Of course, today we would choose a different name for this system of interconnected highways but in 1915 Carl G. Fisher (Mr. Miami Beach), who had previously created the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (‘The Old Brickyard’) and The Lincoln Highway, set out to build a north-south highway dubbed The Dixie Highway. Carl Fisher has an interesting life journey. He and his friend, James A. Allison, bought an interest in the U.S. patent to manufacture acetylene headlights, a precursor to electric models. The headlight patent made him wealthy when he and Allison sold their company, Prest-O-Lite, to Union Carbide in 1913 for $9 million (equivalent of approximately $240 million in 2020). The millionaire then began a quest to build a road system that would bring folks to Miami Beach where he planned to make more millions in real estate sales.
Around this same time, Henry Ford’s Model-T, commonly referred to as the “Tin Lizzie,” was gaining popularity. Ford’s invention changed the face of transportation across the country, and for the first-time working-class Americans could afford to purchase the vehicle. With automobiles becoming popular, people needed good, reliable roads. For Carl Fisher the need for a north south route in the United States was essential for his proposed land deals. The lack of North-South long-distance roads wasn’t the only trouble facing drivers. Current roadways were in disrepair – potholes made traversing the roads tedious and sometimes dangerous, and they were easily made impassable after a heavy rain. They served primarily as links between small towns and the nearest railroad stop. These roads had no signs, making navigation a challenge, and often drivers would find themselves lost in places where the road branched out toward rural farms.
There was also that issue of the American Civil War which had ended only forty-nine years before. Tensions between the North and South were still present with wounds from the Civil War not yet healed. I’m certain those wounds still have not healed. However, the promise of profits overcame the hostilities present between north and south
The highway project began in 1915 overseen by the Dixie Highway Association and funded by a group of individuals, businesses, local governments, and states. By the mid-1920s, the project was largely completed with a network of roads interconnected across 10 states with more than 5,000 miles of paved road. (Alexa: Play “Running Down a Dream” by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers)
Driving around one day I stumbled upon a ‘lost’ short section of this highway hidden in some lush, dense oak trees with Spanish moss draped from their branches about fifteen minutes from our house near Louchman. During the 1930’s “boom” years of the state, County Commissioners erected concrete markers at the boundaries of Polk County alongside the main roads leading in and out of the county. There is indeed one of those monuments sitting beside the old stretch of the Dixie Highway about a quarter to half a mile inside Osceola County. It is worth noting that the spelling is as accurate as the placement of the ‘Marker’. The inscription on the monument reads; “POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA, CITURS CENTER.” It was probably too difficult to redo the writing on the stone when the mistake was discovered.
Finding this hidden gem got me interested in a quest to find other sections of the highway in Florida. Maybe the grail is buried under some loose bricks on the Dixie Highway. Turns out about an hour away in Maitland, Florida over in Orange County, there is a section of the highway better preserved than the “lost” section I had experienced. Naturally, being retired I can drop everything and head northeast in search of a red brick road around Lake Lily. What an exciting life I live.
The trip to Maitland was not wasted. The town has created a beautiful retreat around Lake Lily that incorporates about a tenth of a mile of the Dixie Highway.
Everything in this park is in great shape. Walking around the almost half mile path was interesting at every turn. A cute cottage used for weddings and honeymoons sat close to the path and next to The Waterhouse Residence and Carpentry Shop Museums.
The wildlife was prolific, and samples of old Florida butted up against the lake.
I was almost transported to a time when I was sloughing through the swamp looking for a wild boar to catch for supper. I settled for a number 1 at Checkers with lemonade.
I have tried to imagine life ninety years ago when the narrow (9 feet wide) brick road was an engineering marvel connecting the north and south of the United States.
I wonder what folks ninety years from today will be thinking about the engineering marvels of our day?
There is a ten-mile section of Dixie Highway about two hours away in Flagler and St. John’s Counties. I hope to check that section out soon. We are making progress in our efforts to remove statues and names found on our national landscape that venerate those who revolted against The United States. We have a way to go in healing our national wound as the road sign below reminds us.
The red brick road was built to bring the country together. I hope we find our way down the road to coming together in this generation. There is hope. A portion of US 1 named Dixie Highway in Coral Gables, Florida, has been given the historical designation of “Harriet Tubman Highway” on brown designation signs, but any changes to the official road name requires state approval.
See you next time.