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Bryan Jennings Bridge at Black Creek caused county’s first traffic jam

By Mary Jo McTammany
Posted 3/28/18

On June 16, 1917, Middleburg was covered up with local, state, and national movers and shakers. They were there to celebrate the dedication of the S. Bryan Jennings Bridge across the north prong of …

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Bryan Jennings Bridge at Black Creek caused county’s first traffic jam


Posted

On June 16, 1917, Middleburg was covered up with local, state, and national movers and shakers. They were there to celebrate the dedication of the S. Bryan Jennings Bridge across the north prong of Black Creek.

Local farmers, loggers and moonshiners trying to make a living in the areas east and west of Middleburg were more than ready to celebrate. This bridge would change lives and vastly improve their ability to get their products north to lucrative markets. It was a game changer.

But needed as it was, the bridge would never have been built were it not for S. Bryan Jennings. He was the son of former Florida Governor William Sherman Jennings and grew up immersed in the kind of clout and connections at all levels of government and business to make things happen. Jennings was an attorney with an influential law firm in Jacksonville, a principal in the family’s Artesian Farm Land Sales Company and a successful Clay County farmer, rancher and timber man.

His first hurtle was a hard one. Before the project could even begin he had to convince the county commission to petition the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permission to construct a structure over a navigable waterway. Knowing they would remember the commissioners voted out of office for building a road from Governors Creek to the Duval County line in the 1890s, he presented a deal they couldn’t refuse.

He committed to do all the legal work, oversee design and construction, solicit donations of money, labor and materials and requested only $2,000 from the road budget. Other offers were hovering in the $10,000 area for construction alone. They took the deal and volunteered offers to help.

Locals donated and delivered materials to the site – heart cypress pilings, nails and tons of fill. They showed up to sink pilings and manipulate hoists to install the steel draw system. But before it was all over, some admitted that they jokingly talked about tying a bell on young Jennings so they could run and hide before he talked them out of or into something else.

When the big day arrived, cars lined up from the north as far as the eye could see for a grand parade into Middleburg. The traffic jam became a party of its own with back slapping, spirits sipping, glad handing and politicking.

Sadly, the traffic jams in Clay County are not nearly so much fun today.