The first mention of land transportation between the Florida Keys and mainland Florida appears to be from a political address given in 1835 by George W. Allen. Mr. Allen was a reverend and member of what would become one of the largest black families on Key West (according to their family’s website). The first incarnation of this engineering feat was a railroad, completed in 1912. Sadly, the route was partially destroyed during the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. With the Florida East Coast Railway being unable to cover the costs necessary to rebuild what was lost, the roadbed and remaining bridges were sold to the state of Florida for about $640,000 (approximately $11,296,716.42 in today’s money).
While all this was going on, the concept of a roadway for automobiles was brought forth by the Miami Motor Club in 1921.
There was a land boom going on in Florida during the 1920’s and the club wanted to attract tourists to the small fishing villages on the islands. The completion of the railroad proved the concept of an overseas highway was viable. Construction of the original highway (given the designation of State Road 4A) began soon after, lasting through most of the 1920’s. On January 25th, 1928, the highway was officially open to commuter traffic. The road was divided into two segments, one following the mainland and going as far as Lower Matecumbe Key, and the other segment between No Name Key and Key West. The roads were laid out with a 41-mile gap between the two, connected only by a ferry service. The roads ran roughly parallel to the old railroad, but diverted as it moved further south. In the 1930’s, plans were put into motion to connect the two sections.
Funds for the project were hard to come by during the depression.
Funds eventually came in the form of the New Deal and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration after the Labor Day Hurricane struck the Keys in 1935. The Hurricane left a devastated railway and more than 400 people dead, but it also gave the concept of a true overseas highway a real chance to thrive. Between toll funding and Federal assistance, construction moved forward and the completed project opened on March 29th, 1938. The road became the most southern segment of U.S. Highway 1 and is still an engineering marvel, with an impressive length of one hundred and thirteen miles of highway roads over water, crossing over the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Strait.