For nearly five hundred years, people have dreamed about
creating a canal that would link the Atlantic Ocean in Northeast Florida to the
Gulf of Mexico. As soon as early explorers realized that Florida was a peninsula,
they looked for a way to traverse it by ship without sailing around its
southern cape. Over the years, the idea
came and went, depending upon the desire of governments to improve commerce and
national security.
The 1500’s were a tumultuous time in Florida history. Spain,
France and England were
all competing for domination in the new world.
When Spanish forces under the leadership of Pedro Menendez de Aviles rousted the French stronghold of Fort Caroline at the mouth of the St. Johns River in 1565
it secured Spain’s
stronghold on the northern Atlantic coast of Florida.
It also allowed Spain
access to the interior of the Florida
peninsula for further exploration and conquest.
A French soldier captured during that battle claimed the St. John’s River
had two mouths: one on the Atlantic
coast and another on the Gulf of Mexico. Menendez was keen to verify the existence of
this “shortcut” across the peninsula.
Such a passage would create a new and safer shipping route for Spanish
ships carrying precious bounty from its colonies in South and Central America
to Spain, bypassing the
arduous and dangerous trip around the southern tip of Florida.
Although the Spanish explored inland Florida via the river, establishing several
forts along the way, they never did find the rumored outlet on the gulf. Some have suggested that Menendez did not
push on because of fear of retribution from the Native Americans who still
dominated central Florida.
Despite not being able to verify that there was, indeed, a
cross-peninsula water route, most people at the time believed that it did exist.
Several maps drawn by Spanish
cartographers showed such a waterway.
This unfounded belief lasted for two hundred years. When the British took control of Florida in 1763 they
conducted a survey to try to determine whether or not the water route
existed.
After the revolutionary war, the United
States became interested as well, even though at the time
Florida was again
a Spanish colony having been ceded by the British with the signing of the
Treaty of Paris. The first steps towards fruition began during the Thomas
Jefferson administration in 1808.
Jefferson’s Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin proposed a
protected inland waterway from Massachusetts
to Georgia
(at the time the most southern State.) This
proposal would later lead to the creation of what is now known as the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which would not be
completed until 1940. Although Gallatin suggested that an inland waterway through Northern
Florida would be desirable, he did not include it as part of the proposal for
an obvious reason: Florida
still belonged to Spain.
This Article is Reprinted from the Book
South of the St. Marys River
Stories from the History of Northeast Florida
By the time Spain
gave up Florida to the United States
in 1821 there was consensus that a natural cross-Florida waterway did not
exist. But, in the eyes of many, that
did not negate the need for one. Everyone
from slave traders to legitimate merchants to the United
States armed forces were looking for an expeditious and
safe route from the Atlantic Coast to the Gulf of Mexico
and public support grew. Several routes
were proposed including one that would start at the mouth of the St. Marys
River, then travel through the Okefenokee Swamp and finally the Suwannee River.
Another proposed route began at the mouth of the St. Johns River and
ended at the Iberville River (now called Bayou Manchac) near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Over the ensuing decades the idea remained active. The United States commissioned several
surveys, but there was much debate over the cost of the project. Although there was a lot of talk, no actual
decisions were made and the idea languished.
In the meantime, David Yulee completed his Florida Railroad from Fernandina Beach to Cedar Key in 1860. Linking
the two coasts by rail, it allowed cargo to avoid the journey around the
peninsula, partially fulfilling the reasons for the water route. Then the Civil
War happened, and all plans were put on hold.
Following the war, interest in a cross-Florida waterway
resumed, but as before no concrete action was taken. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 and
Calvin Coolidge in 1927 each endorsed the idea.
As before, there were only surveys, proposals, and arguments about
funding, but no action was taken.
