Astor Bridge Tender's Murder
N 29° 11.048 W 081° 25.338
17R E 458940 N 3228460
The toll house has been moved from the bridge crossing, but the story of the murder still remains. Shot in the back, his body fell on both sides of the Volusia/Lake County lines and neither side claimed jurisdiction. Thus there was no investigation.
Waymark Code: WM7GDQ
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 10/23/2009
Views: 24
There were several mentions of the murder found, but none gave a specific year. It is presumed that the news was published, and some outrage at the lack of interest by the police.
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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)