piers. Here's the north pier:














On the plus side, the piers are very popular with fishermen.

The bridge is so high because it crosses Tampa Bay, and all the ships (the tankers, the cargo ships, the cruise ships) have to pass underneath to reach the Port of Tampa and Port Manatee. The bridge also connects St. Petersburg and Bradenton/Sarasota, saving an hour or more of drive time around the bay. Before the bridge, there was the Bee Line Ferry. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge (officially named the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge in 2005) is part of Interstate-275, and there is a one dollar toll.

Anna Maria Island Bridge

From a recent trip to the beach (in the rain), here's a photograph of the raised draw of the Anna Maria Island Bridge. In September, this 50-year-old bridge will be closed for a few weeks for repairs. The bridge is on State Road 64 (Manatee Avenue) and takes cars and trucks over Sarasota Bay between Anna Maria and Bradenton.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Clearwater Marine Aquarium, just over the Memorial Causeway Bridge (shown in the photo below, completed in 2005) from the mainland, is not as glossy as SeaWorld or the Florida Aquarium. The facility was converted from a sewage treatment plant in the 1970s, and that along with the large amounts of salt water and sea life contained within its concrete walls give it somewhat of a utilitarian air. The point of visiting here is to learn about sea life, not to admire architecture, although that does come into the story later on). The Aquarium's mission is to rescue marine animals, rehabilitate them, and release them back into their natural environments. Some animals cannot be returned to the wild because of injuries sustained, and they stay at the aquarium, becoming educational ambassadors. On the Aquarium's most famous residents is Winter, a young bottlenose dolphin who became entangled in a rope at a young age. The rope cut off the bolld supply to her tail. Now without a tail, she cannot swim as well as other dolphins. She captured national media attention when she received a prosthetic tail.

On a recent visit to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, I did catch a glimpse of Winter, as well as several sea turtles, stingrays, sharks, and a sea otter. We also went on the aquarium's two-hour boat tour of Clearwater Bay, a nice trip for families, visitors, and all age groups. The trip is on a pontoon boat, with schedules stops to raise a crab trab and do some shelling on a spoil island. A couple of kids on the boat found sea urchins (reddish things in photo below), which they shared with the rest of the group. The tour guides/educators also run a seine net out, sampling underrwater life at different points in the bay. Creatures we all got to see included grunts, sea squirts, spider crabs, arrow crabs, tiny blue crabs, and bigger blue crabs. At one point a pod of six dolphins -- several of which were just youngsters -- lept beside the boat.

Along the way down the Intracoastal Waterway, the captain pointed out several houses on the shore, including Hulk Hogan's Swiss chalet-style mansion. Now, it's probably not a surprise to any of you, but I'm kind of a history geek, and I was a lot more interested in another house the captain mentioned.

This is Spottis Woode, sometimes called Spotswood, Donald Roebling's waterfront estate. The captain mentioned that Donald Roebling was the grandson of the man who built the Brooklyn Bridge, but Donald is noteworthy based on his own acheivements.

In 1930, Donald Roebling bought this parcel of land in Clearwater, naming it honor of his finacee, Miss Spottiswoode. Roebling built a fabulous Tudor-style mansion, then added a machine shop to the estate. After the 1928 Lake Okeechobee hurricane, Roebling saw first hand how difficult rescue efforts had been. In his machine shop, he built the first prototypes of the Roebling Alligator, an amphibious tractor or tank. He repeated tried to get the military interested in his invention, but unsuccessfully so until the Alligator was featured in a 1937 issue of Life magazine. By 1940, Roebling was suppling the vehicles to the Marine Corps. The Alligator played an important role in the Pacific Theater during World War II, after being testing on the beaches of Clearwater Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

For more information about Donald Roebling and the Roebling Alligator:

"Roebling's Amphibian The Origin Of The Assault Amphibian," by Richard W. Roan

"The Alligator Amphibian: A Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark" (from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, a pdf file, includes photographs)

Bridge Videos

A collection of YouTube videos of Florida bridges. Why? No particular reason other than curiousity.

