Florida’s Overseas Highway Origins

Why did Florida build a 184-kilometer road across the ocean to nowhere? Sounds crazy—but

it actually connects Florida to Key West. Back in 1912, engineers built a railway stretching

184 kilometers over open water, a project so ambitious it was called the eighth wonder of

the world. But in 1935, the powerful Labor Day Hurricane tore through Florida,

destroying large sections of the tracks and ending the legendary railway. After heavy losses,

Florida debated abandoning the western islands altogether. Instead, they dismantled

the remaining tracks and built a roadway on top of them, using dozens of bridges across the

sea. Today, that road is known as the Overseas Highway—the only