 |
| A section of the Old U.S. Road west of Greenwood, Florida. |
By Dale Cox
The "Old U.S. Road" leads from north to south through Jackson County, Florida. It has been a prominent feature on the local landscape since 1836 and parts of it are still in daily use.
Florida was still a wilderness when President Andrew Jackson signed an Act of Congress into law establishing the road on July 2, 1836. The Second Seminole War (1835-1842) and the Creek War of 1836-1837 raged across the Deep South.
Jackson believed that federal money should be spent only on infrastructure projects that benefited the people of more than one state or territory. The proposed new road did that. It began at Daleville, Alabama (west of present-day Dothan), and ran south across the border to Marianna on the Chipola River. From Marianna, the road continued south to St. Joseph (Port St. Joe) on St. Joseph Bay and then east to its southern end at Apalachicola.
Two Alabama and four Florida counties can be found along the original route today.
The primary purpose for federal involvement in building the road was to provide a reliable and safe route for delivery of mail to the growing Florida cities of Marianna, St. Joseph and Apalachicola. Bid for delivery were let by the postal service in 1836 and the contractor was required to have mail deliveries up and running by February 1, 1837.
Provisions outlined by the U.S. Postal Service required that mail be carried between Marianna and Daleville, a distance of around 60-miles, once each week. This was done by means of stage coaches that also provided transportation for any passengers so inclined.
A second line of stages connected Marianna with St. Joseph and Apalachicola on the Gulf of Mexico. Deliveries along this section of the road were required twice weekly, despite the longer distance of more than 90-miles.
Much of the road was likely built over existing trails, as it was completed with remarkable speed. By the time President Jackson signed a second appropriation of $20,313 for the project on March 3, 1837, much of the route was done.
The Creek and Seminole Wars, however, slowed things down a bit. A new outbreak of fighting spread south through Alabama into Northwest Florida in the early months of 1837. Battles took place in modern Russell, Barbour, Pike, Dale, and Geneva Counties in Alabama, as well as across the line in almost all the counties of Northwest Florida. Work on roads and bridges was delayed as able-bodied men took the field as volunteers and militia.
Outbreaks of fighting continued in today's Jackson, Calhoun, Gulf, and Franklin Counties until 1844, but lessened in severity and work resumed on the new road in the summer and fall of 1837. The mail deliveries between Marianna and St. Joseph finally picked up speed in November of that year, nine months behind schedule. Construction crews, however, did not complete the total project until 1838.
The road became the primary north-south artery connecting three of the most important cities in Florida. Apalachicola, of course, emerged as a major commercial center at the mouth of the Apalachicola River and eventually became the third busiest port on the Gulf Coast behind New Orleans and Mobile. St. Joseph exploded almost overnight to become the largest city in Florida. Marianna, in turn, became the small but politically-powerful seat of the third most populated county in Florida.
Yellow Fever outbreaks, hurricanes, and war between North and South changed this dynamic over the decades to come, but for several years after its completion the U.S. Road was one of the most important transportation arteries in Florida.
Sections of the original route remain in use today. North of Marianna, a long segment of modern paved road that more or less follows the 1837 right of way extends from Grangeburg (Grangerburg) in Houston County, Alabama, across the border into Florida and west of the modern communities of Malone and Greenwood. It dead-ends at Caverns Road just around the curve from Florida Caverns State Park.
The original road continued straight across but Jackson County rerouted it in the late 19th century. By turning east on Caverns Road then south on Old U.S. Road, you can reconnect with the original route where it picks up again just south of the intersection of Meadowview and Old U.S. Roads.
The original then continued to a wooden bridge that carried travelers across the Chipola River into Marianna. It was located at the foot of Jackson Street. Brick and stone piers visible there are often mistaken for ruins of this original bridge, but they date from later times.
South of Marianna, the original road followed today's FL-73 to its intersection with FL-71. The latter highway approximates the route south to St. Joseph from where the road turned east to Apalachicola.
You can learn more about the early roads and trails of Jackson County in Dale Cox's book
The History Of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years
.
To follow the original route of the Old U.S. Road from Grangeburg to Marianna, please use the map below:
The "Old U.S. Road" leads from north to south through Jackson County, Florida. It has been a prominent feature on the local landscape since 1836 and parts of it are still in daily use.
Florida was still a wilderness when President Andrew Jackson signed an Act of Congress into law establishing the road on July 2, 1836. The Second Seminole War (1835-1842) and the Creek War of 1836-1837 raged across the Deep South.
