The Tamiami Trail was conceived in 1915 when a group of businessmen from Miami, Naples, and Fort Myers met with officials in Tallahassee to discuss constructing a highway from Miami to Tampa via Naples, Fort Myers, Sarasota, and Bradenton.
Although the preliminary surveys for the trail were completed in 1915, the proponents of the project faced many challenges. Lack of financial support, a world war, a hurricane, and a major land bust would stop construction on the road for thirteen years.
By 1921 rumors were circulating that the lower portion of the trail from Naples to Miami would never be completed because the land was practically “impassable.” By 1923, most residents were ready to give up on the idea of a road going across the glades. Workmen were dying from drowning or dynamite explosions, and little progress was being made.
In the spring of 1923, a group of citizens called the “Tamiami Trailblazers” were determined to get the project going again. So it was that ten cars filled with twenty-three men and two Indian guides took off on a three-week trip across the Everglades. By undertaking this journey, the men proved that the proposed trail was feasible. This trip was well publicized and captured the imagination of the public
By 1924, Collier County raised $350,000 in bonds to continue the project. The Florida State Road Department officially recognized the project and made it part of the State Highway System, thus assuming responsibility to see the project to its completion.
The project began with surveyors and rod men braving the swamp to clear the right of way. Then the drillers were called in to blast their way through more than ninety miles of hard rock that was under the swamp muck. They used ox carts to carry the dynamite. When the animals became mired in the muck, the men would carry the explosives through the chest deep water. The drillers were followed by giant dredges which were used to dig up the loose rock to provide a base for the road.
This segment of the road took thirteen years and 13 million dollars to complete. To celebrate the completion of the highway across the Everglades, the Tamiami Trail Association sponsored a motorcade which began in Tampa and ended in Miami three days later. On April 25, 1928 the highway opened to traffic. Since then millions of people have traveled the trail viewing the Everglades with little knowledge of the sacrifices made to turn the dream into a reality.