Following the stock market crash of 1929, the United States entered
The Great Depression. Millions of
American citizens lost their life savings and found themselves unemployed and
desperate. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was
elected President in 1932 and set about trying to put people back to work
through his “New Deal” programs. Upon
hearing of the proposal for a cross-Florida canal, FDR heard just one word –
JOBS – and approved five million in funding for the project. Work would finally begin to make the four
hundred year old dream a reality.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt
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The proposed canal route began in
Jacksonville
at the St. Johns River until Palatka, and then followed the
Ocklawaha River,
and finally the
Withlacoochee River, where it would end at the
Gulf
of Mexico near Yankeetown. By
relying heavily on existing rivers there would be cost savings but 32 miles of
land would need to be dug and two of the rivers would need to be dammed.
Work began near Ocala
on September 19, 1935. President
Roosevelt himself set off fifty pounds of dynamite remotely to mark the
official ground breaking. Some 6,000 men
were hired to begin digging the canal. They set up a base camp near Ocala called Camp
Roosevelt. Simultaneously
several thousand more began digging near Yankeetown. It was backbreaking work performed in the hot
Florida
weather for just thirty cents per hour.
Given the state of the economy, they were happy for the work.
In 1936 a labor organizer from St.
Augustine, George Timmerman, arrived at Camp Roosevelt
seeking to unionize the laborers. He was
soon found severely beaten and tied to a tree, crucifixion style, near the camp
with his lips sewn shut. Rather than
investigate the incident local authorities ordered Timmerman to leave
town. He apparently complied and no
record exists of him after that.
An early casualty of the project was the African American
community of Santos, just a few miles south of Ocala. The waterway was to run directly through
town. Residents were forced out by being
forced to sell their property for pennies on the dollar. The town simply ceased to exist.
Three years had passed since construction began and FDR’s
initial five million dollar down payment was exhausted. Although five thousand acres of forest had
already been cleared, portions of the canal dug, and a town wiped off the map
continued work would require the authorization of Congress.
Meanwhile opposition had been steadily growing. Railroad interests (and their lobbyists)
raised environmental concerns. While
such concerns would later prove accurate it is clear that the railroad
companies were masking their obvious financial interest in seeing the project
fail. The most serious environmental
issue was raised by farmers in the southwestern portion of Florida who argued that the canal would
flood the state’s water aquifer with salt water, making it unusable for
drinking, let alone irrigating crops. Northern
politicians complained about the cost.
Spurred on by publications of the day, public opinion was also waning,
with some even worried that if the cut was completed the southern portion of Florida would simply
float away. In the end, further national
funding was not authorized and the canal project was abandoned.
Several years later during World War II German submarines
were regularly attacking merchant ships off the coast of Florida’s Atlantic coast. It is said that people could often hear the
explosions from Jacksonville down to Miami. Interest in the canal was revived but this
time it was proposed that instead of a sea level canal it would be a “barge
canal” that was not as deep in order to overcome previous environmental
concerns. Some local businessmen
supported the project, most notably John H. Perry, who owned the Ocala Star
Banner and would personally benefit from the canal’s completion. However, building the canal was a long term
project and Congress had more immediate wartime problems with which to
contend. So, while they authorized the
project, they never authorized funding, once again leaving it in limbo.
After World War II, the United
States entered into the “cold war” against Russia. Interest in the canal was renewed as a way
for ships to avoid sailing too close to Cuba, a Russian ally. With the support of President John F.
Kennedy, Congress finally authorized funding in 1963. The next year, President Lyndon Johnson
having become President upon Kennedy’s assassination, personally set off
explosives signaling groundbreaking, just as President Roosevelt had done
almost thirty years earlier.
With funding in place, as well as political and public
support, the cross-Florida canal project was finally back on track. This time, though, instead of thousands of
hours of manual labor, modern technology was used for the clearing and
digging. A major tool was “The Crusher”
also known as “The Monster.” Developed
by the company of Gregg, Gibson and Gregg, the Crusher was a massive vehicle
capable of pushing over trees up to six feet in diameter, strip them of their
branches, and crushing the trunk and branches into the mud. With the Crusher being able to clear forests
at the rate of about an acre per hour completion was projected for 1971.
It looked as if the dream of a cross-Florida waterway which
lasted through nearly five hundred years and was considered by every
administration since George Washington would finally become a reality. And then, along came Marjorie Harris Carr.