Round Trip Motorcycle Ride over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge




Sanibel Drawbridge's Final Opening




Elevation- Jacksonville Florida Bridge

Birding Trip to Merritt Island

This weekend, we went on a field trip with Tampa Audubon to the Viera Wetlands and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Brevard County, on Florida's East Coast, near Cape Canaveral. The Viera Wetlands are part of Brevard County's water treatment and reclaimation system, located near the New Town of Viera and the A.Duda Sod Farm. The Duda family started planning Viera in the 1980s, and A. Duda and Sons has been operating sod farms since the 1970s. In addition to LOTS of birds, we saw a river otter, wild hogs, and a turtle at Viera Wetlands.

Sandhill cranes near the town of Viera

There was a caracara at the Viera Wetlands.

Along with an uncountable number of coots, only a tiny, tiny percentage of which are shown in this picture.

Sod farm

On the way to Merritt Island NWR, we stopped at Parrish Park, which is just on the other side of the Max Brewer Bridge from Titusville. The Max Brewer drawbridge is the longest swing bridge in the state, and one of only two existing historic deck girder swing bridges in Florida. The bridge is scheduled to be replaced by a high, fixed-span bridge.

Our group leader identified 92 different species, and I saw 60 or so. Some of my favorites are the sandhill crane, pie-billed grebe, roseate spoonbill, and peregrine falcon. My list for the trip:

pie-billed grebe

white pelican

brown pelican

American bittern

great blue heron

great egret

snowy egret

little blue heron

tricolored heron

reddish egret

cattle egret

green heron

white ibis

glossy ibis

roseate spponbill

wood stork

tree swallow

mockingbird

yellow rumped warbler

palm warbler

red-winged blackbird

common grackle

boat-tailed grackle

black vulture

american widgeon

blue-winged teal

northern shoveler

northern pintail

green-winged teal

lesser scaup

hooded merganser

ruddy duck

osprey

bald eagle

northern harrier

red-shouldered hawk

crested caracara

American kestrel

peregrine falcon

wild turkey

common moorhen

American coot

sandhill crane

killdeer

American avocet

greater yellowlegs

willet

sandpiper

marbled godwit

ruddy turnstone

short-billed dowitcher

laughing gull

Bonaparte's gull

ring-billed gull

herring gull

black-backed gull

Caspian tern

royal tern

Forster's tern

rock dove

shrike

Sounds

While reading this article ("Hear Here" by Eric Wills, Preservation Online), I was reminded of an article a while back in Creative Loafing, about a musician working on a project inspired by the sound of cars driving over the Cass Street Bridge in Tampa ("Take It to the Bridge" March 21, 2007). The soundfile links in that article aren't working for me, but a great time to listen to the bridge is during intermission of any nighttime performance at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Just walk outside towards the river, and you'll hear the car tires rolling out harmonic chords on the bridge's metal draw.

Florida -- Read All About It

"50 Years Later, Seminole Tribe of Florida Marks Key Date" (Sun-Sentinel, Aug. 22, 2007) "...from termination to self-determination."

"26 Florida Companies Make Inc. 500" (South Florida Business Journal, Aug. 23, 2007)

"State Puts Bridge Inspections Online" (Tampa Tribune, Aug. 20, 2007)

"Dearborn Should Sell Its Florida Property" (Editorial in The Detroit News, Aug. 23, 2007) The City of Dearborn, Michigan, owns a Clearwater condominium building.

"Miami Nice -- And Naughty" Jewish Exponent, Aug. 23, 2007. "...Miami's thriving and varied Jewish scene that features dozens of synagougues, scores of kosher restaurants and a handful of mikvot."

"Dancin in the Street Helped Revitalize Downtown Stuart" (tcpalm.com, Aug. 24, 2007) 20th anniversary of program sponsored by Stuart Main Street. Florida Main Street is a statewide program designed to promote economic development while preserving historic buildings.

"Hunting a Hurricane" -- A St. Petersburg Times special report about the Hurricane Hunters based at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base.

"10 Things" The Sun-Sentinel is running a series giving 10 reasons to visit local attractions -- among the featured sites are Miami's Seaquarium, Coral Gables' Venetian Pool, the John D. MacArthur State Park, Peanut Island, and Flamingo Gardens.

