#414 Golden Anniversary of the Opening of Collins Bridge press release 1963From )iiami Beach News Bureau
for release the week of June 9.
One man's dete~naination, another's money, and a vision they
shared ... 50 years ago John IS. Collins and Carl Graham Fisher
opened tho gateway to what has become the world's greatest tourist
resort.
Wednesday, June 12, will ---k the golden anniversary of
the opening of Collins Bridge. It will pass without fanfare
or cor~aony. Few in Miami Beach remember tho once-leAsco span;
most are unaware it ever existed.
Yet before its ~o~structio~, the islo2td city was little ~ore
than sand and swamp across tho bay ~rom Miami, & hustling co~rminity
whose growth had been q~arrsd by the arrival of Henry Fla~ler and
his railroad in 1896. Few Miami residents cared that a ferry
provided the only access to a beach where mosquitos were the
chief inhabitants.
Among th~___, however, was Collins, whose avocado plantation
along Indian Creek near what is now Arthur Oodfrey Road was a
thriving venture.
"Orandfather was from New Jersey; he knew that in summertime,
everyone flocked to the shore to escape the heat," recalled Russell
Pan. east, whose father, Thomas J. Pancoast, was Collins* son-in-law
and business partner.
~ore. o.o
Collins Bridge
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South,~ a re~ort which w~uld attx&ct in winter as ~as~ern beaches
did in sum~r. Be believed his oceanside holdings had great real
estate potential, i£ he Just could bring the people here.
The solutionwas abridge spanning Biscayne Bay.
A logical route, Collins decided, would bm along the canal
he h~d built in 1911 to shi~ his produce to the mm~nlmnd. He
would build acroms Bull Xmland, a mangrove mwmmp Just wmmt of
his acreage.
Early residents scoffed at the propos&l~ even when construction
finallybegan in July, 1912, it was considered an old man's foXly.
Immediately there were problems.
Small shipworms called reredos re&lied on the wooden pilings,
casings had to heplacad around each, extending three feet below
the surface and filled with concrete ~o protect the vulnermble
area. This greatly increased coats, and withhimdrmmmhalf-
c~Xetmd, Collins ran out of money.
When C~rX Fisher errtved tn Miami, he was intrigued by the
wo~enhFi~ge ex~ending from the be&c~hhmlfw&y &=roms Bimoayne Bay,
huilt bya 74-year-old man the natives lookadupon am a herobr&lnmd
m~hmmmr. The industrialist asked to meet Collins, listened and
beliovedwh&t he heard.
Collins Bridge
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Xn exc~mnge for 200 acres from ocean to bay betweenwhat
is now 14~h Street and Dads Boulevard, and after changing the
name of ~AiI Island to Belle Xsle, Fimhe= advanced $50,000 for
~ompletion of the span.
On June l/, 1913, Thas J. Panooast drove the first motor
vehiole aaross Collins ~r£dge. #Aami ~ayor J. W. Watson and Crate
D. Bowen, Fiehar's attorney, made speeches at the opening ceremonies.
The publio orosaed at a toll of $1 per car plus 25 cents per passenger,
no charge for children under seven years old.
"Xt stretched 2~miles, the longest woodenbridge in the
world," maid Russell Panooast, who rode in that first car with
him father. "The plankmwe~e laid diagonally to reduce noise."
Young Pancoast soon was c~ossing ~he bridge to attend school
every day, as hie fmuily built a hoeae on the beach side. Xn less
than two years the ~ of #iami Beach was incorporated and began
to flourish.
John Collins' vision proved more lasting than his b~idge.
By 1920, it already was insufficient to meet the needs of the
g~owing area and was replaced by the Venetian Xslande and
Causeway, which still lie along the route mapped out for "an
old man's folly."