Historic City Memories: The Bridge of Lions

The Bridge of Lions

Part one of a three part series

The St. Augustine & South Beach Railroad Bridge

By Geoff Dobson

The Bridge of Lions is scheduled to open on March 17, beginning the third cycle in the continuing saga of the Matanzas River Bridge as it was originally called. The bridge did not become the “Bridge of Lions” until 1928, the year after its opening when Dr. Andrew Anderson donated the two Italian Carrera marble lions. The lions were sculpted by famed Romanelli studios and copied from the pair that guards the loggia Dei Lanze in Florence. While the bridge was being reconstructed, the lions were, like Dick Cheney when he was vice-president, kept in “an undisclosed secure location,” Actually, the lions were housed in a cage made of plastic sheeting at the Sewage Treatment Plant at Little Links.

The saga began with the formation of the St. Augustine & South Beach Railroad and Bridge Company on May 27, 1886, by Captain Allen Wood and a former executive of a railroad in Palatka, Moses Rosco Bean. Financing was apparently provided by Captain Wood who sold his interest in a railroad running from Bath, New York to Hammondsport. Captain Wood had originally run steamboats on Keuka Lake in Upstate New York. He gave up steam boating to run a 7 1/2 mile long railroad from Bath to Hammondsport. The railroad was noted for its first train of the day, a “gravity train.” From Bath to Hammondsport was all downhill. Thus in Bath, a passenger car was pushed up the hill next to the county poor farm and then allowed to run downhill to Hammondsport.

When the car rolled to a stop, a dray horse would then pull the car the balance of the way. In this manner the expenses of the first trip of the day could be reduced and more cars provided for the morning commute… The empty cars would then be added to the first trip of the day to Bath from Hammondsport pulled by conventional locomotion. In St. Augustine, Captain Wood operated a ferry from the central wharf to Anastasia Island. The construction of a railroad would, of course, provide a destination such as the Lighthouse, the remnants of Jesse Fish’s orange grove, and South Beach without the necessity of tourists walking several miles across the marsh and through the rattlesnake infested woods.

With the organization of the new railroad and bridge company, it was necessary for the company to have a full complement of officers and employees including a Vice-President, Treasurer, and Purchasing Agent. Moses Rosco Bean was elected by the shareholders to fill these positions. He was also selected as the Company’s acting Superintendent and acting locomotive engineer. Bean had previously served as the treasurer of the Palatka and Ocklawaha River Railway Company. The P. & O. R.R. had been organized in 1886 and its efforts to run a railroad from the Azalea City to the Ocklawaha River were abandoned shortly thereafter. The Company’s need for a “locomotive engineer,” whether acting or otherwise, was somewhat doubtful. Although the 1890 Official Railway List indicates that in the Company’s rolling stock was one locomotive, locomotive power on the S.A. & S.B. R.R. until 1899 was provided by a mule. In 1899, the Company acquired a small steam locomotive. According to the Official Railway list the remaining rolling stock consisted of one passenger car and one freight car.

Nevertheless, in 1892, Good Roads Magazine reported that plans were underway for the construction of a privately owned bridge across Matanzas Bay. The magazine was the official publication of the League of American Wheelmen formed in 1880. The Association’s slogan was “Lifting Our People Out of the Mud.” In 1895, the railroad found itself included in a major federal lawsuit brought by the heirs of Jesse Fish. Fish had died in 1798. Fish’s purported heirs claimed title to all of Anastasia Island. Notwithstanding the lawsuit, the railroad proceeded. By 1897, the new bridge was completed.

The Fish heirs claimed by reason of their being heirs of Fish’s mother. Mrs. Fish, herself died in 1825. Since then four generations had passed with the claims not being pursued until 1887. Over the next 13 years, the action slowly wended its way through the federal administrative bureaucracy and the court system finally ending up in the United States Supreme court which rendered its decision in 1901.

The heirs were like the man who wanted to take some pictures of the “fascinating witches who put the scintillating stitches in the britches of the boys who put the powder on the noses on the faces of ladies of the harem of the Court of King Caractacus”. They were out of luck, the statutes of limitation “just, passed, by!” My apologies to Rolf Harris. The writer loves British (and Australian) music hall songs. The writer used to bounce his children on his knee and sing that song.

In 1906, fares for persons crossing the bridge and those riding on the train were set by the Florida Railroad Commission as follows:

FREIGHT RATES.
Packages, weighing less than 100 lbs lO ¢
Packages, weighing 100 lbs. and less than 300 lbs..20¢ Packages, weighing 200 lbs. and less than 300 lbs..30¢

PASSENGER. RATES.
St. Augustine to light house 15¢
St. Augustine to light house and return 25¢
Light house to South Beach 15¢ Light House to South and return 25¢
St. Augustine to South Beach 25¢
The above rates will apply in both directions. For children between the ages of 5 and 12 years, half the above rates will be charged.
For crossing the bridge the following charges were imposed:
5¢ for passenger or bicyclist. l0¢ for man and horse.
15¢ for single seat cart or buggy, one horse and driver, and 5¢ for each additional person.
20¢ for horse and two-seated vehicle or buggy and driver, and 5¢ for each additional person.
25¢ for two horses, vehicle and driver, and 5¢ for each additional person.
15¢ for automobile with one seat and driver, and 5¢ for each additional person.
20¢ for automobile with two seats and driwr, and 5¢ for each additional person.
30¢ for automobile with three seats and driver, and 5¢for each additional person.
Wagons, single and double, same as for single and double buggies.
Loose driven horses and stock cattle five cents per head, the same, however, to be under full control of proper drivers to prevent stampeding and keeping them within a walk on the bridge, and no lot at one driving shall exceed fifty in number. They shall also be crossed late in the evening or early in the morning at such an hour as shall be prescribed by the agent or owner of such toll bridge, so not to interfere with the day traffic.
“The bridge shall be kept open from 5:30 A. M. to 7:00 P. M. daily, but the bridge tender shall be in attendance at the bridge, day and night and shall open the bridge at any time during the night in case of emergency”.

Apparently, the fares were insufficient. In 1907, the company went into receivership and fell into the ownership of the St. Augustine Light & Power Co. Naturally; the power company converted the railroad to electric and continued to operate the bridge and railroad until 1927 when the new Matanzas River Bridge was opened.

Next Week: The Coming of the Bridge of Lions.

Geoff Dobson, a St Augustine resident for the past 33 years, is a western and Florida history writer. He is a former president of the St. Augustine Historical Society and a regular contributor of nostalgic memories to Historic City News. Before his parents moved to Florida, his father was a Black Angus cattleman. Geoff has written extensively on Wyoming history (“Wyoming Tales and Trails”). When Geoff was in high school, his family lived in the cattle country of eastern Sarasota County. The family spread, which his parents called “Wild Cat Slough,” was reachable only by a pair of ruts over the sand hills and through a snake and gator infested slough. Now, it is an area of four-lane roads, expensive subdivisions, shopping centers, and office parks. . His undergraduate degree is in history. Geoff received his post-graduate degree from the University of Florida. He may be reached at horse.creek.cowboy@gmail.com