Jackson believed that federal money should be spent only on infrastructure projects that benefited the people of more than one state or territory. The proposed new road did that. It began at Daleville, Alabama (west of present-day Dothan), and ran south across the border to Marianna on the Chipola River. From Marianna, the road continued south to St. Joseph (Port St. Joe) on St. Joseph Bay and then east to its southern end at Apalachicola.
Two Alabama and four Florida counties can be found along the original route today.
The primary purpose for federal involvement in building the road was to provide a reliable and safe route for delivery of mail to the growing Florida cities of Marianna, St. Joseph and Apalachicola. Bid for delivery were let by the postal service in 1836 and the contractor was required to have mail deliveries up and running by February 1, 1837.
Provisions outlined by the U.S. Postal Service required that mail be carried between Marianna and Daleville, a distance of around 60-miles, once each week. This was done by means of stage coaches that also provided transportation for any passengers so inclined.
A second line of stages connected Marianna with St. Joseph and Apalachicola on the Gulf of Mexico. Deliveries along this section of the road were required twice weekly, despite the longer distance of more than 90-miles.
Much of the road was likely built over existing trails, as it was completed with remarkable speed. By the time President Jackson signed a second appropriation of $20,313 for the project on March 3, 1837, much of the route was done.
The Creek and Seminole Wars, however, slowed things down a bit. A new outbreak of fighting spread south through Alabama into Northwest Florida in the early months of 1837. Battles took place in modern Russell, Barbour, Pike, Dale, and Geneva Counties in Alabama, as well as across the line in almost all the counties of Northwest Florida. Work on roads and bridges was delayed as able-bodied men took the field as volunteers and militia.
Outbreaks of fighting continued in today's Jackson, Calhoun, Gulf, and Franklin Counties until 1844, but lessened in severity and work resumed on the new road in the summer and fall of 1837. The mail deliveries between Marianna and St. Joseph finally picked up speed in November of that year, nine months behind schedule. Construction crews, however, did not complete the total project until 1838.
The road became the primary north-south artery connecting three of the most important cities in Florida. Apalachicola, of course, emerged as a major commercial center at the mouth of the Apalachicola River and eventually became the third busiest port on the Gulf Coast behind New Orleans and Mobile. St. Joseph exploded almost overnight to become the largest city in Florida. Marianna, in turn, became the small but politically-powerful seat of the third most populated county in Florida.
Yellow Fever outbreaks, hurricanes, and war between North and South changed this dynamic over the decades to come, but for several years after its completion the U.S. Road was one of the most important transportation arteries in Florida.
Sections of the original route remain in use today. North of Marianna, a long segment of modern paved road that more or less follows the 1837 right of way extends from Grangeburg (Grangerburg) in Houston County, Alabama, across the border into Florida and west of the modern communities of Malone and Greenwood. It dead-ends at Caverns Road just around the curve from Florida Caverns State Park.
The original road continued straight across but Jackson County rerouted it in the late 19th century. By turning east on Caverns Road then south on Old U.S. Road, you can reconnect with the original route where it picks up again just south of the intersection of Meadowview and Old U.S. Roads.
The original then continued to a wooden bridge that carried travelers across the Chipola River into Marianna. It was located at the foot of Jackson Street. Brick and stone piers visible there are often mistaken for ruins of this original bridge, but they date from later times.
South of Marianna, the original road followed today's FL-73 to its intersection with FL-71. The latter highway approximates the route south to St. Joseph from where the road turned east to Apalachicola.
You can learn more about the early roads and trails of Jackson County in Dale Cox's book
The History Of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years
.To follow the original route of the Old U.S. Road from Grangeburg to Marianna, please use the map below:
2 comments:
Dale:
I'm assuming that the Marianna-St Joe's road was obviated by the Marianna-Chattahoochee ferry road that became the mail route by the late 1860s, particularly after extension of the railroad from Quincy to Chattahoochee. When did this transition take place?
Dan Weinfeld
Dan,
Actually, the Marianna-St. Joe's road continued to be used and most of it remains in use today. Mail was being carried via the Marianna-Chattahoochee road as early as the late 1820s. Both mail routes remained important, as the Marianna-St. Joe route also provided mail access by land to and from Apalachicola, which was important as the riverboats could not run during dry weather.
Dale
Post a Comment