This Week's Florida Happenings

"Rosen Shingle Creek Opens New A Land Remembered Restaurant" World Golf News, June 22, 2007. Resort opens upscale restuarant inspired by Patrick Smith's novel about Florida Crackers.

"Forgotten Indiana Jones Was Man of Many Mysteries" The Villages Daily Sun. The story of archaeologist Dr. Edgar J. Banks, who discovered ancient relics and made bad movies.

"Treasure Island Resident Wants to Protect Architecture." Beach Beacon, June 20, 2007. Will Treasure Island be the next South Beach?

"Reviving Rose Bay: Port Orange Estuary's Rebirth" Orlando Sentinel, June 23, 2007. Remains of old bridge pulled out of bay as part of restoration project.

"Present Meets Past at FSC -- A Cyber Cafe Coexists with Frank Llyod Wright Buildings." Orlando Sentinel, June 23, 2007.

"Explosions Demolish Towers" Florida Today, June 17, 2007. Cape Canaveral Air Force Base demolishes two launch towers. Includes links to video.

"Study Casts a Light on Shade." St. Petersburg Times, June 17, 2007. Study completed to analyze shadow that would be cast by proposed 32-story building.

Nancy Moskovitz

Florida artist Nancy Moskovitz was nice enough to talk to me yesterday about her artwork, particularly the house portraits she has done. She told me that when she paints or draws a house, she tries to capture the "essence of the house," rather than create a formal architectural rendering. She noted that these artworks make nice corporate gifts, but some clients just want a reminder of a special house. Also, sometimes she is asked to paint landscapes of property particularly meaningful to a family, like a ranch or farm.

Nancy also paints portraits, and you can see her work on both her website and her blog. I like her paintings of the Sharpe's Ferry Bridge, a 1920s drawbridge over the Oklawaha River in the Ocala National Forest.

Artificial Reefs: You Might Be Surprised What's Down There

One year ago the USS Oriskany became the world's largest artificial reef, intentionally sunk in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola. The Oriskany, the "Mighty O," was an aircraft carrier that saw action in the Korean and Vietnam wars. Veterans who served onboard and went on to become well known include astronaut Alan Shepard, Admiral James Stockdale, and Senator John McCain. Also, if you've watched "The Bridges of Toko-Ri" or "The Men of the Fighting Lady," you've seen the Oriskany. The hope is that the ship will be a good fishing and diving spot, and be an economic asset for Pensacola.

Another artificial reef is under construction near Pensacola, from the remains of the old I-10 bridge over Escambia Bay, which was badly damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. These are just two of the over two thousand artificial reefs that can be found in Florida's offshore waters.

An artificial reef is a man-made object that is deliberately sunk in the ocean to provide habitat for marine life or stabilize erosion. The "U.S. Customs Reef" was created east of Key Biscayne in 2001 by scuttling four ships seized from drug smugglers. Four Florida reefs incorporate parts of old oil rigs. Reef Balls are man-made objects made specifically to create artifical reefs. Eternal Reefs are reef balls that incorporate the cremated remains of the dearly departed, a different sort of burial at sea.

Unfortunately, not all artificial reefs are successful. In 1972, two million tires were placed offshore of Fort Lauderdale. The tires were meant to attract marine life and keep the land fills from overflowing. However, marine critters were not attracted. Some of the tires have broken loose and washed ashore. Others have broken loose and actually damaged natural reefs. Hopefully, the tires will be cleaned up this year (here's the plan).


(Additional Resource for Teachers: National Geographic Lesson Plan "The Pros and Cons of Artificial Reefs" for Grades 9-12. )

My Google Map of Hillsborough River Bridges

Here is my first attempt at using Google's My Maps. I've marked each bridge over the Hillsborough River, with a little information about most of them. I intend to add more information and images as I figure out how, but for now, I'd like to know what you think and what you would like to see added.

Bridges of the Hillsborough River

Down a River with a Paddle

If you were along the river in Tampa Friday afternoon, you may have seen an odd thing: a small regatta of canoes. Tom Hallock, who teaches at University of South Florida-St. Petersburg, took his Nature Writing class outdoors for the afternoon. Earlier in the week, they paddled a portion of the upper Hillsborough River, and today they would compare that with the lower or urban Hillsborough River. I was fortunate enough to be invited along.

