1674-23 John CollinsSUNDAY, MARCH 27, 1938
Collins Bridge Famous
each Link of Early Da
•
ne who hears anything of the
h]slors of Sllaml Beach Is certain to
the expression, "The old Col -
bridge."
Ipdeed,•Miami Beach current his-
- properly -;may be said to start
ail = the construction of that
,bridge, the dream of John S. Col -
fns, the. pioneer of Miami Beach.
Consequently something descrip-
;Zlve of that bridge Is in order.
'Jts every man, woman and child
In this territory knows, John S. Col-
lins was a man of great vision and
'foresight. Since he owned 1,600
acres of land separated from Miami
• iby-Biscayne bay. he decided that he
t..t„ 4,. should offer persons in Sliami and
on'the mainland opportunity to get
1 • his acreage that he might show
,. .;;.• them the land he had and sell as
• �_ ome sites that portion of his hold-
w•nnsultable for farming. With
h]aIdea In mind he conceived the
dea 'of- the wooden bridge from
Miami to Miami Beach, and con -
toting the two. The distance was
do.and a half miles. but this did
tldeter Collins. Instead it fur-
nlihed only an obstacle to be
cleared out .of his path forward
3tt4 progress.
4 t Brtdgc• Opened In 1913
',Jn July, 1912. Collins, then 74
earn old, started the bridge which
'as'completed In May of 1913. At
the time 1t was opened to the pub -
'•1t was considered the world's
longest wooden bridge. J. I. Conk•
]la was the engineer In charge of
the construction work.
The bridge was built by driving
0. 10 12 -Inch native pine pilings
down into rock in order that there
beno settling of the bridge. These
pilings were driven four abreast
•:.-,every 18 feet. On top of the piling
2x12
Y4one cap to the lother 11pfrom
joists
';were laid edgewise. On these joists
:three -Inch 'floor was laid diag•
onilly which made for a superior
firdlstribution of strength and pre-
,Iventtd vibration or at least reduced
;1t to a minimum. A 3x6 guard
rail was placed either side on top
-'of blocks to insure safety in cross -
.•
dog the bridge. Outside of the
guard rails posts were fastened an
on top of each was a hand ral
The bridge was 18 feet wide with
clearance of seven feet at mea
low tide. except at the draw whit
had a 16 -foot clearance.
Piles Were Protected
The Toredo .worm, in Souther
waters particularly. is destructiv
to wood not protected. Thereto'
each piling was encased In concret
to tn'o feet above water level, an
each piling was in excellent cond
tion up to 1920 when the bridg
was sold to the developers of th
Venetian Isles.
The cost of the Collins bridge wa
5100,000. The developers of Ven
flan Isles have since construct
five islands and replaced the of
Collins wooden bridge with a beau
tifttl causeway known as "Venetia
Way." This latter enterprise i
volved an investment of 52.500.00
and was opened to travel March
1926.
The aging Collins, nearly 75 year
old, was met with rebuff and dis
couragement when he suggeste
building his wooden bridge. Th
residents of Miami felt certain hi
effort in the bridge line would mee
with failure and financial ruin
However, the pioneer refused t
permit the e—iructton of his fait
and, reinforced by his courage an
ever -recurring visions of the com
pleted bridge. went right ahea
with his venture. •
Collins \Vas Thanked
When the first rush of person
had crossed the bridge to \Slam
Beach one of the oldest settlers i
this region is said to have remarke
to Collins:
"Well. John. you aren't quite s
crazy as they thought you were'
are you?"
To which. It Is further told. th
adventurer replied: "Thirty year
from now they'll thank me fo
building this bridge!"
And, as near as can be deter
mined, both Miami Beach an
Miami still show their gratitude fo
it is continually said that ever
structure reared in Miami Beach 1
a monument to John S. Collins
The pioneer died February 11, 1928
• 2`
c
city -owns. 3353;000
QYTf'1K of Its own bonds; •.cash ;ori
' hand, Oct. 31, 51,172,316.19, 'de- th;•
1 •rived for the most part from e'
flotation of two issues of 20 -year
'1 refunding bonds, totaling 32,313,000, .
to finance permanent improve-
, ments. .And in adidtion to the
l work financed by the Issuance of
d permanent improvements out „of
1• current funds.
