1918 postcard of the Victory Bridge, the first free public bridge across the Manatee River. *

By Terri Edmund

Some historians credit Henry Ford and mass production of the automobile with Florida’s population explosion. In the early 1900s, when the state began registering vehicles, cattle far outnumbered people in Florida, with the human census at just over half a million.

We can also thank Willis Carrier for inventing modern air conditioning. Before AC, Florida was a seasonal retreat only for adventurers and the very wealthy. Tourists discovered Florida when she flashed her neon COOL AIR signs, and many came to stay. The state’s population soared from 2.7 million in 1950 to 4.9 million in just a decade as residential AC became as common as Sears, Roebuck & Co.

Locally, bridges are the key to contemporary population expansion. A hundred years ago, we were still crossing the Manatee River or driving out to the beach over wooden bridges. History has proven the problem with wooden bridges. In 1921, an unnamed hurricane mangled the first Cortez Bridge under construction to connect Anna Maria Island to the mainland. In 1932, the Longboat Key bridge was washed away and not replaced for 25 years.

In 1926, with construction of the area’s first concrete bridge well underway, a storm damaged the wooden Victory Bridge over the Manatee River so badly that heavy loads had to be ferried across on barges. 

At the time, the county population was just under 20,000. Today, nearly half a million people call Manatee County home, almost as many as lived in the whole state when the automobile changed America. Today, the human population far outnumbers cattle.

The Million Dollar Link in the Tamiami Trail

Crowds gathered on both sides of the Manatee River June 29, 1927, when J.P. Green, Sr., cut the ribbon of roses to dedicate the bridge bearing his name. Green, a former mayor and developer, was a member of the state highway department and oversaw construction of the concrete bridge. Florida footed the bill for the “Million Dollar Bridge,” a critical link along the first leg of the Tamiami Trail. 

Construction on the famed road from Tampa to Miami began in 1915, but cutting the trail through the Everglades proved trickier and more costly than expected. Roadwork stalled completely in 1921, and some engineers claimed it impossible. 

Then the Tamiami Trail Blazers, a group of adventurers in Model Ts, tackled the trip from Fort Myers to Miami. At one point, they were lost and feared dead. Twenty-two days later, with the help of Seminole guides, they emerged in Miami as heroes. The publicity helped loosen the state’s purse strings for completing the 284-mile-long road that changed Florida forever. 

The Green Bridge was a jewel along the new Tamiami Trail, completed in 1929. Cheering crowds and honking horns greeted the opening day motorcade before it headed south, “with the roar of the Palmetto, Bradenton and Sarasota welcome stilling ringing in their ears,” according to an enthusiastic Bradenton Herald reporter. 

The Major Bridges of Manatee County

The construction and opening of the single span of Skyway Bridge in 1954 started a local bridge-building mania. The Anna Maria Island Bridge (1953), the Cortez Bridge (1956), and the Longboat Key Bridge (1957) were all built as bascule drawbridges to accommodate water traffic. The 40-foot-tall, fixed span of DeSoto Bridge opened in 1957 over the Manatee River, relieving some of the Green Bridge traffic. 

The Green Bridge was replaced in 1986 with dedicated walking paths and a 40-foot fixed span. Part of the old Green Bridge is now a favorite fishing pier. When the structure turned 90 in 2017, Bradenton’s Central Library hosted a special Bridges of Manatee County exhibit coined after the similarly named Eastwood/Streep romantic blockbuster. 

At the time, the Fort Hamer Bridge was under construction, a project that public officials had been contemplating since 1909. The Fort Hamer Bridge with road improvements cost over $32 million. Hurricane Irma forced it to open early to speed up the evacuations. Named one of America’s top 10 projects by Roads and Bridges magazine when it opened, the Fort Hamer Bridge carries more people today than urban planners’ most exaggerated dreams.

The Coming Bridge Boom

Though concrete has proven tougher than wood, some of our bridges are worn and outdated. Drawbridges are antiquated. Fixed-span bridges change the landscape but speed traffic through a world accustomed to moving fast. They are also expensive, and the Florida Department of Transportation has a lot on its plate. 

Construction begins on the 65-foot fixed span of Cortez Bridge with a price tag of $130 million. You can see how it will change the landscape by searching Cortez Bridge Animation on YouTube. A fixed span of Anna Maria Bridge will follow the Cortez Bridge replacement. 

The Longboat Key Bridge is still in the proposal stages; pedestrians and anglers are unhappy about a 78-foot-tall, fixed span proposed by the FDOT. Meanwhile, the DeSoto Bridge needs a facelift currently estimated at $168 million but delayed until 2030.

Bridges take time. They also save time and are as critical to our quality of life as our waterways once were for our transportation. Imagine the time required in the past to ferry across the Manatee River to your job every day. Or rowing your sweetheart out to the beach for a Sunday afternoon picnic. Or driving all the way around Tampa Bay before the Skyway Bridge cut the trip by hours. 

Have you noticed the Green Bridge’s special dressing in celebration of our country’s 250^th birthday celebration? Twenty-two American flags wave from the light poles crossing the bridge, thanks to the generosity of a local business, collaboration between Bradenton and Palmetto, and the blessing of the Florida Department of Transportation. 

U.S.A. Fence President Shannon Glasgow made the purchase and the connections to get the flags flying. Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown and Palmetto Mayor Dan West received necessary permissions and purchased the center flag: America 250.

Glasgow’s idea honors his deceased father.

“(My dad) loved America,” Glasgow said in a recent Bradenton Herald interview. “It’s time to celebrate America with all its flaws and all the things it does right.”

If you’d like to keep up with local FDOT projects, visit SWFLRoads.com.

*Courtesy of Manatee County Public Library Historical Digital Collections.