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)
- Quadrangle map:
- Mayo SE
- Inventory number
- BH 47418 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- October 30, 2016: New photo from Robert Thompson
- January 1, 2011: New photos from Blake K. Reaves
- December 27, 2010: Added by Blake K. Reaves
Sources
- Blake K. Reaves
- Douglas Butler
- Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
- Robert Thompson
Comments
Blake,
As a followup to my evaluation of this bridge's significance, I have submitted request to Florida State Historic Preservation Office to list the bridge on the National Register of Historic Places. The process moves REALLY slow, but supposedly Florida SHPO is doing its own research on the bridge as well. My hope is that a listing would increase awareness of the bridge.
I am absolutely amazed at what I read about the Drew Bridge. I can honestly say that I know very little about bridges. I just knew that I had been fascinated by this old swing bridge since I was a small child and thought that it deserved some recognition, as few people in our town knew it existed. I never thought it could be one of the oldest railroad bridges in the country. The two counties really don't know what they've got sitting there in the river and I wish more could be done to preserve it.
Good luck with your research Nathan.
Regards,
Art S.
Art,
Yes, the Clays Ferry Bridge is a bridge from the same era I believe this bridge to be from. As far as builder, it is an interesting possibility, the similarities of the portal bracing are somewhat striking. The castings and connection details are quite a bit different. It does offer a potential direction for research however.
Nathan,
Based on the design cues could it be of the same period and maker as this one:
http://bridgehunter.com/ky/fayette/clays-ferry-old/
Regards,
Art S.
I visited this bridge and discovered it has cast iron struts and other fascinating details. Its unusual details and use of cast iron make it potentially one of the oldest surviving swing bridges in the USA. My analysis, findings, and photos are here: http://www.historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowse...
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/
Found this nice shot of the bridge:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95912605@N03/19691109791/in/ph...