Category Archives: Infrastructure Galleries

Old Dixie Highway, Espanola, FL

These photos are of a ~10-mile section of the Old Dixie Highway (also known as “Old Brick Road”) that remains single-lane and lined by brick and starts in Espanola, FL (a small town northwest of Bunnell) and continues north to CR-204.  The road is about 9 feet wide and flanked on either side by a concrete curb.  There are wide shoulders on either side that also appear to be made of concrete.  The lands on either side of the road are tree farms, and you will see various gated logging roads on either side.

These photos were taken May 2018, after several rain storms.  Sections of the road were mostly covered by sand.  I was able to traverse it in a 2-wheel-drive Ford Fusion, just as long as you are careful about the potholes and sandy areas.  You cannot really travel faster than 10 mph, so expect it to take 1 hour to traverse the entire route.

More information about the road can be found at the Florida Backroads Travel website, and is summarized here:

This red brick is the original pavement of the Dixie Highway. Construction began in 1915 on the highway. Many of the bricks were manufactured by the Graves Company of Birmingham, Alabama.

The Dixie Highway was a system that connected Chicago to Miami. You can see vestiges of this system all over the eastern part of Florida in the name “Old Dixie Highway”.

This segment was part of a road designed to connect Jacksonville with the area around Flagler Beach east of Bunnell. Most of Old Dixie Highway was torn out and paved over with asphalt in the 1920s and 1930s. The old brick road that ran from Bunnell to Flagler Beach was torn out and repaved and became State Road 100. A lot of bricks from the old road were given to local settlers who used them for their own paving projects, fireplaces or patios.

Espanola’s heyday was a long time ago. When the highway was new, the little town boasted of a hotel, restaurant, barber shop and post office. When what is now U.S. Highway 1 was completed from St. Augustine to Bunnell in 1926, people stopped using the Old Brick Road and Espanola faded away to its present condition of a few old homes and small farms.

Southern entrance: 29.517923, -81.312343
Northern entrance: 29.651671, -81.379915

Rapallo and Lyman Viaducts, East Hampton and Colchester, CT

These are photos of the filled in railroad trestles of the Rapallo and Lyman Viaducts, part of the New Haven, Middletown and Willimantic Railroad’s line from New Haven to Willimantic, forming part of a more or less direct route between Boston and New York.  Here is some history of the two viaducts according to an informational sign along the trail:

The Rapallo Viaduct, located in East Hampton, was built in 1873 for two train tracks.  It was a 1,380 ft long bridge located 60 feet above Flat Brook but due to the increasing weight of freight trains, the viaduct was filled in underneath the tracks in 1913.

The Lyman Viaduct, located in Colchester, was also built in 1873 as a 1,108 foot long bridge located 137 feet over Dickinson’s Creek.  Due to the increasing weight of freight trains, the viaduct was filled in underneath the tracks in 1912-13.

Location:

Yosemite Valley Railroad, Mariposa County, CA

These are photos of the old Yosemite Valley Railroad rail bed located along the Merced River, paralleling Route 140, and some of the old houses in the area.  The historic photo is from a kiosk near where the present-day photos were taken.

According to the website below, “Grading of the railroad began in September 1905 in Merced…While the original intent of the railroad had been to provide passenger service to the Park, the railroad was quick to encourage the growth of freight traffic…Passenger business on the railroad peaked in the mid-twenties, dropping thereafter due to the increased use of private automobiles to go to Yosemite…”

More information: Yosemite Valley Railroad History

Location: Google Maps (37.605495, -119.967243)

Erie Canal Lock 18, Herkimer, NY

These are photos of Lock 18 along the Erie Canal.  According to the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) report for the site, the lock was built around 1909 and the powerhouse around 1915.  The lock is still operational.

Location: Google Maps (43.01620369, -74.917545182)

More information: Library of Congress website (Historic American Engineering Record)

Abandoned Rochester Industrial & Rapid Transit Railway (“Subway”), Rochester, NY

The Rochester Industrial & Rapid Transit Railway, also known as the Rochester Subway, was constructed 1922-24 out of the old Erie Canal right-of-way in downtown Rochester.  The subway opened in 1927 and stayed open until 1956.  Portions of the tunnels have been filled in, but these photos are from along South Avenue, just south of Court Street.

More information: http://www.rochestersubway.com/rochester_subway_history.php

Location: Google Maps (43.153165, -77.607818)