As we paddled, I compared this trip to my last venture down the urban Hillsborough in a canoe, two and half years ago. There have been some changes, but subtle rather than sweeping. The houses that were being built on the river then, as the real estate bubble was inflating, are now finished. But now signs point to a difficult market. Literally signs, as the riverbanks are peppered with realtors’ for sale signs: price reduced.

Still, this time there were more people on the river, by the river, interacting with the river. Fishermen in motor boats, families enjoying a warm sunny day, a man sitting on his dock with a cold one after a long day of work. Dogs sniffing trees, as their owners chatted on cell phones. A couple embracing, watching the river slowly drift along. We round a bend, and encounter a group of young otters—well, actually several teenage boys challenging us to a race. They scramble to untie their worthy craft, which turns out to be a raft they made this morning, enjoying a day out of the classroom. It’s State Fair Day in Hillsborough County, no school today, but these kids made their own ride out of an old door and what looks like Styrofoam and bubble wrap. Their paddle is an old wooden porch balustrade.

The Hillsborough River is hidden in Tampa. Waterfront parks and access points are largely unmarked. For those of us familiar with the straight north/south grid of streets, the river’s bends are disorienting and confusing – what bridge is that? What neighborhood is this? As a driver, you might catch a glimpse of the river, but it’s rather small and there’s no large floodplain to announce its presence. You’re driving along, and all the sudden you’re on a bridge, but there’s a lot of traffic, so you better watch the road. We float under I-275, already bumper to bumper.

At this point the river is busy, too, as university crew teams skim their oars over the dark water. The bridges and seawalls are brightly colored with messages left by teams visiting from up north, where the frozen water keeps them from rowing. In our canoes, we pause under the Fortune Street Bridge, peering into its guts and gears.

The students are given a writing assignment; their teacher laughs and tells them, After that trip, you can’t say you don’t have anything to write about!

Fortune Street Bridge Article

The Jan/Feb 2007 issue of Cigar City Magazine hit the streets this week, with an article I wrote about the Fortune Street Bridge. (That's the bridge over the Hillsborough River between downtown Tampa and West Tampa, just to the south of I-275).

Cigar City Magazine is all about Tampa history, and appeals to people who live here, grew up here, visited here, like cigars, or just like history. You can get the magazine free at Tampa restaurants, hotels, and shops, or you can pay for home delivery. Back issues and t-shirts are also available. The magazine just opened up a new office in Ybor, across the street from the Ybor City State Museum, and next door to an art gallery and the treAmici coffee bar in the old Bunker. These businesses are examples of reusing historic buildings, the magazine and art gallery being in historic houses moved here as part of the I-4 widening project.

Happy 93rd Birthday, Lafayette Street Bridge!

In 1913, Tampa was a bustling, prosperous town with new houses, new stores, and a new bridge over the Hillsborough River at Lafayette Street. This bridge was actually the third one built at Lafayette Street, but the previous two could not keep up with the growing city. Early in 1913, construction began on a modern, reinforced concrete arch bridge, with Mediterranean-styled balustrades and bridge tender houses. The local papers updated their readers practically every day on the bridge’s progress, as dirt, concrete, and steel coalesced. By early December, the bridge was nearly finished, but the city’s political and business leaders postponed the formal opening ceremony until February 1914, during the Gasparilla Festival. But on December 20, 1913, when the city declared the Lafayette Street Bridge open for traffic, there was still a celebration. City officials, engineers, and newspapermen filled the first streetcar over the bridge; Miss Maybury (who worked for Tampa Electric) was the first paying passenger. It had been seventeen months since the last streetcar crossed the river at Lafayette Street. The U.S. Government’s launch DeSoto was the first boat under the bridge, Hugh Macfarlane drove the first automobile over the bridge, and Everett Snow was the first to cross on a motorcycle. That same day the Tampa Electric Company opened its new office building to the public, displaying Christmas trees glittering with tiny colorful lights. While Tampa’s citizens were thrilled to have a functional bridge again, the men who had worked on it for the past year and a half were happier to be going home for the holidays.

Eugene Holtsinger Bridge