Bridges across the lower Suwannee River

 This is a subject that has interested me for years. In the early days, passage across the river was by canoe, or if you were lucky, during periods of low water, on horseback. Then came the river steamers and the ferries. River steamers operated out of places like Tampa and Cedar Key. The Suwannee River was navigable up to Branford, and possibly to New Troy. Beyond that, river conditions did not permit ships to travel, except during very heavy flooding (where there was sufficient draft). During flooding, the current flowing downstream would have made this a difficult proposition.

 Then came the bridges. Over the years (beginning from 1900) and only considering the river below Branford, there have been seven bridges. Two of them were in fact the same bridge, which was relocated. The list of bridges are:

 ACL railroad trestle - Built about 1906/1907 at Wilcox (a mile north of Fanning Springs). This bridge contains a box-girder steel segment on the east end, and a steel swing span on the west end. It is still standing in 2025, although the swing span no longer operates.

W. W. Cummer Sons railroad trestle - Built about 1915 at Fowlers Bluff. This bridge connecting the Cummer Cypress rail line, which ran from the mill at Sumner, and along the east bank of Suwannee, with a built-for-purpose line on the west bank of the Suwannee. That line ran south, allowing Cummer to extract cypress trees along the west bank and likely from an area in Township 13S. Bridge removed in 1923. Permission to construct this bridge required approval by the US Congress, and likely required being manned 24 hours/day and lit at night.

The Three Counties Bridge - Built at Fanning Springs during 1923. This bridge is actually the Cummer railroad trestle plus various wood work, but with the rails removed. The width of the swing span would only allow one car in each direction at a time. So there had to be some method of controlling traffic flow. Because of the swing span and low clearance beneath it, this bridge probably had to be manned at all times and lit at night.

 The "Benjamin Chaires Bridge" - Built at Fanning Springs, by the State of Florida, in 1935. This bridge was stationary and high enough for boat traffic to pass below it. Consisting of four box girder segments, each likely to be 100-ft long. Bridge supported one lane of traffic in each direction simultaneously. This bridge replaced the Three Counties Bridge.

 First concrete span at Fanning Springs - Built about 1963 by the State of Florida, just north of the Benjamin Chaires Bridge, and parallel to it. (NB US-19) The two spans allowed two lanes in each direction. As of 2009, FDOT lists this span as FO (Functionally Obsolete) so I expect it will be replaced at some point in time. Moving all the traffic to the opposite span (during demolition/replacement) is possible, but not something to be enjoyed.

Concrete span at Rock Bluff - built about 1965. This span replaced the last ferry operating on the lower Suwannee River.

 Second concrete span at Fanning Springs - Built about 1987, and replacing the Benjamin Chaires Bridge, in the south span position. One box girder from the Benjamin Chaires Bridge was preserved in the roadside park next to the bridge. (SB US-19)

Thus we have seven bridges, built across 65 years, of which 4 remaining standing. 

update: One other thought about the bridge at Fowler's Bluff. For the duration of World War I, that bridge (plus any watch points in the delta of the Suwannee) was the protection against any undesired vessels entering from the Gulf of Mexico. The bridge effectively closed the river to enemy traffic.

As additional update based on new information: Today (20 Oct 2025) I learned that the Three Counties Bridge may not have survived until the Benjamin Chaires Bridge was constructed in 1935 (by the State of Florida). The information I received today (which originated several years back and from an older resident now deceased) is that the Three Counties Bridge was washed away at some point, and from then until 1935, a ferry operated at Fanning Springs. This makes sense, as there were several major Suwannee River floods during 1928 and 1929. Records were not kept at Wilcox, but were being kept up river at White Springs and Ellaville. Florida Memory has images of some of the flood effects. To understand what happened, you must remember that the Three Counties Bridge was not a typical bridge that had pilings and a road surface. It was a causeway that blocked part of the river, with a swing-span to allow boats to travel. All of the river's discharge had to travel thru the swing span's channel. During normal river conditions, that was possible. During the high discharge of a flood, it was not. It is likely, although undocumented, that the river over-topped the causeway, and washed it away. 1928/1929 was after the 1926 collapse of the Florida Land Boom, so it less likely that money was available to put it back. Having lost one causeway-style bridge, may have resulted in a hard learned lesson about why a proper bridge was needed. For 6 or 7 years people had to rely on a ferry.