Ghost Town Tuesday; Brewster, Florida

Back in 2015 I was out searching for ghost towns that still had standing structures in the Bone Valley Area of Polk County, Florida. Along Florida State 37 south of Bradley Junction I found the remains of what was Brewster.

Brewster was a phosphate company town built by American Cyanide in 1910 along the rails one mile east of modern FL 37 on Old Highway 37. Brewster had all the amenities expected a real town such as; a school, a grocery store, gas station, and even doctor's office. Mining in Brewster shuttered in the early 1960s leading to the community being closed in 1962. Residents of Brewster were allowed to purchase their homes, many of which ended up to the north in; Fort Meade, Bradley Junction, Bartow, and Mulberry. Some of the mining facilities in Brewster were used until the 1970s before every usable asset was moved to the Fort Lonesome Mine.

FL 37 was moved west of the original Brewster town site some time between 1966 and 1973. There is a handful of buildings resting off of FL 37 in a state of decay. The saloon building still bears the name of the community of Brewster.

The smokestack off in the distance was part of the Brewster Power Plant which was the first building assembled in the community.

An abandoned access road to the mines west of FL 37 can be found behind a fence in Brewster.

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