the island perspective

By JoAnn Guidry

For 81 years, the four towering concrete bridge stanchions rising out of the U.S. Highway 441 median in Santos, just north of Belleview, have stood as sentinels to a brief moment in history. And if their reason for being had materialized, the highway would be traversing a barge canal via a bridge.

The bridge stanchions were built in 1936 as part of the Cross Florida Ship Canal project, a federal relief program to create jobs during the Great Depression. The project later evolved into the

Cross Florida Barge Canal, but all was permanently halted in 1971. The state-owned land was re-purposed to recreation and conservation in 1990 and became the Cross Florida Greenway in 1991.

Today, the bridge stanchions are the centerpiece of The Island, a recently created Florida Park Service interpretive historical park. Located directly behind the Marion County Sheri ’s Department substation on Hwy 441, the park is a median island.

“The Florida Trail cuts across that median, but it had gotten so overgrown that people couldn’t get through. At first, we were just going to clear the Florida Trail path, but then along came Dr. Bob Busha,” says Bre Ximenes, the trails and volunteer coordinator with the Cross Florida Greenway, which oversees the park. “He volunteered to adopt the area on the median. We consulted on what could be done with it. But Dr. Bob did all the hands-on work and came up with the name.”

The Island o cially opened this past January with Busha leading an interpretive group walk. Flanked by the stanchions on the east side, the 6-foot wide four-tenths-of-a-mile Canal Trail is perfect for a stroll through history. It is lined with six kiosks and seven interpretive boards, providing historical information about the canal project. A slightly uphill optional detour takes you right under the last arched stanchions. In the Port Santos section, markers show how wide the ship and then barge canals would have been.

For those wanting a little more of a hike, there’s the West Side Trail. The single-track trail is three-tenths of a mile and loops back to the Canal Trail. Ready for a rest and a snack? There are park benches, covered benches and picnic tables alongside the main trail.

“We are looking for a couple of volunteers to help us maintain The Island,” says Ximenes. “We want everyone to enjoy it and know the history tied to those bridge stanchions.”

Learn more › Bre.Ximenes@dep.state.fl.us › (352) 236-7143