Drew Bridge
Description
The Drew Bridge is named after Frank & George Drew, sons of George F. Drew, governor of Florida from 1877-1881 and owner of the Drew Lumber Company. The bridge was purchased in Brazil for $15,000 in 1899 by the Drews and was floated on a barge to its present location. The bridge was moved into place by turning a crank in the middle of the bridge as trains needed. The Drew bridge was used until 1920 by the Florida railroad. The bridge was bought jointly by Suwannee & Lafayette county for possible use as a road bridge and has been sitting undisturbed since 1920.The bridge can no longer be reached by road, but can be reached by boat on the Suwannee River.More info on the history of the Drews, the Drew Lumber Co., and the Florida railway can be found at www.taplines.net.
Facts
- Overview
- Bridge over Suwannee River on Suwannee & San Pedro Railroad (1902-1905)
- Location
- Lafayette County, Florida, and Suwannee County, Florida
- Status
- Closed to all traffic
- History
- Named after sons of George F. Drew (gov. of FL 1877-81); purchased in Brazil by Drews in 1899 & floated by barge to present location. Not in use since 1920.
- Design
- Narrow gauge swing bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +30.10108, -83.11410 (decimal degrees)
30°06'04" N, 83°06'51" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 17/296283/3331871 (zone/easting/northing)
- USGS topographic map
- Mayo SE
- Inventory number
- BH 47418 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- January 1, 2011: New photos from Blake K. Reaves
- December 27, 2010: Added by Blake K. Reaves
Comments
Most likely because, at that point in time, most sailing ships either used sails of were powered by a motor and had large smokestacks that would have likey hit and damaged the bridge. That's just a theory though.
Does anyone know why it was used as a rotating bridge? Why not just have a solid bridge installed?
Unfortunately no preservation efforts have been made. It has been sitting in this position, untouched since the 1920's. At one point there was the idea to use it as a normal traffic bridge, but no efforts towards that have been made either.
Have any preservation efforts been initiated?
All I can say is wow! This may be one of the oldest and most important historic bridges in Florida. If it was moved in 1899, think how old it may be in reality.
Excellent catch!
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/fl/lafayette/drew/