Florida Friday; Deep Lake and the Harrisburg to Everglades City Railroad

Back in 2013 I checked out a ghost town in Collier County on Florida State Road 29 which along the Harrisburg to Everglades City Railroad.

The name Deep Lake refers to a 90 foot sink hole on the eastern side of FL 29 which apparently is the largest south of Lake Okeechobee. Deep Lake is located in the middle of the Big Cypress Swamp and was part of Lee County until Collier County split away in 1923. Deep Lake was originally settled in 1900 by investors looking to built grapefruit ranch. The investors built a small railroad line to transport the grapefruit from Deep Lake south to Everglades City. Said railroad line can be seen on the 1916 Lee County map.

1916 Lee County Map

By 1928 the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad purchased the rails between Everglades and Deep Lake. The ACL expanded the line north to Harrisburg which was a rail siding located near Palmdale and the current junction of US 27/FL 29. The expanded line can be seen on the 1932 Collier County Map.

1932 Collier County Map

The Everglades City to Harrisburg line was partially abandoned in 1957 between Everglades City north to Sunniland with the rest of the line sometime in the 1980s according to abandonedrails.com.

Everglades City to Harrisburg Railroad

At some point a prison complex was built in Deep Lake. The prison ended up being a FDOT maintenance facility which was abandoned in 2002. The prison complex is located being a fence line which can be seen from FL 29.

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Interstate 5; the West Side Freeway

The past four years I've frequently driven the entirety of Interstate 5 in San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley. I-5 from Wheeler Ridge north to a segment near of Woodland is known as the "West Side Freeway."

The West Side Freeway segment of I-5 refers to an approximately 330 mile portion of the highway from the split with CA 99 at Wheeler Ridge north to the convergence with I-505 near Woodland.

Part 1; the history of the West Side Freeway and the split of I-5W/I-5E

In the 1947 Interstate plan I-5 was to be routed up US 99 where it would have split into I-5W and I-5E in Modesto. I-5W was to planned to use the following current state highways:

- Modern CA 132 west to I-580.
- Modern I-580 west to I-80.
- Modern I-80 east to I-505.
- Modern I-505 to I-5.

As the second Interstate System was being drafted the path of I-5 was shifted to the western part of San Joaquin Valley which was planned as Legislative Route 238. I-5W was planned to split from I-5 at the p…

Old Stage Road; the "real" El Camino Real and predecessor route to US Route 101 on the San Juan Grade

This past month I stopped in San Juan Bautista to hike the Juan Bautista De Anza Trail on the closed Old Stage Road. Old Stage Road as part of the Spanish El Camino Real to cross the Gabilan Range between San Juan Bautista and Salinas Valley.

Part 1; the history of El Camino Real and Old Stage Road

The Gabilan Range between what is now San Juan Bautista and Salinas Valley was first explored during the second Juan Bautista De Anza Expedition of Las Californias. While the De Anza expedition likely crossed very close to the present alignment of Old Stage Route their exact path isn't clear. Juan Bautista De Anza noted the following in his journal while passing near present day San Juan Bautista on March 24, 1776:

"In the valley we saw many antelopes and white grey geese. In the same valley we found an arroyo...and then came to a village in which I counted about twenty tule huts. But the only two people we saw were two Indians who came out to the road and presented us with thr…

Abandoned Interstate 95 - Newburyport, Massachusetts

What is now a popular recreational trail in the northeastern Massachusetts city of Newburyport was once a northbound alignment of Interstate 95, and before that, part of a relocated US 1. A trip down this 1.1 mile long abandoned section of highway shows a road that was left mostly intact, complete with the original pavement, curb cuts and pavement markings. But there is a story about how this highway became a trail...

Originally conceived to be part of a relocated US 1, the stretch of road that is now the abandoned section of I-95 in Newburyport was part of a highway that was constructed between 1951 and 1954 from modern day US 1 in Danvers, Massachusetts and ended just south of the state border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire in Salisbury, Massachusetts. The highway was originally constructed with three 12-foot wide lanes in each direction, although the rightmost lane eventually became a hard shoulder for the road. The highway was not Relocated US 1 for long, as it became I…

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