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Florida State Road 50 Part 2; Sumter County

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Picking up from Part 1 of the Florida State Road 50 series Part 2 covers the sections of the highway headed eastward within Sumter County.


Part 1 of the Florida State Road 50 series can be found below:

Florida State Road Part 1; history of the highway and Hernando County portion

As stated in Part 1 the route of FL 50 east enters the Green Swamp in eastern Hernando County.  At the Little Withlacoochee the route of FL 50 enters Sumter County.



At County Road 757 the route of FL 50 east meets it's original right of way which once continued west to Riverland Road in Hernando County.


Back in 2014 I spent time tracking down former alignments of what is now FL 50 on the north side of the Green Swamp in Hernando County and Sumter County.  As stated above the original right of way that likely was part of early FL 50 used was Riverland Road in Hernando County and County Road 757 in Sumter County to cross the Little Withlacoochee River.  The original right of way can be seen on the 1936 Hernando County and 1936 Sumter County Road Map from Part 1.

Heading westward from modern FL 50 towards the Little Withlacoochee reveals a narrow roadway with several abandoned homes.






County Road 757 ends at a gate just short of the Little Withlacoochee River and Hernando County Line.  The former community of Riverland and Richloam are to the west on Riverland Road on the Hernando County side.



Back tracking west to Hernando County briefly.  In Part 1 of the Florida State Road 50 series the original route right of way is shown on rhe 1936 Eastern Hernando County road map diverting from the modern highway at Clay Sink-Richloam Road.  From Clay Sink-Richloam Road the original highway entered the community of Richloam and turned eastward towards the Little Withlacoochee River to Riverland here on Riverland Road.  Below is the turn from Clay Sink-Richloam Road eastward on Riverland Road. 


Returning to modern FL 50 the highway next has a junction with CR 478A just east of County Road 757.


FL 50 east enters the community of Tarrytown where it has a junction with FL 471.  FL 471 is the primary north/south road through the Green Swamp.



Tarrytown was a lumber town that was along the Orange Belt Railway.  Although Tarrytown is still listed as an active community there isn't very much left that one would discern as "town like."  On the northeast corner FL 50 and FL 471 there is one older structure that was recently repainted.  The Orange Belt Railway used to cross through the sawmill located on the southwest side of FL 50 and FL 471.  The Orange Belt Railway operated during the late 1880s and early 1890s before being reorganized.  The Orange Belt Railway eventually was acquired by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902.


FL 50 east of FL 471 to the Van Fleet Trail is signed as a "Florida Scenic Highway."


East of FL 471 the route of FL 50 has Groveland listed 13 miles away while Orlando is shown as 42 miles away.


FL 50 east quickly enters the community of Linden.


The original right of way diverted from modern FL 50 in Linden at County Road 772B.  The original highway crossed over to the south side of Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the path of County Road 772B still bears marks from a former crossing.  To the left of the photo below the Atlantic Coast Line was located between County Road 772B and modern FL 50.  The original highway continued east on County Road 772B where it rejoined modern FL 50 in Mabel near the Van Fleet Trail.


Linden as a community is very old and dates back to the 1840s.





The Scenic portion of FL 50 east ends in Mabel at the Van Fleet Trail.  Oddly FL 50 doesn't directly connect to the Van Fleet Trail which can only be accessed via County Road 772B.  The Van Fleet Trail is a 29.2 paved trail through the Green Swamp which was built on the grade of the Florida Western and Northern corridor line of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad.




East of Mabel the route of FL 50 intersects CR 469 which accesses Center Hill.



East of CR 469 the route of FL 50 enters Lake County.


Part 3 of the Florida State Road 50 series features the highway in Lake County.

Florida State Road 50 Part 3; Lake County


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