Gribblenation

Back in 2015 I visited Enterprise off the shore of Lake Monroe east of Interstate 4 in Volusia County. Enterprise is now a quasi-ghost town which is located at what was a fortunate location along the St. Johns River watershed via Lake Monroe.  Enterprise was founded by approximately 20 settlers during 1841 near the end of the Second Seminole War.  Enterprise was meant to replace the major port of Palatka which was burned northward on the St. Johns River during the beginning of the Second Seminole War in 1835.  Enterprise was founded on land which was once part of Fort Kingsbury and would eventually become a major port along the St. Johns River. Enterprise became the third County Seat of Mosquito County in 1843 due to it being one of the larger towns in Central Florida.  In 1844 Mosquito County split into Orange County and St. Lucia County which led to Enterprise being removed as the County Seat in 1845.  By 1854 Enterprise had a large 50 room hotel called...

From 2014 through to early 2016 one of my running routes took through downtown Orlando via Lake Eola Park. Lake Eola is a 23 acre lake in downtown Orlando bounded by Robinson Street (Florida State Road 526) to the north, Eola Drive to the east, Central Avenue to the south, and Rosalind Avenue (Northbound FL 527) to the west.  The photo above was taken on a morning run sometime in the fall of 2014 looking west towards downtown.  The land that Lake Eola Park sits one was donated in 1883 but didn't become a Orlando City Park until 1892.  Lake Eola Park is generally considered to be the heart of downtown Orlando and is the site of many of the local events.  Just west of Lake Eola US 17/92 once ran on Orange Avenue through downtown Orlando on what is now southbound FL 527.

Back in 2014 I was looking for a different way to get from the Tampa Area back to Metro Orlando.  That being the case I took Rock Ridge Road east from US 98 through the southern Green Swamp of Polk County via Green Pond Road to Florida State Road 33. Rock Ridge Road and Green Pond Road are both very narrow but paved through the entirety of the Green Swamp.  The only significant junction between US 98 and FL 33 is at Dean Still Road pictured above.  Northeast of Dean Still Road the alignment of Rock Ridge Road crosses through a small community known as Rock Ridge.  At Poyner Oaks Road the alignment of Rock Ridge Road becomes Green Pond Road.  East of Poyner Oaks Road the alignment of Green Pond Road crosses over the Van Fleet Trail.  The crossing of Green Pond Road and the Van Fleet Trail was once the location of the community of Berry.  Berry was a siding of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad's spur Florida Western and Northern Line.  ...

Back in 2014 I spent time tracking down former alignments of what is now Florida State Road 50 on the north side of the Green Swamp in Hernando County and Sumter County. Prior to the 1945 Florida State Road renumbering FL 50 east of Ridge Manor to Mabel was part of FL 210.  Whereas the modern route of FL 50 is quite good through the Green Swamp and one of the few two-lane roadways in the state with 60 MPH speed limits the original alignment was much different.  This 1936 Road Map of eastern Hernando County shows FL 210 heading into the Green Swamp via Richloam-Clay Sink Road to the Atlantic Coast Line siding of Richloam. 1936 Eastern Hernando County Map  FL 210 and later FL 50 turned east towards the Little Withlacoochee River on Riverland Road towards the siding of Riverland.  From Richloam looking eastward this is what former FL 50 looks like today. At the Sumter County Line the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and FL 50 split from each other on se...

In 2014 I found myself on Davis Island which overlooks downtown Tampa. Davis Island was created from dredge expanding the small natural islands of Little Grassy Key and Big Grassy Key in the 1920s.  From the northern tip of Davis Island all of downtown Tampa can be seen.  On the far left the mouth of the Hillsborough River can be seen beneath the 1926 Platt Street Bridge which is a bascule span.  Behind the Platt Street Bridge the Selmon Expressway/Florida Toll Road 618 can be seen above the Hillsborough River.  In the center of the photo the Tampa Convention Center is obvious along the waterfront.  Tampa has the second highest number of high rise buildings in the State of Florida at 69 which is only behind Miami.

Back in 2014 I took Florida State Route 24 to it's western terminus on the Gulf of Mexico at Cedar Key located in Levy County. From Otter Creek at US 19/98 it is an approximately 21 mile drive west to the terminus of FL 24 at Cedar Key. FL 24 has an unsigned terminus at D Street and 2nd Street.  The real only indication that FL 24 has ended is the quality of the asphalt drops considerably suddenly as maintenance drops from FDOT to the City of Cedar Key.  The terminus of FL 24 is easily located however since the Cedar Key Historical Museum is next to it. There is also a local street sign displaying FL 24 at 2nd Street and D Street.  There is also an older FDOT Wayside sign still in use despite being heavily weathered. The really interesting part of Cedar Key is along Dock Street.  Dock Street overlooks the original Cedar Key settlement on Atsena Otie Key and becomes very apparent that it was once end of the Florida Railroad. ...

The Brooksville Ridge is a small plateau in Hernando and Pasco Counties which ranges approximately from Brooksville southeast to Dade City.  The Brooksville Ridge has several high points over 200 feet in elevation which are among the highest in peninsular Florida.  The Brooksville Ridge has various former State Road alignments and communities that have largely disappeared to time. Ayers is located at the corner of US Route 41 and Hernando County Route 576/Ayers Road near Masaryktown.  The first reference to Ayers I could find is from a 1936 Hernando County Map where it appears as a siding of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad at the corner of US 19/41 and Ayers Road. 1936 Hernando County Road Map  Given rail sidings have had a reduced purpose to exist since the rise of diesel locomotives suffice to say there is quite a bit of abandoned commercial/industrial structures to be found in Ayers. Interestingly when Hernando County Route 576 original used Ol...