Astor Bridge House - Pioneer Art Settlement
N 29° 11.048 W 081° 25.338
17R E 458940 N 3228459
One of several relocated historic structures displayed on the grounds of this history museum. House now serves as museum gate house and offices. You must check in (pay) here to tour museum grounds.
Waymark Code: WM7GDM
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 10/23/2009
Views: 6
According to the self guided map:
1) Astor Bridge House: One of few existing bridge tender's homes in Florida. The building was constructed in 1926 and moved to the Settlement in 1983.
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It is mentioned in the Astor Historic Trail:
8....Astor Bridge
The first bridge across the St. Johns River at this point was opened in 1926. At the same time, the road was paved from Ocala to Astor to Barberville.
It was a draw bridge with a covered part and a house for a bridge tender on the west bank. The first tender was the former ferry operator, McQueen Johnson. While he was on duty in the middle of the bridge he was shot in the back, and fell across the very middle of the bridge, with his head in Lake County and his feet in Volusia County. Both counties refused to claim jurisdiction and the murder was never investigated.
The new bridge was built in 1978. The bridge house was moved away in 1980.
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visit link)
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A historic photo of the house at the original location was found on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crossings_of_the_St._Johns_River)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Astor_Bridge_n028409.jpg)