•
a I New construction in the city, du-
h 1
Ing 1937 approximated more than
312,000,000, including 250 residences,
with accommodations for approx-
h . imately 1,060 persons; 75 apart -
e ments of 693 units accommodating
-e 2.094 persons, and 22 hotels of
e 1,264 rooms.
d Closely interwoven into this as-
tounding pattern of achievement
o are the trials and hardships of Col-
e tins. not unlike the pioneering
tribulations that fostered the de-
s_ velopment of other sections of the
e country.
ed
Originally a leading New Jersey
• horticulturist, Collins 10 v e s t ed
h money with E. T. Field and Ezra
n- Osborn, also of New Jersey, in 'a
0 ' coconut and avocado -growing en
1, terprise during the early part of
when Osborn and
s Field bought extensive land in the
- section from the government for a
1price variously estimated at from
e 75 cents to 31.25 an acre. When
the enterprise seemed doomed to
failure Collins Insisted it be con -
bonds, the city , spent $33
the cent
• tinued, and when his compatriots
h felt otherwise, he purchased out -
d right },600 acres from them, this
rr
purchase being the nucleus for Mi-
d a',Beach of today.
Meanwhile, after a period of
yeara, a company had been formed
s —the Biscayne Bay company—to
reclaim a large tract of land at
d Miami Beach, the land to be filled
by pumping the sand from the bay
bottom, and Collins enthusiaati-
n cally entered into the project, at ,
the same time conceiving the idea
e of turning a great part of his own '
s non -producing land into residen- '
✓ tial property. With this In mind.
he conceived the idea of building';
• a bridge from Miami to Miami
1 Beach—the latter boasting, at•
✓ this time, a casino, a hotel and a
y few houses — which he did In' i
s 1912 with the financial aid of Carll l
G. Fisher.
Fisher, learning that Collins was• •
74 years old at the time, was.•
loathe to follow hith in his desire'
to create a resort, but finally de- ,
tided to co-operate, and the work
of reclamation went ahead, with
the filling of swamps and bulk- •
heading. Canals and lakes were t
dug and the material used to fill
the low land. It is estimated that
this item alone cost 32 000,000.
Today the former swamp com-
prises 4,408 acres of land, 540 acres
of land waterway and 6,028 acres
of bay bottom, a winter city of
more than 50,000 persons.
.ad
�
9
1
.Y
f76 -CENT LAND
- SITE FOR RICH
CITY OF HOMES.
Miami Beach, With 99.1:
Tax Collection, H a d
Lowly Beginning
From mangrove swamp to the
'nation's winter playground is the
"---}tory of Miami Beach.
Originally called Ocean Beach,
`the northern part of Miami Beach.
now ;a playground for the world's
f Wealthiest men and women, was
dense ,Wilderness .. n sa of
Trurk -tri•• -.a1^ o....
ago have sprung castle -like estates,
valued at millions of dollars, where
a design for tropical living has at-
. tracted not only winter tourists,
but thousands of home owners.
- Steps in the development of this
gigantic project read like a Horatio
Alger story, with the name of John
S. Collins standing out boldly as
the man with the tenacity and
genius of a pioneer, who conjured
up the picture of a great play-
ground out of Luxuriant, though
drab. swamps.
Today the city presents a picture,
unique in its style of architecture,
conscious of its growth and proud
of its accomplishments, its out-
standing characteristic being a
financial standing few municipal'
ties enjoy. "-
Tax collections for the year end-
ing Oct, 31 represent 99.1 per cent
of the total due: outstandir-,•
both real estate and perso•,taxes,
saa l, since.
'
the incorporation of ne city 231
years ago total only 611.71.5.15:'due-I
Inc •5., 1937 !i,r,! • .._
SUND AYJNIT ART 8, 1939•
ii
Officials Learn When An -1 I
other Can Is Set Up In
Alley, It's News t/
Miami Beach's 1938-1939 touris
season is off to a hotter .tart than'" -e'