Skip to main content

Ghost Town Tuesday; Cumpressco, FL and the wooden Lanier Bridge

By
Back in 2015 I went to the central region of the Green Swamp in Pasco County looking for the town site of Cumpressco just to the east of Florida State Road 471.



Cumpressco was a company logging town located in the Green Swamp and was created at some point during the 1920s.  The name Cumpressco was an amalgamation of the "Cummer Cypress Company" which honestly hasn't weathered the test of time in regards to modern humorous sensibilities.  Cumpresco operated on two rail grades running west to Dade City and the other northwest to Lacoochee.  Logging operations in Cumpressco ended in 1939 and both rail lines were abandoned.  The rail line west to Dade City is now known as Cumpressco Grade Road to the Withlacoochee River while the line to Lacoochee is now Main Line Road.  The town site of Cumpressco is now part of a hiking trail in the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve.


Interestingly when the Cumpressco Grade Road reaches the Withlacoochee it becomes Summer Lake Road at a community which was once known as Ashley.  Westward Summer Lake Road becomes River Road and crosses the wooden Lanier Bridge.  At some point also in 2015 I set out to find the Lanier Bridge while traveling to Hernando County.


The site of the Lanier Bridge has had a crossing of the Withlacoochee River since the first structure was completed in 1850s.  The Lanier Bridge has been replaced numerous times with the modern structure coming into place in the last couple decades.  The wooden deck is actually pretty smooth to drive on and is one of the few wooden deck automotive bridges I'm aware of that still is in service within in Central Florida. 






Fivay.org has an excellent article on the history of the Lanier Bridge crossing along with photos of the historic markers at the Withlacoochee River. 

Fivay.org on the the Lanier Bridge

Fivay.org Lanier Bridge Historic Markers
Labels:

Comments

Kevin said…
The Carpetbaggers from up north came to Florida and plundered our natural resources.
8:07 PM
Anonymous said…
Kevin, as a native Florida resident I can honestly say, with all sincerity, "Who cares?". That was like, 100 years ago.
12:57 PM
Unknown said…
You wouldn't want to off ridden that bridge in 1970.Scary.Even on a schoolbus.Poor construction.Today? It's beautiful and safe.
9:32 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cajon Pass; Cajon Pass Toll Road, National Old Trails Road, US Route 66/91/395 and Interstate 15

By
This past weekend I spent some time in Cajon Pass traversing the many historic road alignments. Cajon Pass is located in San Bernardino County, California along the San Andreas Fault.  Cajon Pass  serves the boundary line between the Mojave Desert, the San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains and San Bernardino Valley.  Cajon Pass is historically one of the most traveled transportation corridors in American California and presently is served by four rail lines, Interstate 15 and California State Route 138. While Cajon Pass is known mostly for carrying US Route 66 it has carried numerous other signed highways that have had a significant impact on regional and national road travel.  While this is my best attempt to compile everything from the best sources I could find into one single transportation history blog regarding road travel in Cajon Pass I suspect as time goes on this article will be frequently updated.  If you have any information that you ...
1 comment
Read more

Pardee Dam Road

By
Pardee Dam is a 358-foot-high concrete structure located near Campo Seco at the Calaveras County and Amador County Line.  Pardee Dam impounds the Mokelumne River which forms the namesake Pardee Reservoir.  Pardee Dam was completed during 1929 and is part of the East Bay Municipal Utility District.  Pardee Dam is accessed by the namesake Pardee Dam Road which crosses the structure via the one-lane road seen as the blog cover photo.   Part 1; the history of Pardee Dam Road The closest community to Pardee Dam is that of Campo Seco on the Calaveras County side of the Mokelumne River.  Campo Seco was founded in 1850 by Mexican Miners who worked placer claims in Oregon Gulch during the height of the California Gold Rush.  Campo Seco would reach a population of about three hundred by 1860 spurred by the numerous mining claims in the area.  Main Street of Campo Seco flowed directly into the Campo Seco Turnpike which had been authorized by the California L...
2 comments
Read more

California State Route 82/Old US Route 101 on the El Camino Real from San Francisco to Interstate 380

By
After completing Interstate 380 I made my way northward into the City Limits of San Francisco to drive the northernmost portion of California State Route 82. CA 82 is 52 mile State Route between I-280 in San Francisco southward to Interstate 880 in San Jose.  CA 82 is significant due to it being part of the historical surface alignment of US Route 101 and the El Camino Real. The "El Camino Real" was a Spanish Highway in Las Californias and Alta California which connected the 21 Catholic Missions along the coast.  Essentially the route of the El Camino Real was plotted out in the late 1700s from two Spanish survey expeditions.  The Missions were plotted approximately 30 miles apart along the 600 mile route so that they would be a single day journey by horse.  The El Camino Real name fell into disuse after the Mexican Revolution of 1821 but was revived by American highway promoters in the 1890s and 1900s.  Today the El Camino Real is mostly associated...
2 comments
Read more