Marjorie Harris was born in Massachusetts on March 26, 1915. The family relocated to Florida when Marjorie was still a young
child. Her parents were both naturalists
who instilled in her a love of the environment, which would remain her passion
for life. She married herpetologist (one
who studies reptiles and amphibians) Archie Carr in 1937. She had previously been denied entrance to
graduate programs at Cornel and the University
of North Carolina, as
they did not admit women. However, with
the help of her husband she was able to attend the University of Florida
(then also an all male institution) where she earned a masters degree in
Zoology.
Marjorie Harris Carr was always active in the fight for Florida’s environment. She was a member of the Alachua Audubon
Society and the Garden Club of Gainesville.
She founded the Junior Naturalists of Alachua Audubon which brought
environmental awareness to schools. She
also served on the board of directors of the Florida Conservation Foundation.
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| Marjorie Harris Carr |
Marjorie became concerned about the impact that the canal
would have on many different aspects of the Florida ecosystem when she attended a forum
on the project held by state and federal agencies. She and others raised detailed questions
about the project for which the government representatives had no good
answers. She later said, “The audience
that had come to the meeting with a completely neutral attitude toward the
canal project went away that evening disturbed, uneasy, and determined to find
out more about the probable effects of the barge canal on the Florida environment.”
In 1969, Marjorie Harris Carr founded Florida Defenders of
the Environment. The organization sued
the Army Corp of Engineers for the potential damage the canal would cause to
the Ocklawaha River and its ecosystem. In seeking an injunction the lawsuit stated,
“unless the requested relief is
granted irreparable damage will result — notably extensive destruction of
unique timber and aquatic life upstream from Eureka Dam as well as in Rodman
Reservoir, and almost certain pollution of a considerable portion of the water
supply for the State of Florida.”
On January 15,
1971 the court granted a preliminary injunction which barred any further work
on the canal project until the matter was fully litigated. In the meantime, public sentiment had turned
against the project because of publicity about the suit. Just four days later on January 19 President
Richard Nixon signed an Executive Order halting any additional construction. When signing the order Nixon stated, “The
step I have taken today will prevent a past mistake from causing permanent
damage.” He later mused broadly, “What a
strange creature is man that he fouls his own nest.”
By the time
construction was halted some $74 million dollars had already been spent on the
project. Over the ensuing years several
attempts were made to codify the canal’s demise but most failed. Finally a bill passed in 1990 that
de-authorized the project and also called for a greenway corridor to be
established along the canal route. On
November 28, 1990 President George Bush signed the legislation ending all
further attempts to complete the canal.
Some 70,000 acres
of land that the federal government had acquired in connection with the project
was transferred to the State of Florida. In 1991 the state created the Cross Florida
Greenway State Recreation and Conservation Area. In 1998, following Ms. Carr’s death, it was
renamed the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway in her honor. It is managed by The Florida Parks
Service. It spans 110 miles and provides
more than 300 miles of trails for all types of outdoor recreation.
Today, nothing
remains of the Cross
Florida Barge
Canal, except for a few
partially completed excavations and bridge trusses. The one exception is the Rodman Reservoir,
located just outside of Palatka. It was
created during the canal project by damming the Ocklawaha River. It continues to be a source of controversy,
with some arguing that the aging dam should be removed for environmental and
economic reasons, while others appreciate the opportunities for water
activities that it provides.The story of the Cross Florida
Barge Canal
is significant to the past, present and future of Florida and the nation. From the germ of an idea nearly five hundred
years ago, through various reasons for and attempts at construction through the
centuries, to the recognition of potential harm to our environment it is a
reminder of man’s attitude toward his relationship with nature. It’s most important lesson may be that we
must assess the needs of local communities and the impact on them when
considering any future projects of such size and scope.
"I am an
optimist. I also believe that Floridians
care about their environment. If they are educated about its perils, if they
are never lied to, they will become stewards of the wild places that are
left." – Marjorie Harris Carr
This Article is Reprinted from the Book
South of the St. Marys River
Stories from the History of Northeast Florida
