FIRST and ONLY Brick highway in Western Florida - Milton, Florida, USA
Posted by: 
BoomersOTR
N 30° 37.528 W 087° 01.002
16R E 498399 N 3388095
Western Florida's first and only brick highway in a portion of the preserved 1921 Old Spanish Trail.
Waymark Code: WM15968
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 11/12/2021
Views: 0
The Florida State Road No. 1 (also known as the ‘Old Brick Road’, ‘Red Brick Road’, U.S. Highway 90, State Road 87, or ‘Old Spanish Trail’) is a historic road near Milton, Florida. It is located in roughly three sections east of Milton, parallel to US 90, between Marquis Bayou and Harold, Florida. On June 23, 1994, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
According to section 7, page 1 of the NRHP application it was the first paved highway in Western Florida. In section 8, page 8 the NRHP application further states it was Western Florida's first and only brick road. (NRHP Application link (
visit link)
This road section was constructed of 8.5” x 3.5” x 3.5” monolithic vitrified bricks grouted together on a packed, sandy clay foundation. A 4” wide concrete curbing on each side held the bricks in place and made it 9’ 8” wide with heavy clayed shoulders of 3’ 2” bringing the total width to 16’. A grade of 4’ on each side made the roadway 24’ in width. In 1927, due to the new state requirements for wider roads, 4.5’ concrete shoulders were added on each side of the curbing.
In 1926, Florida had 337 miles of rural brick highways, the third largest number in the United States (Ohio was first with 1,412 miles and Pennsylvania second with 358.7 miles). Besides Florida State Road No. 1 east of Milton, only seven of these early brick highways in Florida still exist. Of those most are either very short sections or are in need of repair or preservation. This nearly 6 mile section of a Florida old brick road is the best example of brick road construction remaining in the state.