Have you ever driven on a road …
That has a mysterious bend?
View from the bank of Deep Lake
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Top on the list for me is State Road 29, and more specifically the semi-circular curve around 9 miles north of the Tamiami Trail. I’ve been driving up and down that road for over twenty years. And at that curve I always have the same thought: Why in the world did they build the road so close to Deep Lake? At its closest point the road comes within 500 feet of the lake, not that you can see it. More prominent are the stately royal palm trees that rise above the forest of cypress on either side. Further in their is a hammock of high ground and next to it the lake. And not just any lake, it’s the swamp’s deepest lake: Five times deeper than Lake Okeechobee and under 1 percent its volumetric size. But still: Why would anyone build the road so close?
Answer: Modern-day engineering actually curved the road away from the lake. It’s not much of a curve, but it’s better than it was. In the pre-cursor of what eventually became SR-29, Deep Lake was actually the destination that people went to see, and where the road ended in fact. Compare that to today . Most people drive by Deep Lake not even knowing the Lake is there, with a handful of those drivers left to think: “–What’s up with this strange curve?”
I know the exact curve you are talking about. I was always curious as to why there were royal palms growing in an area where you typically dont see them. From what I understand, there was a grapefruit orchard near the lake as well as a large logging operation on the west side of 29. This area must have been the terminus of the railway that hauled logs and grapefruit.
Thanks for you comment, Todd, and that’s correct. The original road, or rather the grade, stopped at Deep Lake where Roach and Lanford stared a grapefruit grove. Why they picked such a remote spot is anyone’s guess. I was thinking it may have had something to do with the year-round water source? If the road’s ever renamed: My vote goes to either Fakahatchee Freeway or Deep Lake Road. Maybe we can start a petition …